(With the purpose to educate more people and spread awareness about sexual violences in the workplace, we apologize in advance to any victim that may be triggered from our article on this topic. Know that you always have our full support.)
In Conversations you’re not ready to have this week, we want to bring up the one topic that has always been considered sensitive, especially as Vietnamese employees and employers, that we believe needs to be more recognized and brought to light, which is sexual violence in the workplace.
Definition of sexual violences in the workplace
So what exactly is sexual violence in the workplace? Sexual violence can include assault, harassment, and abuse. It is any unwanted behavior of a sexual nature that violates someone’s dignity and creates a hostile environment for them (whether it was intended or not). It can be physical, verbal or non-verbal, and include the major forms as follows:
- Physical forms of sexual harassment such as any unwanted contact, ranging from intentionally touching, caressing, pinching, hugging or kissing to sexual assault or rape.
- Verbal forms of sexual harassment include socially and culturally inappropriate and unwelcome comments with sexual overtones such as sexually suggestive jokes or comments about a person’s dress or body, made in their presence or directed toward them. They also include persistent proposals and unwelcome requests or persistent personal invitations to go out.
- Non-verbal forms of sexual harassment include unwelcome gestures, suggestive body language, indecent exposure, lascivious looks, repeated winks, and gestures with fingers. It also includes the unwelcome display of pornographic materials, sexually explicit pictures and objects, screen savers or posters as well as sexually explicit e-mails, notes or SMS messages.
The reality and consequences of sexual violences in the workplace
Anyone of any age, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity can be a victim or a harasser. The victim and the harasser can also be of the same sex, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity. Workplace sexual misconducts happen so much more than we think but they are rarely reported or publicized, due to many reasons. However, statistics show that:
- Thirty eight percent of all women and fourteen percent of men have reported experiencing sexual harassment at work (Kearl, Johns, & Raj, 2019).
- 1 in 7 women and 1 in 17 men have sought a new job assignment, changed jobs, or quit a job because of sexual harassment and assault (Kearl et al., 2019).
- Sixty percent of women say they have experienced unwanted sexual attention, sexual coercion, sexually crude conduct, or sexist comments in the workplace (Feldblum & Lipnic, 2016).
- In some industries, more than 9 in 10 women say they have been sexually harassed (Puente & Kelly, 2018).
- Over 85 percent of people who experience sexual harassment never file a formal legal charge, and approximately 70 percent of employees never even complain internally (Feldblum & Lipnic, 2016).
This really shows how alarming this problem is to businesses in particular and society in general. The impact of sexual harassment in the workplace is real and damaging. Employees that experience sexual harassment are more likely to report: psychological symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, stress, and anxiety and physical problems such as headaches, sleep problems, gastric problems, weight loss/gain, etc. Not only that, this also impacts other employees/witnesses within the environment as they can suffer mental and physical harm, or their employee morale will decrease. The impact on the business itself is also worth mentioning as businesses can face financial costs associated with harassment complaints in addition to decreased employee productivity, increased employee turnover rate, and reputational harm.
What causes sexual violences in the workplace
Typically, sexual harassment occurs due to unequal power relations; the abuser is in a position of power which means they are much less likely to be punished — and their victim is less likely to address or report the abuse. That’s why women are more likely to be victims of sexual harassment, because they are much less likely to be in positions of power in the workplace due to gender inequality, and because of the wider gender inequality and sexism prevalent throughout society. Abuse can be a means of perpetuating this inequality too. If a person in a position of power feels threatened by someone beneath them — a woman rising the ranks, or an employee that appears more skilled, for example — they may use harassment as a means of creating tension and vulnerability that puts a stop to the perceived threat to their power. Organisations themselves have a role to play as well. If a business doesn’t have clear, well-communicated processes in place to deal with sexual harassment, or a culture that is actively seen to punish instances of harassment, then it sends a message to would-be abusers that their actions will not invite consequences, and the cycle of abuse continues. That means it’s very much a leader’s role to create a workplace where bullying and harassment — including that of a sexual nature — is unable to take root.
What can companies do to eliminate sexual violences in the workplace
In order to effectively prevent sexual harassment at the workplace every employer should adopt, promote, implement and monitor a policy on sexual harassment within workplace regulations, collective agreement or other legal regulations of the company. Organisations must reframe the responsibility of speaking up away solely from the victims of sexual harassment and into a collective responsibility for us all to act when we witness harassment, inappropriate behaviour, or even sexual assault in the workplace. It’s crucial that no one turns their head away when incidents occur, so that means it’s on all of us. Work on diversity and inclusion in the workplace can be divided into the following two categories:
- Proactive work to change the outcomes for under-represented groups (including existing and prospective staff, customers, service users, etc). This means developing a more inclusive recruitment process. This may also mean increasing awareness of and taking action against unconscious bias, running positive action initiatives, or setting up support networks, as well as all of those other things we can do to build more inclusive cultures.
- Keeping organisations and their employees safe by tackling sexual harassment at an organisational level and making sure everyone knows what appropriate behavior at work is.
Another thing employers can do is to update your workplace policies to set out the organisation’s values and its requirements. And although a policy can’t cover every aspect of unwanted behaviour, it needs to clarify what sexual harassment is and that it could constitute gross misconduct. The company policy on sexual harassment should clearly indicate the disciplinary action to be expected in the case of non-compliance. Depending on the severity of the case, consequences can range from an apology to the victim or disciplinary warning to counselling, transfer, demotion or dismissal; such disciplinary action should be included in the company’s regulations. Leaders and HR managers must ensure that policies communicate the right things, and that there is a formal procedure in place should anyone have a complaint. Ensure that your entire workforce is aware of the procedures in place, and the culture you expect from them every day. This, of course, should be reinforced by management training and as part of induction.
Effective means of communicating the policy include through newsletters, training manuals, training courses, leaflets, websites, e-mails and displaying anti-sexual harassment posters on notice boards in shared work areas. The policy on sexual harassment should be:
- officially launched at a full staff meeting
- endorsed by the chief executive officer or a senior management representative emphasizing that all staff are required to comply with it
- distributed to and signed by all staff, acknowledging that they have received and understood it
- placed on the company’s website and intranet
- included in induction manuals for new staff
- displayed on notice boards.
Conclusion
This is a reality that we no longer can accept to look away. Sexual violences in the workplace is a huge problem suffered by people anywhere in the world. There are so many cases unreported because the victims have been forced to stay quiet or gaslighted to not recognize what had happened to them, all by their own companies. As great contributors to building a better society, it is Vietnamese corporations’ roles and responsibilities to speak more on this issue and take actions against this problem in order to prevent and spread awareness on it. It is time companies and organizations stand up and fight for this cause and for their own employees.
>> Read more: Vietnam workplace etiquette
Bibliography:
Ending sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. National Sexual Violence Resource Center. (n.d.). https://www.nsvrc.org/ending-sexual-assault-and-harassment-workplace.
What sexual harassment is: Sexual harassment. Acas. (n.d.). https://www.acas.org.uk/sexual-harassment.
Norman, T. (2021, July 14). Sexual harassment in the workplace. EW Group. https://theewgroup.com/sexual-harassment-workplace/.
Wong, L., & Tran, H. Q. (n.d.). Code Of Conduct On Sexual Harassment In The Workplace. ILO.
JobHopin Team