Systemic Sexual Harassment

An inherent power imbalance in the workplace has been in existence since civilization, particularly for young women. One in every four working women lives in fear of being fired or demoted if they report sexual harassment against their superiors. The situation is not at all surprising since sexual harassment seems to be a common occurrence that has been institutionalized and victims silenced. In recent years more and more women are coming out to share their sexual harassment experiences in the workplace alongside a backdrop of cases touching high profile figures. Accusations, including inappropriate touching, rape, sexual assault against women, including minors, have emerged.

In essence, social media has provided the individual with a platform and voice to express their traumatic experiences and share their stories with the world instantaneously. The advancement of technology is something that should be applauded for the role it has played in uncovering the rise of systemic sexual harassment. The #MeToo Movement blasted across the social networking sites in 2017, igniting a global debate with regard to the extent and pervasiveness of sexual harassment in the workplace across all sectors, demographics, and ages. From the revelations, the issue is not a recent one but one that has existed for decades and is mainly fueled by masculinity.

Since the rise of the movement, their world-wide changes have been experienced as society begins to recognize the flaws of its cultural standards about power, politics, and gender. The outcome is not only documented on the loss of jobs by some powerful men as a result of their actions, but the movement has demonstrated significant achievements in changing the victim’s outlook and how the society treats them. In a nutshell, it has hewed off all the cultural customs and power structures responsible for protecting men and silencing women for decades.

Adele Haenel, a French actress, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Christophe Ruggia, an established film director. According to Michallon (2019) the actress stated that she was subjected to sexual harassment for years between 12 and 15 years by Raggia. She held that she failed to take a legal step due to the systemic violence women face when presenting cases to the judicial system. In the film industry, this has been more than common for both young men and women desiring to secure a role in a cast. Model Aaron Lesta Lopez narrated of being harassed by a film director who asked him to touch himself at a casting.

Similarly, during an interview, Rebecca Crookshank, who worked for the Royal Air Force (RAF), said that it took her fifteen years to gather the courage and talk about being sexually harassed at work when she was only 20 (BBC, 2017). She was offered a flight to silence her. The case shows that the problem affects males and females, but women are the most affected due to gender stereotypes.

While most people assume that modernity has been nothing but useful in pushing the need to stop sexual violence in the workplace, it has also created more platform to silence victims. In the business landscape, reputation serves as one of the essential things that any given organization seeks to protect. Companies have been pushed to reevaluate their policies to respond to sexual harassment cases and take responsive actions effectively. The need for more rigorous policies has not been ignored since it is clear to us all that sexual harassment complains pose the greatest threat to organizational reputation. However, we are using these policies to protect the image of our businesses rather than upholding justice for the victims.

Sexual harassment in the work setting has been a dominant issue, and it no longer permissible to brush off the allegations using money, threats, or other offers to silence the victims for the sake of corporate reputation. Business leaders today have options, and they need to be practical about protecting their employees irrespective of their gender or age and stop sexual misconduct in the workplace or sit and wait to face the wrath of the law. Not forgetting that the consequences are non-forgiving when it comes to destroying their esteemed reputation and their financial stabilities. Prevention, as they say, is less expensive than trying to manage and treat a problem.

The blame the victim mentality is the reason as to why young people continue to suffer at the hands of the aggressors at the workplace as noted by Wooten & Nolan (2019). Lawsuits are receiving more attention as more people are coming out to share their stories. In the past, companies would possibly spend legal funds in disputing claims or settling complaints outside out and giving offers to the victims to prevent media coverage. All these lean towards protecting the image of the companies rather than protecting victims and ensuring that the harassers receive the punishment that is well deserved to deter further abuse cases.

Undeniably, the culture has changed. Technology and social media have helped young people, especially by giving them a common ground, which has made them powerful. The outcome is a powerful base for social transformation and collective action. Awareness creation needs nothing more than an informative and action calling hashtag with the message reaching thousands of people within just a few hours. It is astonishing how much people are willing to share to help the next generation. Wounds that have been inherited from past generations are now beginning to heal as the new generation of females is dominant in today’s workplace.

Empowered by the increasing number of sexual harassment allegations and increased reflectiveness in the contemporary media, more than ever before, women have taken a firm and unwilling to tolerate such behaviors to protect themselves and generations from coming. The pressure from social media campaigns in mounting on companies to take comprehensive measures in dealing with these allegations. Technology is a powerful tool for bringing change as it is paving systematic change by empowering young people to change their attitudes and deal with the problem now. The issue of sexual harassment is not likely to go away sooner, but an important step has been taken courtesy of technology to deter such behaviors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

BBC. (2017). Workers Share Sexual Harassment Stories. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41830244

Michallon, C. (2019). French actor Adele Haenel files sexual harassment complaint against director Christophe Ruggia. Independent. Retrieved from: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/adele-haenel-christophe-ruggia-sexual-harassment-france-child-a9219196.html

Wooten L. & David J. Nolan. (2019). Beyond #MeToo: Re-examining sexual harassment in the workplace. Retrieved from: https://business.cornell.edu/hub/2019/04/03/examining-sexual-harassment-workplace/