Sexual harassment happens in different forms and is a widespread issue that affects all women worldwide, regardless of their profession. But, when we talk about sexual harassment at the workplace, we mainly refer to three major types of sexual harassment.
Types of sexual harassment in workplace
- Quid pro quo harassment takes place when a manager or supervisor demands sexual favours directly or indirectly in exchange for a benefit which may be a raise in pay, promotion, etc. OR to avoid a disadvantage of ill treatment, denial of opportunities, etc. in the workplace.
- A hostile work environment sexual harassment occurs when there is misconduct towards an employee because of their sex, resulting in a toxic and unsecure work environment which affects their performance. This misconduct can range from gossiping to any physical conduct as well.
- An unwelcome sexual advance is when one individual approaches another, seeking sexual favours or sexual interest which are not reciprocated by the individual. This can lead to an unpleasant or unprofessional atmosphere at work and can result in a range of responses such as wariness, annoyance, anger, fear, sadness and grief.
While legal provisions exist to help victims of sexual assault, organizations must formulate, curate, extend and implement these laws in the workplace, making it convenient to deal with the complaints in an effective manner to provide speedy justice.
Policies and Practices
There are certain parameters which have to be maintained while dealing with Sexual harassment and formulating policies for the same. Some of them are as follows:
- Create awareness about what constitutes as sexual harassment in a workplace. India’s law on prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment of women at the workplace has definitions and examples of what constitutes sexual harassment, workplace and provides a framework for deeper reforms at an organisational level.
- Leaders must demonstrate through speech and action that there is zero tolerance for harassment in the organisation. They must make it clear that all employees, regardless of status as employees, are subject to the same sanctions for harassment. Employers should routinely assess pertinent information about sexual harassment, such as the number of reports of incidents and the typical length of time it takes the committee to resolve complaints. They ought to be factored in any training sessions and have the anti-sexual harassment policy officially approved.
- Employees must be trained to understand what constitutes harassment in order to prevent themselves from acting in such a manner and also help in identifying such actions in order to help the victim.
- The employees must be made aware of the redressal mechanism available in their workplace to empower them to come forward and register an official complaint without having to worry about its repercussions which may include the behaviour of their co-workers towards them.
- Since there is a deeper impact made by the words shared by peers rather than the HR department, it is crucial to use this to get employees to see and introspect the role they play in preventing sexual harassment in their workplace, to start and sustain open conversations around these topics in safe spaces between co-workers. In fact, research conducted by Edelman, the Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that: “The biggest story of the last 16 years of Edelman Trust Barometer data has been the demise of traditional authority and the corresponding rise of ‘a person like me’ (friends, peers or a person we believe shares similar values or characteristics) as a trusted source of information.”
- Employees will cease to report sexual harassment occurrences if they believe that nothing will be done in the event that a problem arises, which may encourage those employees who might cause harm to continue acting inappropriately. Therefore, it is crucial that Internal Committees act quickly to address complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace, conduct an exhaustive and unbiased review or investigation, impose appropriate sanctions. Zero tolerance to any form of harassment should be embedded in the culture of the organisation. Organizations can send out signals about these actions and their unwavering commitment to holding people accountable for sexual harassment occurrences, even while maintaining confidentiality about the particulars of incidents or people involved.
- Since the essential feature of a quid pro quo sexual harassment is the abuse of power, it is crucial for firms to formulate a policy in such a way that it gains the trust of the employees and ensure job security if they come forward with such a complaint in addition to dealing with the respondent in an appropriate manner. Never should the committee show bias when dealing with certain persons of the organisation who are in positions of power or are valuable assets for the business. For instance, strong action should be taken against the accused if he or she is a senior executive or partner instead of excusing them based only on their position.
Conclusion
Workplace sexual harassment is prevalent in every profession or occupation but is not given the due recognition in terms of organizational initiatives in prevention and redressal of sexual harassment complaints. Resolving an issue as fraught or widely prevalent as this is an iterative process of trying solutions, monitoring the implementation and studying the data to create better solutions.
At KelpHR we believe that having a safe, happy and inclusive workplace is the key to business transformation and growth and mental as well as physical health and wellness is the key to healthy and happy employees and workforces.
About KelpHR
KelpHR was incorporated in 2013 to provide the best HR solutions to organizations, and to improve workplace culture across the board. Over the last 10 years, we have serviced more than 700 clients in India and a few overseas, across various industries in the areas of PoSH (prevention of sexual harassment at workplace), D, E & I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and EAP. But the common objective of all of these services is to build safer, happier, inclusive and productive workplaces.
For our services related to Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH), Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (D,E &I) or Employee Assistance programs (EAP) do get in touch with us at info@kelphr.com, call +91-95001-29652 and we’d be able to help you with customized offerings suited to your organization.
