It is now necessary that Jamaican companies develop a clear understanding of the issues surrounding Sexual Harassment. This understanding should include the legal, psychological, and financial implications for individuals and organizations. As a workforce, we need to increase our awareness of male-female communication differences along with differing perceptions of sexual harassment. This will serve to provide short and long-term solutions for the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. We need to come up to speed quickly so that workers can better appreciate the difference between voluntary sexual relationships and sexual harassment, and the ways in which the latter contains elements of coercion, threats, and/or unwanted attention in a non-reciprocal relationship.

Sexual Harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person's work performance. This creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work, learning or social environment. Sexual harassment can be classified as Unspoken, Spoken or Physical.

UNSPOKEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Gaping: Every time an employee looks up the same person is staring at them.

Inappropriate Facial Expressions: Those that are distasteful, unprofessional, and suggestive such as blowing kisses, winking, or suggestive licking of the lips.

Inappropriate Items/Décor: Items or decor that is opinionated or denigrating such as sexual remarks on T-shirts, caps, cups and glasses, desk plaques and paperweights, hanging decor or calendars, not to mention the tasteless email ‘jokes’.

Pet Names: Names like ‘baby’, ‘honey’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘hotness’, ‘sexy’ or ‘hunk’ belong only in your personal life, if you choose to use them.

SPOKEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Inappropriate Sounds or Comments

Hooting, kissing sounds of a vulgar nature and comments of a sexual nature about figure or physique, looks, or dress.

Steering Conversation Improperly

This includes attempts to converse about sexual preference, fantasy, or sex life. Also the steering of conversations toward sexual subjects, directly or through innuendo.

Perception is the key. The question is not "is this behaviour offensive to me?”But "might it be offensive to someone else?"

MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Myth: Sexual harassment only happens to women who dress provocatively.

Fact: Sexual harassment can happen to anyone, and any gender: Man to woman, woman to man, man to man or woman to woman. No one is immune.

Myth: If the woman just said "NO," he would have stopped.

Fact: Many harassers are told "NO" repeatedly and it does no good.

Myth: Sexual harassment is harmless. Women and men who object have no sense of humour.

Fact: Harassment is humiliating and degrading. It undermines careers, and often threatens economic livelihood.

Submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment. The result is that this situation interferes with an individual's work performance. It creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment. The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker or a non-employee.  The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. It is usually helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and that it must stop. The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available to end the harassment.

When investigating allegations of sexual harassment, one should look at the whole record and the circumstances, such as the nature of the sexual advances and the context in which the alleged incidents occurred. It is important that a determination on the allegations is made from the facts on a case-by-case basis.

We now know that building awareness and sensitization towards prevention is the best tool to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers are encouraged to take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment from occurring. Companies should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment will not be tolerated. Companies can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process by taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.

Next week we will explore procedures for improving the environment from the perspective of the individual, and from the organization.

Dr. Semaj is a frequent facilitator for Strategic Planning Retreats, Cultural alignment and Organizational Restructuring. He conducts Staff Selection and Development Programmes for different business sectors across the Caribbean.