For a prevalent issue such as sexual misconduct, that is occurring in our workplace, the silence around this topic is still deafening. In this day and age, my heart cringes at the sight and hearing of social attitudes that are still so deep-seated within us, as a society pertaining to this issue, despite efforts to highlight it. For a second, I would have entertained the thought that probably it could not have hit home to excuse the indifference we so cherish, but my mind calls me out immediately. Or maybe we are just not angry enough. Is it still taboo?
I should put it out there that I am not writing this just as another
informative piece in my capacity as a forensic scientist, but as a survivor of
sexually inappropriate conduct too, who wished she could have done more to gain
back her power.
#METOO
He stood by my desk, as his new normal dictated. Small talk here and
there. Then his roaming eyes fell on my dress. I could see the sheer smile
forming on his face before asking, “Will you have coffee with me after work?”
It seemed friendly but my gut knew otherwise. It could be an isolated incident.
But how could I report that? Where would the proof be? Asking for coffee turned
to demand of hugs upon every chance meeting. My polite Nos were met with his
emphatic Just this once.
While I pondered on the next course of action, a lady colleague came by.
She must have figured my mind because she hugged me and made me laugh
afterward. Then I heard her story too. It was widely rumored within the office
that the person of interest had been through a similar investigation and was
just given a slap on the wrist. Two weeks off with retention of his benefits
due to “lack of evidence”. Now tell me, if you were in my shoes, would you
honestly report?
WHERE WE STILL GO WRONG:
While Kenya may boast of a robust legislative framework for dealing with
sexual harassment in the workplace, its subsequent implementation has little to
brag about, if any. Though notable strides have been made legally to ensure
that this form of discrimination is eradicated through the formulation of
policies, uptake of these said policies are rather slow in many workplaces,
with some of these environments not having a sexual harassment policy, to begin
with, and where there are, some HR do not circulate them to all members of
staff.
It is apparent that many cases of sexual harassment go unreported.
Various studies have since shown and attributed the reluctance to report to
several factors such as the fear of adverse retaliation by the perpetrator, as
well as lack of confidence in the impartiality of the person or persons
appointed to resolve such matters.
As per the Employment Act, Laws of Kenya (Act No.11 of 2007) the
employer is given the mandate to not only receive but also investigate and
determine reports of sexual harassment. This could be the perfect case of the
employer playing judge and jury especially in scenarios where the sexual
aggressor has a controlling influence over members of the investigating team.
Hence, when a victim formally makes a complaint and follows internal
procedures, many times, they are talked out of it, or innuendos of threats
ranging from dismissal, career progress stagnation or unfair treatment begin to
be echoed in whispers by persons who would have given the courage to push
further, and this causes secondary trauma to most victims. This can call to
question the neutrality of the internal reporting mechanism, and if the victim
is not adequately resolved, seeks an alternative in the form of external third
parties to resolve the dispute at hand.
THE POWER DYNAMIC:
Many working environments have succeeded in establishing channels of
reporting sexual misconduct. However, these channels have been dogged with
power-play as well as corruption.
Suffice to say that most, if not all incidences of sexual harassment all
boil down to one thing: Abuse of Power. It stems from the
aggressor’s use of power or position of authority to entitle him/herself with
access to the victim and to rely on the same by means of promises or threats to
fend the victims’ objections to their conduct. Having power over somebody
greatly impacts their ability to express their dissent to sexual advances,
whether welcomed or not.
When this power dynamic is then tolerated within systems in the
workplace, it becomes increasingly difficult for a victim to effectively report
using internal channels due to proximity to power.
WHERE TO RUN:
Many victims have since turned to social media and social media
influencers, with many believing in this way their perpetrators would be shamed
and the power dynamics might change against the perpetrator and a proper
restitution measure is taken there to attain justice.
Independent Private Investigators:
Some organizations have resorted to retaining the services of professional
private investigation agencies. They do this in the hope that by bringing in a neutral expert third
party to such a matter, it does not only deal with issues of the time and
expertise needed to investigate, but also it minimizes the perception of
impartiality coming into an investigation.
An independent party accords both parties a fair hearing. Most
perpetrators are hailed in their respective fields and are given a level of
admiration by colleagues. Hence, when a victim calls them out, they would not
be easily believed, the reserve is also true in certain cases; in organizations
with a past case of sexual harassment, a person in a position of power might be
prematurely deemed to have committed the offense because of the power he/she
holds. Due to these biases that internal investigation task forces carry
sometimes, cases of this nature become less objective, and even when they are,
the results are not readily accepted by the apparent losing party.
CONCLUSION:
Organizations have a responsibility to create an enabling environment that caters to the worker’s well-being, sexually speaking. That goes beyond just having complaint forms and conducting a hearing for formality’s sake or even having posters of abhorrence of sexual harassment on display. It goes into ensuring that the complainant has been addressed fairly with proper timelines to lessen the burden of the trauma that sexual harassment weighs upon. It allows the victim to seek external legal redress without fear of career disruption.