Fight Against Sexual Harassment

Initially, you can try telling the harasser to stop. Although this confrontation may be difficult for you, it is often the most effective way of dealing with harassment. You're more likely to be successful if the harassment hasn't gone beyond things like off-color jokes, inappropriate comments about your appearance, or tacky cartoons posted onto the office refrigerator.

Clearly saying you want the offensive behavior to stop is important, because it lets the harasser know that the behavior is unwelcome (which it must be in order to meet the legal definition of sexual harassment). It is also a crucial first step if you later decide to take more formal action against the harasser.

If the harasser ignores your oral requests to stop, or if you are uncomfortable talking to the harasser face to face, write a brief letter stating that the behavior offends you and must stop. Be sure to keep a copy.

If you are concerned for your personal safety or are afraid that the harasser might become more hostile when confronted, complain to a supervisor instead.

Case study

Nosheen Abbas (Dawn columnist) tells a case study of a girl, Sumaira, who worked at the Islamabad office of an international non- governmental organisation (NGO), spent her days in fear and unease, dreading the inevitable moment her senior male colleague would brush up against her. He would, then, always claim that he was trying to explain a work-related matter to her. In addition, for over a year she had been subjected to other objectionable behavior such as ogling and unwanted text messages and calls. When she did not reciprocate, the colleague became vengeful. On at least three occasions he had written anonymous letters to the management, accusing her of having illicit relationships with men at the office. As a result Sumaira's work suffered and she was constantly stressed out even when not at the office.

The three tiers of management above her, including her direct boss and the country director, believed her but had no idea how to handle the issue. "I had told my boss that I was being harassed by my colleague," she says, "but since there was no existing policy against sexual harassment, they didn't know how to help." The administration finally found an indirect way of fixing the situation: she was advised to complain that her colleague was embezzling funds, since he had also been asking her to approve incorrect expense receipts. This is how she addressed her woes and got rid of her tormentor "but unfortunately not because of the way he treated me," she says.

Sumaira's plight may sound familiar to many others because harassment at the workplace is, to date, not recognized as a punishable offence in Pakistan. Because of this, coupled with the lack of awareness about the issue, many women do not get as much support as she enjoyed in such situations -- in fact, in many a situation, a complaint can create even more problems for the woman being harassed. Maheen Usmani, who used to work at Dunya TV, says she faced even more problems after she filed a complaint against the channel's managing director, Yousaf Mirza Baig. "He would call me late at night, stare me down during meetings and eventually he started cutting out TV reports that I had worked on." In what eventually became a famous case, Usmani says she was barred from entering her own office and later heard defamatory rumors about herself.

 The people need to seek the advice of legal experts and improve certain aspects of it."

Opinion of the experts:

• Examine one’s feeling, attitude, and behaviors in relation to sexual harassment.
• See that behavior corresponds with the expectations and behavioral requirements organization’s sexual harassment policy.
• Be aware of subtle forms of sexual harassment.
• Watch for and discourage sexual behaviors that negatively affect work.
• Seek confidential advice to develop your personal resolution strategy.

This scribe

This scribe as women we need to stand together and let the world know that we support victims of sexual harassment. We need to call these crimes what they are: not a result of victims provoking perpetrators, but a result of criminals crossing the line. Society has made great strides in recognizing the evils of sexual harassment and I’m glad we now have laws like Title VII that enable us to punish perpetrators of this crime. This scribe that we take it a step further and demand that sexual harassment is not only recognized by the law, but also by the public.

We need to stand together and tell the world that it must stop condemning victims of these horrible crimes.