Tag Archives: Sexual Harassment

16 Ways That Workplaces Can Help Victims and Survivors of Violence Against Women

Posted on by

Thanks to the #MeToo movement, 2018 has seen the conversation about violence against women (VAW) go mainstream with multiple instances of women speaking up about gender-based violence in the workplace. From the notorious case of disgraced Hollywood ex-mogul Harvey Weinstein to NGO leaders in South Africa to government officials in Japan, women across the world are publicly pushing back against hostile work environments that enable toxic masculinity and rape culture.

In the workplace, sexual violence (including sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape) can lead to a decrease in productivity, job satisfaction, and attendance, as well as cripple the career advancement of women. However, in many cases, women who have been harassed or assaulted are afraid to speak up due to a fear of retaliation because the men who target them are often in positions of authority and power in the company or organisation. A recent survey by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on protection of women in workplaces found that 20 out of the 80 countries surveyed had no protection from retaliation for victims who reported sexual harassment at work.

Furthermore, violence faced by women outside the workplace such as rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence can also have a substantial impact on their working life which in turn has a severe impact on the economy. Domestic violence alone costs $9.5 billion in economic loss worldwide. Recent statistics from UN Women are illustrative of this. Here are just a few examples:

  • In Peru: Businesses lost 70 million workdays due to partner violence, equivalent to of GDP in 2013
  • In India: Women had to forgo on average 7 days of paid work per violent incident.
  • In Cambodia: 20% of the women who experienced domestic violence reported that they missed work and their children missed school.

Simply put: VAW is detrimental not just to individual women, but also the wider community around them including their workplaces.

Given the high rates of VAW in workplaces and the intrinsic link between economic independence and reduction in VAW, employers play a critical role in ending VAW. Creating a safe work environment and supporting victims and survivors of violence can go a long way in creating a safer community for women in general.

As a starting point, the article recommends 16 ideas that employers can implement to support victims and survivors of VAW as part of ensuring that their workplace is a healthy and productive one.

Written by Rubina Singh. Additional content by Regina Yau.

_______________________________________________________________

Recommendation For Workplaces #1: Culture Matters – Creating a culture of mutual respect, professionalism, and zero tolerance for harassment is crucial for preventing workplace VAW as well as effectively helping female employees if it happens. Respecting the agency and rights of all female employees; ensuring confidentiality in cases of sexual harassment; having a strict policy against victim-blaming; and providing a safe space and transparent due process for victims to come forward – these are all small but significant steps that an employer can take to create a positive organisational culture.

Recommendation For Workplaces #2: Diversify Your Leadership – Having female leadership is one of the strongest ways to reduce harassment (whether it be illegal or legal, gender- or sexuality-based, targeted at women or men), As part of building a safe, inclusive and equitable work culture, organisations and companies should strive for gender balance in every job at every level.

Recommendation For Workplaces #3: Adopt a Well-Defined Workplace Policy – One of the most important actions that employers can take to prevent VAW in the workplace is to have a comprehensive and inclusive domestic and sexual violence policy. Reinforce your policies with regular educational and training sessions and don’t forget to make sure your policy falls in line with local laws and regulations. Not sure where to begin? Check out this guide from Legal Momentum for some useful tips as well as an anti-sexual harassment policy sample from the ILO.

Recommendation For Workplaces #4: Avoid Restrictive and Destructive Contract Clauses – Many employers include non-disclosure/forced arbitration/internal committee-only clauses in their employee contracts and workplace anti-sexual violence policies. Such clauses are unnecessarily restrictive and lead to a belief that the company is more concerned about protecting sexual predators than providing appropriate remedial measures for victims. This can leave the victim with little to no recourse if they are faced with VAW in the workplace. If you have such clauses in your employee contracts, it’s time to review them together with your legal advisors and to adjust them accordingly.

Recommendation For Workplaces #5: Have a Clear Anti-Retaliation Clause… and Stick to It – Many women do not report sexual harassment in the workplace because of a fear of discrimination and backlash. Being labeled a ‘trouble-maker’ or potentially being retaliated against professionally for accusing a senior male colleague of misconduct can deter women from reporting the attack to management and HR. Letting your female employees know that there will be no discrimination against them if they come forward – and taking them seriously when they do –  is one of the most positive ways to ensure a safer workplace. In addition, take action to ensure that the alleged perpetrator does not personally retaliate against his victim.

Recommendation For Workplaces #6: Issue Workplace Reminders – Do not just announce that a domestic and sexual violence policy in place and then assume that you’ve done your job. Treat your anti-harassment policy as an active one with regular reminders to help employees increase their awareness about the policy and know that you are serious about creating a safe and violence free environment. It is also a good idea to highlight key features of the policy through posters or other display methods in high visibility locations throughout your workplace like the cafeteria, restrooms, and busy corridors.

Recommendation For Workplaces #7: Refuse to Hire Convicted or Known Perpetrators of VAW – If you are aware that a job candidate engages in VAW at work or elsewhere, hiring them will not only endanger your female employees, but also discourage them from coming forward to report any harassment. Refusing to hire known perpetrators will not only make your workplace safer but will also signal your organisation’s stance as an ethical company where VAW will not be tolerated.

Recommendation For Workplaces #8: Human Resources (HR) is Crucial – Training HR to respond appropriately to sexual violence and harassment (instead of victim-blaming or covering for the perpetrator) is critical to supporting victims and survivors. For many employees, HR is the first department they take their complaints to and having informed, sensitive and responsive HR professionals can help to make the experience less painful for the victim.

Recommendation For Workplaces #9: Take Prompt Action – While preventative measures are important in the fight against VAW, if a case of sexual harassment or assault in your organisation comes to light, it is imperative that immediate steps are taken to protect the victim and take action against the alleged perpetrator. Leaving a large gap between the complaint/incident and disciplinary action can put the victim at risk and also lead to a loss of faith in the organisation.

Recommendation For Workplaces #10: Bystander Intervention Training – Training all employees to recognise signs of VAW and effectively intervene when they see it happening can provide immediate support in instances of VAW in the workplace. Such training will encourage and empower employees to become more aware about VAW (and how to be upstanders instead of bystanders), to support their female colleagues, as well as collectively maintain a safe workplace for women.

Recommendation For Workplaces #11: Take The (Workplace) Temperature – An annual anonymous workplace environment survey is a great way to understand your employees and their perception of your organisation. Such surveys may also help the employer understand the kind of harassment faced by employees, as well as causal factors and potential solutions to ensure safety. If your organisation already conducts an annual employee survey, check that it includes a section for feedback about workplace harassment and bullying. Check out a sample survey here.

Recommendation For Workplaces #12: Prioritise Safety for Female Employees – If a job puts your female employees at risk of harassment, it is your responsibility to make sure you provide adequate security to prevent and ameliorate such incidents. Jobs that routinely require an employee to engage with clients or third parties, within or outside the workplace would be a prime example. Recently, female sports reporters in Brazil set up a campaign to advocate for their security at work after a journalist was forcibly kissed by an interviewee on air.  In such high-contact professions, a risk assessment survey for employee safety can be the first step to understand and find solutions for safety from VAW.

Recommendation For Workplaces #13: Pay Attention to Medical Insurance – VAW has an enormous impact on a woman’s mental and physical health. Providing medical coverage which also includes mental health services can offer immense support for female employees who are facing domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault or any other form of VAW.

Recommendation For Workplaces #14: Support Employees Beyond the Workplace – While many forms of VAW such as domestic violence and street harassment occur outside the workplace, they can impact productivity at work. To mitigate or counter the negative effects of VAW across the board, there are a whole range of solutions employers implement including flexible working hours, security measures, and even safe transportation to and from the workplace to help female employees retain their jobs and stay safe. Check out Make It Our Business, Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence and Workplaces Respond to Domestic and Sexual Violence for some useful tips and resources on this front.

Recommendation For Workplaces #15: Support Organisations Working to Stop VAW – Donating a portion of your profits to an anti-VAW organisation will go a long way in supporting survivors of VAW. Also consider partnering with an anti-VAW organisation on a volunteer program to get your board, management, and employees actively involved with addressing the issue because hands on experience will not only increase their awareness and understanding of VAW but also encourage them to take action to support efforts to make your organisation is safer and more equitable place for women to work. This experience may even help hardcore sexist male employees and management begin treating their female co-workers with respect which will in turn lead to a healthier workplace.

Recommendation For Workplaces #16: Finally, Give VAW Survivors A Fighting Chance – Survivors can often find it difficult to obtain or hold a job there is still a cultural stigma attached to being a victim of VAW. If you have employees who are VAW survivors, do what you can to support them instead if firing them. If you are interviewing a candidate and discover that they are a survivor, don’t hold that against them. And if you are inclined to go the extra mile, actively hiring survivors in a safe work environment can help to change the cultural narrative around VAW and support survivors in becoming financially independent. For example, a café in India is run entirely by survivors of acid attacks aiding in their rehabilitation and independence. Remember: many VAW survivors who are actively searching for work are in the process of rebuilding their lives and are determined to do well at work.

___________________________________________________________

All pictures used are Creative Commons images (from top to bottom):

Transforming Personal Pain Into Positive Action: The Pixel Project’s 16 Female Role Models 2017

Posted on by

Today is the first day of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence 2017 campaign and The Pixel Project is kicking things off with our 6th annual list of 16 female role models fighting to end violence against women in their communities. The intent of this list is simple: to highlight the good work of the heroines of the movement to end violence against women wherever they are in the world. The women and girls in this year’s list hail from 15 countries and 6 continents.

Many of these outstanding women and girls have shown that it is possible to transform personal pain that came out of facing gender-based violence, into positive action to stop violence against women, empower themselves and to show other survivors that it is possible to move forward with dignity and happiness. They have refused to let bitterness and pain get the better of them, opting to stand up for themselves and for other women and girls instead.

Others on this list may not have experienced gender-based violence inflicted on themselves but they have stepped up to do what is right: to speak up for women and girls who cannot do it for themselves, sometimes at great personal risk. All this requires immense courage, generosity of spirit and a strong, enduring heart.

Without further ado, here in alphabetical order by first name is our 2017 list of 16 female role models. We hope that these women would be an inspiration to others to get involved with the cause. To that end, we hope you will generously share this list via Facebook and Twitter to give these extraordinary 16 women and their work a moment in the sun.

It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.

Note: Information for all role model profiles is sourced via online research and is based on one or more news sources, articles and/or The Pixel Project’s own interviews with them. The main articles/reports from which these profiles have been sourced can be directly accessed via the hyperlinked titles. Please do click through to learn more about these remarkable women.

Written and compiled by Regina Yau

______________________________________________________________________

Female Role Model 1: Ana Salvá – Spain

Bangkok-based Spanish freelance journalist Ana Salva arrived in Southeast Asia in 2014, eventually focusing on reporting about violence against women in Cambodia. In 2016, she began investigating the crime of forced marriage and forced pregnancy under the Khmer Rouge regime and its impact on the mental and physical health of women. This resulted in an incisive article published by The Diplomat – “The Forced Pregnancies of the Khmer Rouge”. She said: “The international criminal laws continue to lack [interest] to address gender crimes that have impacted women worldwide. And for forced pregnancy, a lot of cases are forgotten. No international courts have pursued forced pregnancy to date. That is the problem for the future too, I think.”

Female Role Model 2: Anuja Gupta – India

Anuja Gupta is one of India’s leading experts on the issue of incest/child sexual abuse. In 1996, at a time when no one in the country was talking about this taboo subject, Anuja started the non-profit RAHI Foundation, India’s first incest/child sexual abuse response organisation. RAHI’s work has laid the foundation for this issue to come to light and continues to shape the way it is addressed in the country. Anuja said: “Everyone has to make violence against women and children their issue and I think the strongest action we can take is to not lose momentum regardless of our social or political contexts. No matter how far away it may seem, always keep an eye on the goal of a world free of violence.”

Female Role Model 3: Carrie Goldberg – United States of America

Carrie Goldberg is a pioneer in the field of sexual privacy who uses her legal expertise and the law to defend victims of revenge porn and other forms of cyber violence against women. The impetus for starting her own firm to tackle the issue of online sexual privacy and harassment came when she was harassed by a vengeful ex who threatened to send intimate pictures she’d given him to her professional colleagues. Today, her law firm, C.A. Goldberg, PLLC focuses on Internet privacy and abuse, domestic violence, and sexual consent. Goldberg is also a Board Member and Volunteer Attorney at the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative and its End Revenge Porn campaign.

Female Role Model 4: Daisy Coleman – United States of America

Daisy Coleman was 14 when she was raped and left on her family’s front lawn in the small town where she grew up, enduring a backlash from the townsfolk who subjected her to intense victim-blaming, cyberbullying, and slut-shaming. Today, Coleman is an anti-sexual assault activist and co-founder of SafeBAE (Safe Before Anyone Else) to help prevent sexual violence and educate young people in the U.S. about the issue and to stand together with teen sex assault victims. As part of her work, she also appeared in Netflix’s documentary Audrie & Daisy about her experience.

Female Role Model 5: Hera Hussain – Pakistan and the United Kingdom

Hera Hussain is the founder of Chayn, a UK-based open source gender and tech project that builds platforms, toolkits, and runs hackathons to empower women facing violence and the organisations supporting them. Chayn’s resources and services include pro bono work for anti-violence against women organisations as well as a groundbreaking toolkit for women who want to build their own Domestic Violence case is so valuable to women who cannot afford legal representation. She says: “Tech gives us the chance to reach a wide audience on shoe-string budget and enable those women who are looking to understand what is happening to them and what to do about it.”

Female Role Model 6: Karla Jacinto – Mexico

Karla Jacinto was lured into forced prostitution at the age of 12 by a human trafficker who offered her money, gifts and the promise of a better life. By age 16, she estimates that she had been raped 43,200 times as she was forced to service up to 30 men a day daily for four years. Karla was rescued in 2008 as part of an anti-trafficking operation in Mexico City and is now fighting back against Mexico’s human trafficking crisis by raising awareness of how the criminals work so potential victims can spot red flags.

Female Role Model 7: Kerstin Weigl – Sweden

Kerstin Weigl is a journalist who has been awarded the “Lukas Bonnier´s Grand  Prize for Journalism” for her unique study of all the women who have died in Sweden as a result of violence in close relationships during the 2000s. The investigation was undertaken together with Kristina Edblom, for the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, uncovering and reporting the stories of 267 women since the series began. Kerstin is also the co-founder of Cause of Death: Woman, an investigative report on violence against women the US, South Africa, Egypt, Sweden, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Congo, Spain and Russia.

Female Role Model 8: Malebogo Malefhe – Botswana

In 2009, Malebogo Malefhe was shot eight times by her boyfriend, putting her in a wheelchair for life. Malefhe, a former basketball player for Botswana’s national team, has devoted herself to fighting domestic violence in her native Botswana and combatting culturally-ingrained victim-blaming by teaching women that it is not their fault when men hurt them. She told NPR: “I tell women to look at the signs while they still have the time. Walk out while they still have the chance. […] I tell women that every time a crime is perpetrated, they should report it. […] Women need education to open them up to the realisation that abuse is prevalent and they need to find ways to overcome it.

Female Role Model 9: Marijana Savic, Serbia

In 2004, Marijana Savic founded Atina as part of the response of “the women’s movement in Serbia to the problem of human trafficking, and non-existence of adequate programmes of long-term support for the victims and help in their social inclusion”. Atina became the first safehouse for victims of trafficking in the country and provides comprehensive support for survivors of violence, exploitation and human trafficking in Serbia. Marijana said: “A person who survived violence needs more than accommodation. […] A right solution for many women is to get support from the community, to understand why the violence is happening, to have full support in safe place, which does not always have to be a safe house.”

Female Role Model 10: Paradise Sourori – Afghanistan

Paradise Sourori is Afghanistan’s first female rapper. Over the last eight years, she has had to flee her country twice, received numerous threats of rape, death, and acid attacks as well as being brutally beaten by 10 men on the street – all because she refuses to stop singing about the gender-based violence and injustices suffered by Afghan women. “[The police] told me I should stop singing,” says Paradise. “That’s when I knew that if I stayed silent, nothing would change.” Today she has resettled in Berlin, Germany and continues to make her music to champion Afghan women.

Female Role Model 11: Ronelle King – Barbados

Ronelle King is a rape and sexual assault survivor who had enough of the nonchalant cultural and social attitude towards violence against women and girls in Barbados. She “had the idea to start a hashtag that would create a forum for Caribbean women to share their daily experiences of sexual harassment and abuse” and so the #LifeInLeggings hashtag and movement was born. The movement has spread rapidly throughout the Caribbean region, The National Women’s Commission of Belize supports the group and UN Women has partnered with them to assist with regional projects.

Female Role Model 12:  Saida Ali – Kenya

Saida Ali was 16 when her older sister fled back to her family home after being assaulted by her husband. Ali helped her sister leave the abusive marriage and that was the start of her lifelong commitment to stopping violence against women. Today, Saida is the executive director of Kenya’s Coalition on Violence Against Women, taking on domestic violence and rape cases across Kenya. Her campaign, Justice for Liz, was waged on behalf of a schoolgirl who was raped and left for dead. The campaign garnered international media attention and the perpetrators were eventually jailed.

Female Role Model 13: Samra Zafar – United Arab Emirates and Canada

Samra Zafar arrived in Canada as a 16-year-old bride in an arranged marriage to an abusive husband who beat, controlled, and raped her. Determined to escape her marriage, she managed to squirrel away a few hundred dollars now and then even though her husband forced her to give up her earnings to him. With her savings and multiple scholarships, she funded her education, earning Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Economics from the University of Toronto with the highest distinctions. Today, Samra is the founder of Brave Beginnings, an organisation dedicated to helping women rebuild their lives after oppression and abuse.

Female Role Model 14: Sharmin Akter – Bangladesh

Sharmin Akter was only 15 years old when her mother attempted to coerce her into marriage to a man decades older than her. However, instead of surrendering to family wishes, she spoke up to protest for her right to an education. In recognition of her courage, she was awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award from the US State Department. Sharmin is now studying at Jhalakathi Rajapur Pilot Girls High School to fulfil her goal to become a human rights lawyer fighting against the harmful tradition of forced marriages.

Female Role Model 15: Stephanie Harvey – Canada

Stephanie Harvey is a five-time world champion in competitive Counter-Strike, and longtime female pro-gaming icon. In her 16 years in e-Sports as a player and 7 years as a games developer, she has routinely pushed back and spoken out against toxic misogyny, sexism, and the chronic online harassment of female gamers that is endemic in the gaming world. As part of her activism, she co-founded MissCliks, a gaming community group currently focused on “recognising the under-representation of women as role models in geek and gaming culture, giving support and exposure to those female role models, and helping to create a culture of authenticity, advocacy, unity, and bravery.”

Female Role Model 16: Vera Baird – United Kingdom

Commissioner Dame Vera Baird is an outspoken advocate for stopping violence against women in her capacity as the police and crime commissioner for Northumbria. She has publicly spoken out against a judge who made victim-blaming comments regarding a rape case and was recently negotiating with local government officials in an attempt to stop the withdrawal of funding for women’s refuges in Sunderland. Prior to becoming a police commissioner, she was a lawyer who championed feminist protesters, took on pregnancy discrimination cases, and influenced law in domestic violence cases. Baird was made a Dame in December 2016 in recognition of her life-long fight for gender equality.

___________________________________________________________________

Photo Credits:

  1. Ana Salvá – From “Q&A: Journalist Ana Salvá on the Crimes of Forced Marriage and Forced Pregnancy Under the Khmer Rouge” (VOA Cambodia)
  2. Anuja Gupta – Courtesy of the RAHI Foundation
  3. Carrie Goldberg – From http://www.cagoldberglaw.com/team/carrie-goldberg/
  4. Daisy Coleman – Courtesy of Safebae.org
  5. Hera Hussain – Courtesy of Hera Hussain
  6. Karla Jacinto – From “Human Trafficking Survivor Karla Jacinto Was Raped 43,200 Times as a Teen, Now She’s Telling Her Story to Congress and the Pope” (Seventeen)
  7. Kerstin Weigl – From https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kerstin_Weigl_2015-11-06_001.jpg
  8. Malebogo Malefhe – From “Shot By Her Boyfriend And Now Using A Wheelchair, She Found A ‘New Me’” (Ryan Eskalis/NPR)
  9. Marijana Savic – From “Four women’s rights activists you need to know” (Atina/UNFPA)
  10. Paradise Sorouri – From “Afghanistan’s first female rapper: ‘If I stay silent, nothing will change’” (Eliot Stein/The Guardian)
  11. Ronelle King – From https://www.youtube.com/user/purehazeleyes
  12. Saida Ali – From “The Activist Taking On Patriarchy To End Domestic Violence In Kenya” (The Huffington Post)
  13. Samra Zafar – From “The Good Wife” (Luis Mora/Toronto Life)
  14. Sharmin Akter – From “Fighting Early Marriage: Bangladeshi girl to receive US award” (The Daily Star)
  15. Stephanie Harvey – Courtesy of Stephanie Harvey
  16. Vera Baird – From “Northumbria Police boss Vera Baird made a Dame in New Year’s Honours list” (www.chroniclelive.co.uk)