Moving Forward: Supporting Survivors of Sexual Harassment
A recent report by Deloitte paints a disturbing picture – a staggering 43% of female respondents across 5000 subjects and 10 countries reported experiencing workplace harassment, microaggressions, or both. These numbers underscore the urgent need for organizations to establish robust and comprehensive support systems for survivors of sexual harassment.
Workplace sexual harassment has a profound and demonstrably detrimental impact on individuals. It can be demotivating, suppress productivity, and constitute a blatant violation of an employee’s fundamental right to a dignified and harassment-free work environment. While robust legal frameworks exist, eradicating sexual harassment entirely is a complex and long-term endeavor.
The onus thus falls upon organizations to foster a more supportive environment. This necessitates empowering survivors to heal, regain confidence, and re-emerge as productive members of the workforce. Moving forward is crucial for survivors, and organizations must consider providing necessary resources to facilitate this process.
Building a Wall Against Sexual Harassment: Multifaceted Support for Survivors
Treat with Empathy: The Internal Committee
◉ Unwavering Confidentiality: Maintaining confidentiality is paramount to protecting the survivor’s privacy. IC members must ensure that all details of the complaint and any related information are securely handled and disclosed only on a need-to-know basis.
◉ Creation of a Safe Space: While efforts must be made to encourage speaking up, ICs need to create a safe and secure environment where survivors feel empowered to speak without the fear of retribution or judgment. Encouraging open communication while ensuring protection and support is essential.
◉ Unwavering Impartiality: Setting aside personal biases is crucial for IC members. They must provide objective support and ensure that their actions and decisions are fair and just, focusing solely on the facts and the survivor’s best interests.
◉ Training goes a long way in helping IC members enhance their ability to understand and support a survivor’s emotional well-being, fostering a more compassionate and effective response to complaints.
Providing Support: The Employer
◉ Robust PoSH policies: Policies must go beyond the standard frameworks of mere compliance to meet the needs of the organization. PoSH policies must also define the ambit of support that can be provided to an aggrieved employee, assuring the confidence of their workforce in the Employer’s vision to create a safe workplace.
◉ Confidential and Safe Reporting Channels: Employers can set up multiple channels for reporting incidents – hotlines, email addresses, suggestion boxes, etc., ensuring they are accessible and secure. Such measures assure employees that their voices will be heard without retaliation.
◉ Ensure Non-Retaliation: Employers must protect complainants from any form of retaliation or victimization for coming forward with their complaint and take strict action against anyone attempting to intimidate or retaliate against the complainant.
◉ Regular Follow-Up: Recognizing the impact of sexual harassment on an employee is vital to ensuring that justice is provided. In this context, Employers must make concentrated efforts to follow up on aggrieved employees, offering any sort of support they might require at the workplace and ensuring that they are not being subject to retaliation.
◉ Facilitating access to Support Groups / Counseling: Depending on the need, Employers can look into connecting survivors to support groups or provide access to counseling facilities, to help them cope with the trauma.
Formalizing these services within the POSH policy demonstrates a commitment to the well-being of survivors and fosters trust.
Parting Thoughts: Building a Culture of Respect
If Employers are committed to creating a safe workplace, building a culture of respect is an intentional and ongoing journey. This journey requires regular reviews and evaluations of existing policies to ensure they meet the evolving needs of the organization and incorporate emerging best practices. Rigorous implementation is essential, with a focus on comprehensive training that helps employees understand the context and necessity of the policies, recognize harassment, and be aware of the various reporting channels. These policies must be applied consistently across the organization, without exception.
Furthermore, establishing mechanisms to gather employee feedback on existing challenges and the effectiveness of current programs is crucial for continuous improvement. By fostering a culture of respect and providing unwavering support, organizations can become strongholds against sexual harassment in the workplace. Through these sustained efforts, they can create an environment where all employees feel safe, valued, and respected.