Equal Opportunities Work - Theories about Practice

particularly problematic, because such harassment takes place in situations
where the parties involved have highly differing opinions regarding what is
going on along the spectrum ranging from kind, encouraging attitudes to
sexually offensive behavior. How are matters decided in a court of law when
one person's word stands against another's?
The preparatory work for the Equal Opportunities Act indicates that it is to
be up to the person being subjected to the behavior to decide whether or not it
is acceptable, and to define what is offensive. Are we to read this as meaning
that the way one human being approaches another may only be defined as
sexual harassment if and only if the one party goes on trying to approach the
other after an initial rejection? And if so, what are we to do about the very
common reaction among people who are subjected to such behavior: feelings
of guilt and shame and the concomitant silence?
Although the legal complexities of these issues are beyond the scope of this
booklet, let us make a cursory examination of the relationship between the law
and equal opportunities work. Of course, pursuing equal opportunities work at
one's organization includes ensuring that the Equal Opportunities Act is
complied with. But that is not sufficient. We must also see the legislation as an
opening to work with all sex and gender related problems in the work
environment, in the broadest and deepest sense of the terms. If an unwelcome
approach cannot be regarded as a violation of the law, does that necessarily
make it unproblematic in terms of equality of opportunity? Of course not.
Another intention stated in the preliminary work for the legislation is that
the Act is to safeguard individual integrity at work and in the workplace.
Although sexually offensive behavior that takes place outside the workplace is
not criminaltzed under the Equal Opportunities Act, it may be punishable by
law pursuant to the Penal Code. If a teacher is at a party with his or her
students, is he or she on duty? If he or she makes a sexual approach to a
student, is that criminal, if not as a violation of the Equal Opportunities Act
then perhaps under the heading of "sexual molestation"? And if it is not
punishable by law at all, what can we do about it in our capacity as equal
opportunities officials at our places of work?
Working with sexual harassment must mean more than ensuring that the
Equal Opportunities Act is complied with. In my view, it is vital that we not
become fixated with the idea of filing formal reports or making informal
verbal ones, or with wondering about what punishment might fit the offense,
or with identifying the perpetrator. All these things may, of course, be
necessary, but truly comprehensive equal opportunities work must focus on
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