Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - International Labour ...

Women who undergo sexual harassment often experience feelings of guilt,
fear, confusion, anger, inadequacy, powerlessness, shame, betrayal, and
denial. When harasser/s are situated in a position of power, it especially
intensifies the feelings of helplessness experienced by women. Yet, when
women try to seek redress from this form of abuse, they encounter a number
of problems. Women’s assertions of sexual harassment are sometimes
disbelieved by those in positions of authority, or dismissed as trivial by
society.
Often, victims are accused of desiring men’s attention and even blamed
for exposing themselves to sexual harassment by “wearing a short dress or
going out to work”. These kind of insidious patriarchal perceptions do not
hold men accountable for their actions, nor do they denounce the harassers;
rather, they confer the onus of evading harassment on women.
What is of particular note here is the fact that despite increasing
consciousness on the part of women about this form of sex discrimination,
there is still a lack of wide-scale women’s action or public understanding
about these issues of gender, power, sexism and harassment. Furthermore,
there is a lack of understanding or misunderstanding as to what exactly
constitutes sexual harassment, leading to its exclusion from institutional
agendas. One reason for the wide prevalence for sexual harassment is the
fact that most patriarchal cultures sanction the viewing of women primarily
as sexual objects.
However, sexual harassment is not only about sex or the sexual differences
between men and women, nor is it merely about sexuality. Rather, it is
about the power differentials between the sexes. It can also be seen as a
form of institutional micropolitics. Most often than not, sexual harassment
is a method of exerting power over women and controlling their sexuality,
their psyche, their behavior, their mobility, and their rights. The phenomenon
of stalking women then, becomes the most extreme form of controlling the
lives of women.
A study done on gender-based violence in the plantations sector depicts
how tea pluckers are abused at work by people in authority (the Kangani
or field officer). They are targets of obscene language, sexually suggestive
orders, voyeurism, etc. The women in the study contend that they are
easy targets of sexual harassment because they work outdoors; and also
because they are perceived as being vulnerable and powerless to control
their situations. (Wijayatilake 2003)
The following anecdotes illustrate the types of harassment undergone by
women employees’ interviewed for this book. It also demonstrates workplace
attitudes towards these incidents.
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