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

A secretary relates her feelings of anger, distress, inadequacy, and
embarrassment when, as a junior secretary, she was continually harassed
by a hot tempered and demanding boss who threw tantrums regularly,
and made threats such as “I will shove my thumb in your arse-hole, if you
can’t work any faster!” The boss in question usually apologized to the
woman later on, after he calmed down; yet, this did not deter the employee
from asking for/and getting a transfer to another department, despite the
boss being the Chairman of the company. Fortunately, the Personnel
Manager (a woman) had been very supportive of the secretary in this
instance.
It must be emphasized that sexual harassers are not only people in authority,
but also colleagues and subordinates. Case studies convey that when sexual
harassment takes place in the workplace, involving two employees,
management can be very lax in taking action.
Women were also exposed to sexual harassment around the workplace
by habitual ’perverts’ who stalked areas where women were known to
congregate, such as in the Free Trade Zones 1 . Women workers also state
that if the workplace was located in a lonely stretch of land or if the
surrounding approach was poorly lit, there were often men who lurk around
to harass them.
External studies as well as the fieldwork convey that there is a tendency
on the part of work institutions to disbelieve the victim or make light of the
incident.
Case studies demonstrate how the management often sides with the male
perpetrator, resulting in the further penalization of the victim. For this reason,
many victims do not report instances of sexual harassment.
Malini (a travel executive/a single woman of 30 years) related her
experience of how the manager (a married man) of a division in a large
company, in which she worked, had asked her to work late; and started
offering her lifts home. The only time that she did accept a ride home
(after a company function) he made a pass at her during the drive. When
Malini rejected his advances; he had thereafter made it extremely difficult
for her to work in that division by continually harassing her verbally, as
well as via nuisance calls and anonymous letters.
Finally, Malini had complained to the Managing Director of the company
but she was not believed. In the meanwhile, the harasser had related a
completely different version to the MD, in which he had made himself
2
Free Trade Zones or industrial estates.
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