Every woman is unique and has equal rights. A woman represents a daughter, wife and mother. Women are the live wire of any family in terms of its unity and operation. The recent social media video of some men sexually harassing a female tourist has gone viral. This is a disgrace to Sri Lanka and a black stain on tourism when the nation is in urgent need of tourists. Sri Lanka has a rich cultural and religious heritage where women were respected and cared for. Where are we today in this area of dignified living?
TV and newspapers reports are full of incidents where women have been violated and abused based on gender. One of the common domains of sexual harassment, in a very physical sense occurs in public transport. Take a look at the evening office trains. Vulgar men leaning and pushing on tired office women in overcrowded trains. It happens in buses.
These are mothers and daughters going home. In 2017 a UNFPA study showed that 90 percent of women endure sexual harassment when using public transport. Women in bathing suits are made fun of in swimming pools and beaches, by unruly groups of men. These rude remarks in all situations cause mental stress to women and anger to their families and friends. Some men make fun of women’s clothes, hairstyles and tattoos. How a woman dresses is her business. How we interpret her fashion, should only be within our minds, without undue comment. This shows how low we remain as a civilized society although we have modern skyscrapers in Colombo City. Social media is full of crude jokes making fun of women in every possible way.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination that includes gender harassment (verbal and nonverbal behaviours that convey hostility or second-class status), unwanted sexual attention (verbally or physically unwelcome sexual advances, which can include assault), and sexual coercion (when favourable professional or educational treatment is conditioned on sexual activity). The reports of sexual harassment that have dominated news headlines have illustrated just how pervasive this discriminatory behaviour is in Sri Lanka. Women are harassed even at home by wicked in-laws and insensitive husbands.
Globally women who have remained silent for years are now coming forward and sharing their experiences with sexual harassment that include lewd or denigrating comments, hostile or demeaning jokes, professional sabotage, repeated unwelcome sexual advances, groping, demands for sexual favours, and other offensive and discriminatory actions or language. But Sri Lankan women remain intimidated. Some are stuck with perceived social stigma, with regards to sexual harassment. Another unprofessional conduct by males is hiring women with a perceived beauty (who also give of themselves to their male bosses once employed), against a genuinely qualified woman who is not considered beautiful for the job. This is a shame on Sri Lankan HR practices.
Sexual harassment undermines women’s professional and educational attainment and mental and physical health. When women experience sexual harassment in the workplace, the professional outcomes include declines in job satisfaction; withdrawal from their organisation, declines in organisational commitment (i.e., feeling disillusioned or angry with the organisation); increases in job stress; and declines in productivity or performance. When female students at campus level experience sexual harassment, the educational outcomes includes declines in motivation to attend class, greater truancy, dropping classes, paying less attention in class, receiving lower grades, changing advisors, changing majors, transferring to another educational institution, and dropping out. A classic example in workplace gender bias was when the first woman DIG was appointed in the Sri Lanka Police. She was not duly recognized by her male colleagues, who also wear the same gabardine (khaki) uniform. This made thousands of women to wonder how the police will deal with female public who come to the police stations to make complaints. On behalf of the policewomen over the past decade we have seen policewomen sent for crowd control duty without any protective gear, in the first line to respond to large crowds, who mainly consist of men. Sri Lankan policemen make fun of policewomen who prefer to wear trousers, as opposed to the traditional skirt. This shows the male dominated foolish attitude.
For all Sri Lankan women there are three categories of sexually harassing behaviour: (1) gender harassment (verbal and nonverbal behaviours that convey hostility and exclusion) (2) unwanted sexual attention (verbal or physical unwelcome sexual advances, which can include assault), and (3) sexual coercion (when favorable professional or educational treatment is conditioned on sexual activity). Harassing behaviour can be either direct (targeted at an individual) or ambient (a general level of sexual harassment in an environment). Additionally, any sexual harassment that involves sexual assault is also illegal. Sri Lankan housemaids face harassment and torture in some Middle Eastern nations, and return to the island with no justice.
Hostile work or educational environments can be created by behaviours such as addressing women in crude or objectifying terms, posting pornographic images in the office, and by making demeaning or derogatory statements about women, such as telling anti-female jokes. Hostile environment harassment also encompasses unwanted sexual overtures such as exposing one’s genitals, stroking and kissing someone. Another forgotten group with hardly any rights and respect are the tea plantation workers, who have toiled for generations. They deserve better.
A three-part classification system divides sexual harassment into distinct categories: sexual coercion, unwanted sexual attention, and gender harassment. Sexual coercion entails sexual advances, and makes the conditions of employment contingent upon sexual cooperation. Some researchers further define the verbal insults associated with gender harassment, along with accompanying nonverbal affronts, as micro- aggressions. This term refers to “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioural, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative” messages. How safe are our women when they travel after 9 pm in any city? We have seen cab drivers making sexual advances on single female passengers. We have not seen policewomen making night time patrols alongside their male colleagues, to help and protect other women. What is the reason for this?
Anti–sexual harassment training programmes should focus on changing behaviour, not on changing beliefs. Programmers should focus on clearly communicating behavioural expectations, specifying consequences for failing to meet these expectations, and identifying the mechanisms to be utilized when these expectations are not met. Professional and religious societies should accelerate their efforts to be viewed as organisations that are helping to create culture changes that prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment. In some cases racial harassment in the workplace was the strongest factor associated with severe experiences of sexual harassment.
Standing up for each other
The more often women experience sexual harassment, the more they report symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety, and generally impaired psychological well-being. In addition, disruptions and loss of significant relationships, inside and outside the workplace or academic community, are common. These can include loss of important mentoring or co-worker relationships and strain on family and social relationships, including relationships with intimate partners and social networks.
One way to prevent sexually exploitive situations is for leaders to be explicit and to remind colleagues and students regularly, and formally, that unwanted and coercive behaviour is not permitted. Respectful behaviour is particularly important in preventing sexual harassment because sexual harassment often takes place against a backdrop of incivility in other words, in an environment of generalized disrespect. It's time Sri Lankan women stood up for each other, to begin with. Decent men will not harass a woman anywhere. Men who harass women have unresolved emotional and psychological issues. Our women must have the privacy and confidence to initiate legal proceedings against any form of harassment, without fear. Let us come together to respect and protect our women.
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