This is a true incident that explores the various dimensions of sexual harassment at the workplace.
Shereen (name changed), a nurse in a well-known hospital, has been receiving a lot of unwelcome attention by a famous cardiac surgeon in the hospital. Shereen, who works as a nurse in the Operation Theatre often assists the doctor in his operations. She finds his arm casually brushing against her when she hands over surgical instruments to him. On another instance, in the pretext of greeting her in the morning with a handshake, he held her hand longer than appropriate.
In yet another incident while seated next to him during a meeting, he put his arm casually around her shoulders, when he arrived to take his seat, and commented on how “pretty” she looked and how she “brightened the place like a 1000-watt bulb!”
The doctor was highly regarded by his colleagues, patients and the management. Shereen wondered if she were imagining. Had she done something to invite this kind of behaviour? She felt increasingly embarrassed to be seen around the doctor. Yet she also valued the professional opportunity of working with him. She became increasingly unsure of herself and began to frequently absent herself from work on some pretext or the other. She heaved a sigh of relief on the days when the doctor did not report for work.
Shereen did not know whom to talk to regarding this. Even if she did, she was sure nobody would believe her! She soon began to develop frequent headaches, crying spells, inability to concentrate and sleeplessness. When she consulted a physician, he did not find anything of concern. Desperate, she decided to resign from her job.
Barriers to reporting
Sexual harassment is about gender, sexuality, power relationships, dominance and victimization that it is about sex itself. It results from misuse or abuse of power—not from sexual attraction as it reflects disparity in power between perpetrator and victim, which mirrors the power differentials between women and men in society. In Shereen’s instance, the doctor’s remarks and conduct made her feel uncomfortable , sexually objectified. Besides the act was unwelcome (as perceived by Shereen). While the doctor may have argued that it was not his intent to sexually harass her, the impact of his behaviour was deeply disturbing for her. Like most people experiencing unwelcome acts that are sexual in nature, Shereen felt guilty and blamed herself for having invited such behaviour. Yet she felt unsure of herself and wondered whom to talk to regarding this deeply disturbing behaviour.
In addition, the 4S—Stigma, Shame, secrecy and Silence around sexual harassment are powerful deterrents that inhibit women from reporting sexual harassment at the workplace.
Victims/survivors of sexual harassment do not come forward to report because:
- They blame themselves and wonder if they invited it in some way
- They feel ashamed for what happened
- They are accused of damaging the reputation of the perpetrators
- They are accused of creating adverse publicity for the organisation
- They fear retaliation and hostile work environment
- They fear they may be unhirable
- They fear long drawn leal proceedings
- They fear intrusive media probing
What is the Rape Culture?
- Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture.
- Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic (language that demeans and insults women) language, objectification of women’s bodies, and glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.
- Rape Culture affects every woman and every person irrespective of their self-identification on the gender spectrum. The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behaviour because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape. This cycle of fear is the legacy of Rape Culture.
Examples of Rape Culture
- Blaming the victim (“She asked for it!”)
- Trivializing sexual assault (“Boys will be boys!”)
- Sexually explicit jokes
- Tolerance of sexual harassment
- Inflating false rape report statistics
- Publicly scrutinizing a victim’s dress, mental state, motives, and history
- Gratuitous gendered violence in movies and television
- Defining “manhood” as dominant and sexually aggressive
- Defining “womanhood” as submissive and sexually passive
- Pressure on men to “score”
- Pressure on women to not appear “cold”
- Assuming only promiscuous women get raped
- Assuming that men don’t get raped or that only “weak” men get raped
- Refusing to take rape accusations seriously
- Teaching women to avoid getting raped instead of teaching men not to rape
Watch this space to read Dr. Nandini Murali discuss different facets of a topic in series over a month. Offering a 360-degree view, she takes readers into the different dimensions through anecdotes, backing them with data.
