Specific laws are required against sexual harassment in workplaces and educational institutions along with proper enforcement techniques to prevent such mishaps, speakers said at a webinar.
The 9th webinar of the Legal Webinar Series of the Academy of Law and Policy (ALAP) in collaboration with Dhaka Tribune was held to discuss matters relating to prevention of sexual harassment at workplaces and educational institutions, a press release said on Sunday.
The discussants at Saturday's webinar were Advocate Fawzia Karim Feroze, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, former president and active member of the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers' Association (BNWLA), member of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and member, Federation of International Women Lawyers' Association (FIDA); Barrister Sajeda Farisa Kabir, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, solicitor of New South Wales Australia, Director of Legal, Safeguarding and Employee Engagement as SAJIDA Foundation; and Dr Mehtab Gazi Rahman, a consultant psychiatrist working under the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom in multiple hospitals across London.
The webinar was moderated by Barrister Nazia Kabir, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh and partner at Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed and Associates.
The webinar began with opening remarks from Barrister Rashna Imam, advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, managing partner, Akhtar Imam and Associates, and founder trustee and executive director, ALAP.
Advocate Fawzia Karim Feroze talked about the background and incidents giving rise to the reason for filing the landmark case of BNWLA vs Government of Bangladesh and Others (2009 29 BLD 415) and the challenges faced in doing so.
She further shed light on guidelines provided under the judgement by the High Court Division, including the various elements incorporated into the definition of “sexual harassment”, at the time, where BNWLA played a major role.
She also pointed out that to men being victims of sexual harassment or acts of harassment vide social media, etc, were not specifically included at the time.
Advocate Fawzia further emphasized that while there may be laws in place, it is the implementation of these laws which is extremely important. In this regard, she stated that “we do not have an enforcement technique”. As such, a specific law on sexual harassment is needed which will cover the harassment of men and transgender as well, along with rules in relation to process and procedure, with a proper enforcement technique. She emphasized that there also needs to be greater awareness.
Barrister Farisa Kabir, talked about the steps taken by Sajida Foundation in order to implement the guidelines formulated by the High Court Division in the 2009 BNWLA case.
She further described certain additional innovative steps and approach taken by Sajida Foundation with an aim to create a good working environment, such as, having in place a “safeguarding committee” which not only deals with complaints purely related to sexual harassment, but also other unacceptable behavioural issues such as harassment, abuse, exploitation, abuse of power or any other conduct that effects the work environment.
The foundation also has an informal complaint mechanism, which helps victims come forward and allows them to get proper help and guidance. She mentioned: “It is about creating a culture, it is about creating a dialogue, that what is expected in a particular organization.”
Barrister Nazia Kabir noted that these innovative steps are “nipping the problem in the bud”, thereby preventing these issues from escalating into something bigger or worse and this can be a good example that other organizations can follow.
Dr Mehtab Gazi Rahman shed light on the issue of sexual harassment from psychological perspectives.
He talked about how any action that causes discomfort can amount to sexual harassment and that most people do not realize what sexual harassment is.
When asked the question of why this happens, he highlighted certain socio-cultural issues – eg the fact that men see women as sexual objects and where gender roles are threatened, they resort to such behaviour as a means to intimidate or victimize women.
He further talked about the importance of creating an organizational culture where such behaviour is not tolerated.
Further, while explaining the impacts on victims of sexual harassment, he explained how victims feel fearful, confused, helpless. While this varies, at times victims may suffer from PTSD or stress which can be quite severe and manifest into physical ailments. This also effects productivity at work. He noted that expert help should be provided to victims, where required. As for the perpetrators of sexual harassment, he explained that they are not “mentally ill”; rather the said behaviour stems from socio-cultural aspects, and therefore they can he helped with counselling.
ALAP is an independent, non-political, non-profit making platform with the main objective of bringing together leading jurists, industry leaders and development partners to discuss current legal and policy issues and challenges facing Bangladesh, to conduct research into these issues, to formulate concrete law and policy reform proposals to be presented to the policy makers, to engage in advocacy and to disseminate knowledge.
