Samia (pseudonym) worked in an RMG factory in Dhaka and was liked by her supervisors due to her hard work and commitment to work. However, recently she was found to be performing poorly and unmotivated to work. Eventually, she stopped going into work and left her job in a few days. Later, it was revealed that she was continuously facing sexual harassment by a male co-worker and was hesitant to report the incident to the authorities. The series of sexual harassment affected her mental health badly and she ultimately dropped out of work.
Many girls like Samia, whether in RMG or other sectors, face sexual harassment of different forms at their workplaces, which remains underreported and overlooked. Do employers realize how such incidents of sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the long run affect productivity and efficiency of the workforce? Can investing in prevention of such cases ensure a safer and more conducive work environment for all?
Official statistics from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in 2018 show that among the 60.8 million employed, an estimated 7.4% of women have faced some form of sexual harassment and gender-based violence at their workplaces, which in reality could be much higher, as such cases are usually not reported.
According to another study conducted by Karmojibi Nari and Care Bangladesh, about 12.7% of women employees face sexual harassment at their workplaces. In 2019, ActionAid Bangladesh published a report, where they surveyed 200 RMG workers and found that 80% of them had experienced or witnessed abuse at work.
How can employers prevent such incidents of sexual harassment and gender-based violence and create a safer work environment for all? By adopting a gender-transformative approach to ensure rights at work.
Gender equality is at the core of human rights and is an important prerequisite to ensuring rights at work. Organizations can introduce gender transformative frameworks through a management process that includes introduction and embedment of gender sensitive policies in the work practices, risk management tools that will help to strengthen the prevention mechanism, and grievance handling tools to report and address any instances, so employees have trust in the system.
In Bangladesh, just like many parts of the world, women are expected to play multiple roles in their day-to-day lives. This often makes employers assume that women cannot handle management responsibilities. A deep gender disparity exists inside the industry structure, with employers ultimately employing women often only in menial roles.
Misogynistic jibes like “women cannot manage” hinder their efforts to climb the ladder. There are few initiatives to change the status quo. And when women are not in leadership roles, the existent power imbalance often contributes to the tendency of sexual harassment by men.
It is important that organizations understand that gender intersects with other social markers of inequality like race, age, economic class etc, creating additional challenges. Gender bias, racial bias, and patriarchy are often instilled unconsciously by people in organizations which lead to such cases of harassment and abuse in the workplaces.
Women working in management positions itself strengthens the gender profile of a company, attracting other skilled women to join and improve the gender balance in its environment. Having women in management, particularly in mid-management positions, also helps a company deal with gender-related issues far more wisely than they could do otherwise.
Studies by UN Women and ILO show that women have a more gender-sensitive lens, and empathy towards their female team members in supervisory roles. This empathy will ensure a better working environment for all. Research conducted by BRAC in the RMG sector also found that women feel more comfortable working under female supervisors, as male supervisors can intimidate their female subordinates. Female counterparts were found to be more empathetic and supportive.
Women who experience sexual harassment at work often go through extended periods of low work productivity, and have lower job satisfaction, according to a 2021 study by Women's Rights Group Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware). Recent findings from an American research institute have also found that over a quarter of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and of those women, 46% say that harassment caused them to leave jobs or switch careers.
If key stakeholders take urgent actions to upskill working women and create safe workspaces for them, it could help ensure an enabling environment for them to thrive. Intervention at the policy level, incentives from the government and initiatives by factory owners, managers and industry organizations can bring important, much-needed solutions to the industry.
Jenefa Jabbar is Director, Social Compliance and Safeguarding, BRAC Email: [email protected].
