Eliminating Violence Against Women: Providing For a Safe Workplace Culture
Women all across the world face gender-based violence in some way or the other. This can come off as derogatory comments, visual material that is pornographic, comments about the body, spreading rumors, rape, and more.
Despite major advancements in society today, the plight of women remains the same. Many women still face humiliation, unwelcomed jokes, comments, etc. Moreover, women find it hard to report such issues because of fear, social reputation, professional image, loss of residency, etc.
We can stop violence against women by empowering them to be courageous, adopting inclusive approaches to address the root causes of violence, un-following faulty social norms, and with adequate financing and support for women’s rights.
November 25th- A Day Against Gender-Based Violence
Since 1981, Women’s rights activists observe November 25th as the day against gender-based violence. This particular date honors the Mirabal sisters, three political activists from the Dominican Republic who got murdered in 1960 by the country’s ruler.
Consequent to this, General Assembly on 20 December 1993 released a declaration on the elimination of violence against women through resolution 48/104.
Eventually, on 7 February 2000, the assembly through its resolution 54/134 declared November 25th as the International Day for the elimination of violence against women.
Hence, on this date, governments, NGOs, and international organizations work together to raise public awareness to eliminate violence against women.
UNITE! 16 Days of Activism to Terminate Violence against Women & Girls
This year international day for the elimination of violence against women is based on the theme UNITE! On the same theme, a campaign will run from Nov 25 to Dec 10, supporting 16 days of activism.
Celebrated since 2008, this campaign aims to inspire society to become a promoter for the prevention of violence against women, support women’s rights activists, and speak up for the rescinded women’s rights.
How You Can Stop Violence Against Women in the Workplace
Develop a policy
As an organization, you should develop and implement a comprehensive policy for the prevention of sexual harassment. The goal is to cultivate change in the behavior of women and men in the workplace and provide an environment favorable for both.
Some of the features of this policy can be
- Clear organization statement on sexual harassment
- Consequences in case of violation
- Both formal and informal procedures for taking advice, making complaints, etc
- Indication of confidentiality
- Details of the committee members
Raise awareness among employees
Following the creation of a policy on sexual harassment, an employer must raise awareness about the policy and what it includes. This can include information on how to proceed when an employee faces sexual harassment including the consequences in case of violation.
How to raise sexual harassment awareness among employees
- During the onboarding of new employees
- Website display
- Notice, posters, brochures
Training programs
All the staff members should be trained to identify sexual harassment and take action when it happens. Training programs help develop a proper understanding of organizational policy. Here, they learn what behavior is acceptable and what is not, in an environment that supports mutual learning.
Also, training the complaints committee and others who will be points of contact in such sexual harassment cases is essential.
Some of its components include
- Gender sensitization
- Procedure for filing the complaint
- What impact the entire process has on individuals and the workplace
- Understanding policy
Some other measures
- Remove offensive posters, calendars, or other material from the workplace.
- Good ratio of men and women in the workplace
- Sufficient lighting
- A panel consisting of both men and women for decision-making
- Display posters or material to indicate zero tolerance for sexual harassment
All this should be supplanted with a prompt investigation as soon as a complaint of sexual harassment is made. This includes interviewing the complaining employee, the accused, and the witnesses if any. Further, this should be well documented, with a detailed report stating the findings.
Conclusion
An organization should clearly state its reporting mechanism so that employees have a clear direction. Companies that encourage employees to come forward also warn harassers that their acts will not go unpunished.
Therefore not only understanding laws relevant to harassment is crucial for the company but also having a formal harassment policy is necessary, as it helps gain the trust of your employees and improve company culture.
In a virtual workspace, the accuser should keep records, posts, or printed copies of media posts. One such remote company following strict guidelines to stop violence against women is Turing.
At Turing, we provide equality by building trust with the employees, sticking to the policies, and not allowing any employee to escape through the investigation if a complaint has been made.
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