It has been a little over a year since the eruption of the #MeToo hashtag, a social media movement of millions of women around the world who have been victims of sexual assault at some point in their lives. The movement has been a showing of solidarity with the women who came out and told their stories of being victims of influential figures like Harvey Weinstein, a famous American film producer who was accused of assaulting dozens of women. The movement shook up communities and businesses throughout several countries as it demonstrated the prevalence of sexual assault in society.
After seeing the impact of #MeToo and realizing how pervasive an issue sexual assault remains today, many businesses have assessed their sexual harassment policies in an attempt to ensure that employees are protected and that they don’t find themselves in legal trouble. However, adding a new policy here and there isn’t enough to enact widespread change. Let’s review some current ways businesses are protecting their employees against sexual assault.
Sexual Assault in the Workplace
According to a Pew Research study from March 2018, 59 percent of women and 27 percent of men said they had personally received unwanted sexual advances or verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature, either in or outside of a work context. However, among women who said they had been sexually harassed, 55 percent said it happened both in and outside of work settings. This suggests that sexual assault does indeed occur in the workplace and that it’s not uncommon. Employers need to take action in order to let their employees know it won’t be tolerated.
Not only is sexual assault a traumatic experience for the victim, as well as legal trouble for the workplace, it can also simply disrupt your employees’ ability to get work done. If one particular employee is traversing the office exhibiting disruptive behavior and being inappropriate, it can make dozens of employees feel uncomfortable and cause a huge distraction. If anyone ever suggests that an employee is being crass or rude, it can be a good idea to keep an ear to the ground to make sure you pick up on any inappropriate behavior so that it can be addressed before it becomes a larger problem.
Even if your workplace has sexual assault policies in place, your business could gain a reputation as a company that tolerates sexual assault unless they are strictly enforced. This could lead to your business being sued if an employee is a victim of sexual assault in the workplace and feels that management did nothing to support or help them. Employers are expected to provide a safe working environment for their employees, and that also means acting on employee harassment complaints before they escalate to assault. Otherwise, an employee could have grounds for filing a case against their employer.
Protecting Employees Against Sexual Assault
To protect employees against sexual assault, many companies have changed their business practices to avoid protecting executives who abuse their power and to retrain employees to recognize signs of harassment and assault. Companies are doing this by analyzing their guidelines and refining out-of-date sexual assault policies that don’t specify the large variety of behaviors that constitute as sexual assault. With more specific guidelines and a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault, there is less inappropriate behavior that employees can get away with out of sheer ignorance.
Businesses can also help protect employees by encouraging them to come forward if they’ve experienced harassment or assault and letting them know their voices will be heard. If there is a severe case of sexual assault in the workplace, employees should be ensured that they will be given any resources or accommodations they need. Employers should be connected with local hospitals, where medical professionals are prepared to provide sexual assault victims with access to forensic examinations, which can open the doors for more victims to receive the vital services that they need in cases of sexual assault.
It’s crucial for business leaders to effectively communicate with their employees about matters such as sexual assault. By actively listening to and addressing employee concerns, business leaders are using an effective communication strategy that will help to limit confusion and misunderstandings.
This subject should never be taken lightly or made into a joke; otherwise, employees may think it is a topic that won’t ever be taken seriously. Leaders who make it clear they do not tolerate any form of sexual assault, even jokes or comments, help to foster an environment that limits these types of behaviors and helps employees to feel safe in their workplace.
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