Continuous education crucial in addressing workplace sexual harassment

Mrs Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive Director, Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), is proposing continuous education and sensitisation of staff on workplace sexual harassment.

She said such a move would empower staff to voice out incidents of sexual harassment in workplaces to curb the menace.

Mrs Narteh who was speaking at Trainer for Trainers’ workshop organised by the GACC, said organisations must inculcate sexual harassment information during the recruitment stage, channels of reporting and arbitration to help reduce such incidents.

The training aimed at promoting the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Action Plan (NACAP) by training institutional partners on some selected NACAP topics to fight corruption in Ghana and promote national development.

Mrs Narteh stated that issues related to sexual harassment were sensitive and required confidential spaces to enable victims to have the courage to report the cases.

“That is why we encourage the need to put in some additional measures by providing confidential avenues where victims of sexual harassment in workplaces could report such cases and have the trust that perpetrators will be dealt with,” she said.

She noted that sexual harassment could happen to both males and females, and that it should not be perceived that only females were always the victims.

“When it comes to sexual harassment, sometimes, women find it difficult to report, especially married women, because of the shame associated with it, particularly in rape cases, because there is a lot she stands to lose,” she said.

The Executive Director advised women to be courageous to report cases of sexual harassment cases to the designated quarters for perpetrators to be dealt with.

She said beyond the workshop, they would be monitoring to see how the participants had taken on the skill and how they were implementing it at their various workplaces.

Madam Bashiratu Kamal, a Gender Specialist, said Gender-Based Violence and Harassment (GBVH) often occurs in the context of an abuse of power, promise of reward and threat of reprisal.

She said it disproportionately affected women but could also be experienced by any worker regardless of their gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.

The Gender Specialist said sexual harassment cases resulted in depression, mental health associated issues and job loss.

She said to reduce the incidence of harassment, there was the need to put in safety measures to ensure that women do not work alone, particularly at night, and provide better systems for protection of women working remotely.

“Effective and trusted complaints systems in place, consultation with workers, and ensuring that women have a voice in raising their concerns and incident response training and raising awareness amongst workers are all ways to mitigate the risks,” Madam Kamal emphasised.