WHEN WILL AU HAVE SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY?

A woman is the mother of the race and the future of all generations. Women constitute one half of the humanity and they are the pivots around which the family moves.

She’s looked upon as the nourisher, provider, counsellor, developer and the sharer of all the joys and surrounds of the family. From ancient time, the concept of working women came into existence. In addition to the domestic sphere, women have taken professional roles outside their homes, this evolved into a dual role of employed women and home-maker.

Sexual harassment in workplace is a serious irritating factor that renders women’s involvement in works unsafe and affects their right to work with dignity. It is unwelcome verbal, visual or physical conduct of a sexual nature that is severe and affects working conditions.

Generally, sexual harassment is a sexually-oriented conduct that may endanger the survivor’s job, negatively affect the victim’s job performance or undermine the victim’s personal dignity. It may manifest itself physically or psychologically. Its milder and subtle forms may imply verbal innuendo, inappropriate affectionate gestures or propositions for dates and sexual favours.

Recently, the African Union has been embroiled in sexual harassment claims and many of its survivor are believed to be short-term staff, youth volunteers, interns and permanent staff. But it is very surprising that the AU has no policy on sexual harassment and a framework where survivors can report the malpractice.

As President Paul Kagame is championing the reforms at the AU, the plight of women should also be included in the reform package to save the reputation and integrity of this grouping, many has described as a bull dog without teeth.

For a policy to be effective, it has to be applied consistently without looking at seniority and gender  and if wrongdoing is found, there have to be consequences that are disclosed not only to the person who complained but also to the entire AU. This will send a message that the anticipated policies will not only be on paper but in action as well.

Sexual harassment policies, like ethics policies, are only as good as the managers who implement them and are responsible for making sure there is broad compliance.

Healthy relationships, in all their wonderful diversity, are based on concepts of open communication and respect for each other’s autonomy and connectedness. In healthy relationships, people cultivate each other’s worth, as well as demonstrate willingness to reach a middle ground and to contribute to the betterment of the other.

As the world commemorates and reflects on the 16 days of activism, the AU should remember its role of promoting human dignity, equality, non-racialism and non-sexism among its workers.

Sexual harassment at workplaces destroys the meaning behind an institution and the feeling of a safe environment. No man or woman deserves to be abused. The abuser is the one who should take responsibility of the violence occurring, not the survivor. The reason I say this is because most of the time the victim of the relationship is looked down upon and blamed because ‘they asked for it’.

One of the most frequent human rights violations in the world today is violence against women. There is a large amount of evidence that women are subjected to sexual harassment, significantly more often than men. The situation becomes worse if a woman is economically or socially dependent on the abuser, which is the case in most situations.

The AU should take precautions and create policies against sexual harassment, however, the social views on sexual violence vary, in many places outside the AU, the concept in general is very poorly understood. This is because in most of these countries, assume relation between a man and woman is not considered one of equals, but instead one.

Not only the AU, other organisations must also have primary prevention strategies that are understood as those that aim to stop sexual harassment before it starts by addressing the social determinants of the problem, rather than by responding to the problem after it has occurred or seeking to minimise its impact. Recognising violence against women is prevalent, serious and preventable.

Simultaneously, there is a growing evidence base to demonstrate that the primary prevention of violence against women is an effective strategy to reduce the significant health, economic and social burdens associated with this problem.

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