Sex in the workplace

Written by Tendai Maidza
Monday, 06 February 2012 15:54

For years the issue of sexual harassment has been a thorny issue that many would rather skirt due to the subjective nature of the crime. Yet the reality is there are more cases than not which should be getting the attention they deserve to protect innocent victims from such abhorrent treatment at the hands of those you work with.

 

Thembi*, a manager in a prestigious audit firm, used to regularly liaise with a senior male partner regarding clients and audits that she managed and he oversaw. In these meetings, the partner would make remarks about her body, how attractive she was to him and how if she were to date him, she would not need to work. Initially Thembi thought nothing of these remarks and would simply do her best to avoid the partner in question. When she absolutely had to face him and he made inappropriate comments, she would pretend not to hear him. While aware that his behaviour was inappropriate, Thembi chose not to take action, because she thought perhaps she was being “overly sensitive”.

This kind of behaviour is what is defined by the United Nations Development Fund for Women as sexual harassment. Their definition of sexual harassment as “unwelcome or unwanted verbal, non-verbal, physical or visual conduct based on sex or of a sexual nature; the acceptance or rejection of which affects an individual’s employment” differs little from the South African Labour Relations Act’s definition, which states, “Sexual harassment is any unwanted attention of a sexual nature that takes place in the workplace. This is any kind of behaviour that makes you feel uncomfortable.” The Act goes on to list the behaviours that fall into the category, and these include: touching, unwelcome sexual jokes, unwanted questions about your sex life, whistling, rude gestures, requests for sex and staring at your body in an offensive way. The definition is broad enough to cover the basics of sexual harassment, but sexual harassment has taken a shift from the “objectively injurious” to the “merely subjectively offensive” over the years, writes Prof. Ellen Frankel Paul in her essay “Bared Buttocks and Federal Cases”. The subjective nature of sexual harassment makes it particularly difficult to prove, hence individuals who feel harassed often opt not to report the harassment.

 

Objectively injurious or subjectively offensive

 

In South Africa’s first reported sexual harassment case, the female complainant accused the male applicant, a senior executive in the company, of sexually harassing her. She stated that he had “caressed and/or slapped her buttocks and fondled her breasts”. This is quite obviously objectively injurious. She resorted to asking him to remain on the other side of the desk whenever he entered her office. In this case, it seems fairly obvious that the complainant was being harassed, but this did not stop the applicant from claiming that his behaviour was “no more than mildly flirtatious … Mediterranean type behaviour”.

In the more complex cases where sexual harassment is merely “subjectively offensive”, it is even more difficult to prove that the perpetrator was not merely being flirtatious. As Thembi points out, had she been attracted to the partner, his remarks would have been accepted as compliments and might even have been appreciated. According to a ruling in the Labour Court, “Sexual harassment does not refer to behaviour or compliments that are acceptable to the recipient, nor to the mutual attraction between people that must be treated as a private concern.”

 

Many disempowered women still silently put up with the worst kind of humiliation at the hands of their male counterparts who seem to regard it as a “corporate perk” to be able to behave in any manner they choose. One often hears stories of young or disadvantaged female employees who are harassed by senior managers. Their advances are tolerated and sometimes even seem to be encouraged because the disempowered woman who is desperate for a job is helpless due to her level within the organisation and limited options regarding employment possibilities. The position of women (often, but not always, the victims in sexual harassment cases) in society sometimes leaves them vulnerable to these unwanted advances.

Sexual harassment in Africa

The reality in Africa, where the rights of women exist on paper but are yet to be fully realised in the workplace, is that women are sometimes regarded as objects, and men can behave towards them in any manner they choose. Abuses of women and their rights in the workplace are rampant, yet they fail to get the attention and condemnation they deserve.

 

A story is told about a 22-year-old female receptionist for a newspaper who was forced to have an abortion by a senior colleague, with whom she had been having an affair. When she eventually reported that she had been coerced into the affair, the senior colleague claimed the reason why he had demanded she terminate her pregnancy was because he was “sharing her” with another senior staff member and they were therefore uncertain of the child’s paternity. The young woman admitted to having been involved with both men but only out of fear of losing her job.

This view of women as commodities pervades many African societies and is often carried into the workplace. In the absence of policies or structures that allow individuals to address these issues in the workplace, the situation will persist. According to South African labour law, the protection of employees from sexual harassment is the responsibility of the employer, and most companies now have sexual harassment policies and means to address such cases when they arise.

When the tables are turned

One would think that in the new millennium, in which women have as many rights as men and in theory are on a level playing field with their male counterparts, the problem would either be diminished or there would be more men complaining of being harassed by their powerful female superiors, like Jennifer Aniston’s character in Horrible Bosses. It is possible that female harassment of male subordinates or colleagues exists, but the incidents are not being reported, because just as it was in the movie, a man being sexually harassed by his female boss is usually comedic, and no-one takes it seriously.

 

However, more men have been reporting cases of harassment, and surprisingly, this increase is largely due to male-on-male sexual harassment and is not necessarily perpetrated by gay men on other homosexual men. The fact that the men perpetrating the harassment are seeking to embarrass their male victims – not sexually stimulate or flirt with them – makes male-on-male harassment a particularly vicious abuse of power. In the United States, the courts have been recognising same-sex harassment for about 20 years, yet men harassed by other men still seem to be reluctant to report the matter for fear of ridicule and mockery by co-workers. “In truth, sexual harassment of both genders has more to do with issues of control and abuses of power for the purpose of humiliation than with sexual attraction,” wrote Newsweek’s Krista Gesaman wrote in a 2010 article entitled “Abuse of Power”.

The flipside

While the topic of sex in the workplace often conjures up images and tales of harassment and unfair treatment, there are those who feel that sex and sexuality are such a natural part of who we are, there is no reason why we should not incorporate them into our work lives. There are men who will honestly and openly admit to giving jobs or promotions to women in whom they are interested or with whom they are sleeping. Women are often less willing to admit to using their sexuality to gain advantages in the workplace, probably because it lowers their credibility in a world that is so merit driven. However, in a more permissive society, sleeping your way to the top could be seen as a sign of an empowered woman who will utilise every weapon in her arsenal to get to where she wants to be professionally. This “empowered woman” image can backfire as the line between driven and willing to do anything and easy or cheap is very fine one.

 

The reality of workplace sex or sexual relationships is not as glamorous or even as harmless as the image of an empowered woman sleeping her way to the top would suggest. The reality is that even when these kinds of arrangements start out consensually, they involve a great deal of deceit, manipulation and sometimes even unethical behaviour – and most end in bitterness and disgrace, as the American Republican presidential candidate hopeful Herman Cain learnt when he had to abandon his ambitions when he couldn’t stave off sexual-harassment rumours towards the end of last year.

 

Should you need more information on handling sexual harassment in the workplace, visit www.labour.gov.za/legislation/codes-of-good-practise/labour-relations/code-of-good-practice-on-handling-sexual-harassment-cases. Such matters can also be referred to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (www.ccma.org.za) or civil or criminal charges can be pressed.

* Name has been changed.