By Charminae George
It started with compliments, then sexual jokes and suspicious physical contact from her superior. Eventually, she found herself in a situation she never imagined she would have to endure.
*Tiara Doe is one of many individuals who have been a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, right here in Antigua and Barbuda.
According to Alexandrina Wong, President of Women Against Rape, the scourge is far from new – and the number of incidents has risen.
“Harassment in the workplace, and more so sexual harassment in the workplace, has been going on for quite some time…but with the reports we have been receiving, it has certainly increased between 10-15 percent including what I have heard from some of my other colleagues,” she told Observer.
Doe recounted the traumatic situation that happened at her workplace, a local hotel, in which her superior was the perpetrator.
“He put his hand into my pants and grabbed my vagina…and he just walked away swiftly. I didn’t get any time to say anything at the moment, but I was shocked, scared,” she told Observer.
This particular incident occurred in 2022, with the signs beginning in 2019.
“At that moment, I honestly wanted to leave. I wanted to stop working but I would be selfish if I do so,” Doe stated, adding that she was the breadwinner of the family.
In the days following the incident, she experienced a state of sadness. Doe also had fears that the incident would occur again. Unfortunately, those fears were realised.
“He grabbed my vagina again and I was like ‘you’re hurting me, you’re hurting me, let me go’…I ran out and went upstairs and then reported it to HR,” she said.
According to Doe, the Human Resources (HR) Manager, who was the internal mediator of the incident, instructed that both the perpetrator and her would be sent home with pay. Doe confirmed that she was indeed sent home with pay.
However, she said that she would later discover that the same wasn’t done to the other individual, after reporting the matter to police.
Upon returning to work, Doe stated that she asked the HR Manager to transfer her, to which two alternative locations were offered. Her choice, however, was never followed through before she resigned.
“I’m fighting to keep my head above water right now,” she confessed.
This is the result of the incident, and its aftermath, including the accusations received from her fellow workers, the demotion of her job position, and her schedule rearranged to odd hours.
Doe mentioned that leading up to the first instance, she was called into the manager’s office where he showed her his penis.
Recalling this, she provided insight into the thought process of someone in a similar situation.
“When someone is sexually harassed or someone approaches them with foul talking, they want to say something, but they’re scared of losing their job, because that was my first thought,” she explained.
Her advice to persons in a similar situation is to speak up against it.
“Never be afraid to speak up because you are not the darkness you endured; you are the light that refused to surrender.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that happen,” she added.
*Tasha Roe, like Doe, has experienced and is aware of incidents of sexual harassment and physical abuse in her workplace, a government ministry.
“There have been instances where a manager placed his hands under a female worker’s clothing. A report was made to the HR department and that matter was overlooked,” she stated, adding the same manager choked another female worker, whose cries alerted overtime workers.
Roe’s accounts mentioned a situation where a worker was solicited for sexual favours in exchange for privileges.
“A security staff member was asked for sexual favours in return for special favours like arriving to work late and calling in sick and having that information not being placed in the sign-in book,” Roe said.
The incidents in her workplace and the resulting victimisation of victims caused her to feel a state of hopelessness.
“It is heart-wrenching and left me feeling helpless and hopeless to know what is happening.
“Every time someone speaks out for their rights, that individual was sent home or forced to feel uncomfortable…until he/she resigns while the culprit remains working in his office and continues to attack more victims,” she said.
To individuals experiencing something similar, she advises them to stand up and speak out.
“I advise the individual to take prompt and appropriate action. Do not be scared to speak out and stand up for your rights,” Roe stated.
Anderson Carty, a labour relations specialist who spoke to Observer last week, provided a definition of sexual harassment.
“Sexual harassment is unwanted advances from a superior to a subordinate and the advances would be of a sexual nature,” he explained.
“It could be the making of dirty jokes or jokes of a sexual nature. It could be a situation where they are asking or soliciting staff to go with them on dates, to have intimacy with them in exchange for promotion and reward, or to make their life easier at work so to speak,” Carty added.
Wong said a document on sexual harassment in the workplace was compiled by a consultant from Canada, with the Directorate of Gender Affairs and other stakeholders, with the goal of it being tabled in parliament.
Attorney General Steadroy ‘Cutie’ Benjamin told Observer recently that the reason why the bill has not been tabled yet is due to the government’s plans to first hold public consultations on the issue.
If you have experienced sexual harassment and are in need of help, contact Women Against Rape on 725-7522 or the Directorate of Gender Affairs on 463-5555.
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
FACT BOX
- More than one in five people employed – almost 23 percent – have experienced violence and harassment in the workplace, whether physical, psychological or sexual.
- Young women were twice as likely as young men to have faced sexual violence and harassment, while migrant women were almost twice as likely as non-migrants to suffer sexual violence and harassment.
- More than three out of five victims said they had experienced violence and harassment multiple times and, for the majority, the most recent incident took place within the past five years.
- Only half of victims worldwide disclosed their experiences to another person, and often only after they had suffered repeated incidents.
- The most common reasons given for non-disclosure were that it was seen as a “waste of time”, leaving people who have been abused fearing for their reputation.
- Women were more likely to share their experiences than men (60.7 percent compared to 50.1 percent).
*Fact box details taken from an article published by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in December
2022, which stated findings of a global survey done by the ILO, Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Gallup.
