The #MeToo Movement is an awareness movement around the issue of sexual harassment and sexual abuse of women in the workplace that grew to prominence in 2017 in response to news reports of sexual abuse by American film producer Harvey Weinstein.
On 15th October 2017, American actress Alyssa Milano suggested on Twitter that anyone who had been “sexually harassed or assaulted” should reply to her Tweet with “#MeToo”, to demonstrate the scale of the problem.
Half a million people responded in the first 24 hours.
Actually, the phrase had been around for more than a decade, but this tweet sparked a social media phenomenon that raised awareness, gave voice to survivors, and led to sweeping cultural and workplace changes.
Early in my career in hospitality management, I experienced sexual harassment from two different senior managers in two different workplaces.
During the first experience, I was lucky that I had a great male colleague that I could confide in. He watched my back, and ensured I was never on my own with the ‘perpetrator’
What happened?
A male senior manager (our direct line manager) aged in his mid-50’s (I was in my 20’s) felt it was OK to repeatedly inappropriately touch me on the leg under the table at a management team dinner, having engineered his way to sit next to me. Then, on a separate occasion, at a works event (that his wife was also in attendance at!) he cornered me, put his arm round me and inches from my face told me that I ‘Would be slow dancing with him that night’ What made this situation worse was that this mans ‘management’ style was extremely dictatorial. He was angry and shouted a lot and ruled by fear. He was a tall and very intimidating man, who towered over my small 5 ft 4 inch self.
The second experience, I was a long way from home (Alaska) working on a cruise ship. Again, I was in my 20’s, a manager and ‘perpetrator’ was another senior manager in his 40’s from a different department. He stalked me. Wherever I was he was and he persistently leered at me, cornered me, put his arm round me and asked me out on dates. Highlighting his seniority over me, he insinuated that I had an obligation to go out with him and there would be consequences if I didn’t. Unlike the first instance, I was alone on this one. As the only female manager in the food and beverage department and the only Brit in a team of 300, the cultural differences of the team I worked in, which I usually embraced made me doubt what was acceptable and not acceptable in this new environment I found myself in. I questioned myself a lot. Was this the norm? Was this how things worked around her? Is this acceptable behaviour?
In both of these experiences, how did this behaviour make me feel?
- Isolated
- Afraid
- Intimidated
- Confused
Did I report it?
Never. And I ensured the one person I did tell (in my first experience) didn’t report it either.
The reason for this was fear.
- Fear that I would lose my job.
- Fear that I wouldn’t be believed.
- Fear of reprisal.
- Fear that the perpetrator would just pull rank and lie their way out of it.
The other thing to note, was that as much as these incidents made me feel isolated, afraid and intimated, they didn’t rule my life. I got on with it and just told myself it was one of those things I had to put up with, being a female manager in a mans world. I guess I minimised it, and maybe that was a coping mechanism. I’ve always been strong minded and resilient and have dealt with far, far worse situations in my life, but the thing that strikes me now, is that it seemed like, this type of behaviour was generally accepted. You just had to deal with it. It was par for the course.
Now, I don’t think I am ‘special’ (for want of a better word). I think that most women could probably give an example of how they have been treated like this either in life or at work, and probably a lot of men too. The whole ‘#MeToo’ movement highlighted how endemic this behaviour was in the workplace, particularly in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s. As with rape, the myth is that only young, beautiful women are raped. In reality, females and males of all age, size, race, religion and social status are raped. Rape as with sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual bullying, the cause is:
Abuse of control and power.
Aside from the specific experiences I have described, in almost every environment I worked in, where the management team around me were predominantly male, there were constant comments about how I had made it to a management position! Believe me, it was never about my ability to do the job or the hard work, dedication and commitment that actually did get me there! I’ll leave you to guess what they insinuated was the reason I have been promoted.
Back to the history of #MeToo! Tarana Burke, an advocate for women in New York, coined the #MeToo phrase in 2006. She aimed to empower women who had endured sexual violence by letting them know that they were not alone—that other women had suffered the same experience. What started as a way for survivors of sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual bullying to bon and share stories has since become a global movement effecting social and legal change.
Shockingly, a recent survey of 2000 employees by Personio found that 1 in 10 (10%) employees have witnessed or experienced sexual harassment at work but half (49%) of these do not report it. This prompted calls for employers to cultivate zero-tolerance workplace cultures and to ensure reliable, trustworthy reporting processes exist to encourage victims and witnesses to speak up.
So, for me, it’s great news that from this month, the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act will strengthen existing protection for workers against sexual harassment.
The new positive duty on employers is to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, including by third parties.
In meeting new legal obligations, employers must be proactive in assessing risk, identifying action and regularly review their processes.
It involves:
Organisational & cultural change
Senior leaders influencing and setting the tone for working culture and behaviours. This means setting standards, creating values and living inclusion and respect.
Implementing a clear, well communicated statement of required workplace behaviour to every employee.
Policies & procedures
Developing and widely communicating a robust anti-harassment policy, which includes third party sexual harassment. Not just a standalone policy in the middle of a dog eared handbook but informative advice and practical guidance on how to deal with allegations.
Risk Assessments
Undertaking regular risk assessments to identify where sexual harassment may occur and the steps that will be taken to prevent it.
People management capability
On the back of a cultural shift, line managers play an important role in identifying, challenging and dealing with unfair treatment, including sexual harassment. They need to have the training, education and guidance to give them, the confidence to tackle sexual harassment allegations.
Training & Development
Ensuring all employees understand what sexual harassment is and how they can prevent or address it. Training must be specific to the potential challenges in your workplace and a particular focus on third parties relevant to your business. Generic training won’t cut it.
Reporting & Investigation
Well promoted channels of reporting and subsequent investigation, with clear messages sent that such behaviour will not be tolerated.
Monitoring & review
Monitoring the gender diversity at every level, including for recruitment and promotion, will help to highlight if there is any potential discrimination or harassment on grounds of gender. Staff attitude surveys will enable the organisation to collect feedback in areas like gender equality and bullying and harassment. Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of actions is also key.
Its hard to say if this positive workplace change originated from a simple Tweet by a celebrity on social media. I hope so. It would be nice to see the positive side of what can come from social media, and people using their celebrity status to raise awareness for important and often hidden workplace realities.
Surge Ahead delivers workplace training in sexual harassment awareness, so if you would like support in this key area, please get in touch.
