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Sexual harassment: when work turns into a nightmare
Despite the support of the Lebanese Penal Code, colleagues, superiors
- and even society - often put up barricades to taking action
By Majdoline Hatoum
August 30, 2004
Mona began work at a major telecommunications company with an eager look in her
eyes.
A few months later, however, instead of eagerness, Mona's wide brown eyes
betrayed an uneasiness that some of her co-workers could not help but notice.
Her dream job had turned into a nightmare.
"I never thought going to work would be such a burden," she said. "I started my
new job thinking I would remain at that company until I retire. I was offered a
great salary, and I actually had to pull some strings to get in."
Soon after she started her job, "Mona," who asked that her real name not be
used, began to feel uncomfortable - not because of work itself, but because of
a certain male coworker.
"When I first started work, he used to compliment me a lot, like saying he
loved the way I was dressed, or the way I did my hair," Mona said, stressing
that those compliments did not present a problem. "I thought he was being
friendly."
Unfortunately though, his affability steadily turned into harassment.
"He started being more physical with me," Mona recalled angrily. "I would be
passing by and he would touch my thigh, or I would be working at my desk and I
would find him suddenly massaging my shoulders."
Mona said she asked her co-worker to stop, but the touching continued.
"I asked him politely to keep a distance, but that did not work, and before I
knew it, things started getting worse.
"We were working alone and late one night, when I suddenly felt his hands
around me," Mona said. "He had approached me from the back without me knowing.
I instantly pushed him away and left; the next day I filed a complaint against
him to our direct superior."
Her action, however, proved to be a useless exercise.
"I was asked to ignore the incident and act as if nothing happened," she said.
"I found out later that my colleague was related to one of the company's
owners, which explained my superior's attitude."
After that incident, Mona could not go to work anymore.
"I felt so violated and used," she said.
"I couldn't work at the same place with that man, so I presented my
resignation, and they accepted it without asking a question," she added
bitterly.
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old woman did not file any legal complaints.
"Pressing charges would make me go through all the stress again," she said. "I
just want to forget the whole incident."
However, unlike Mona, "Joumana," who also asked that her real name not be used,
decided to take her problem to court after her boss tried forcing her into
having a sexual relation with him.
Joumana, who used to work as a secretary, said that her boss kept harassing her
and trying to get her to become involved with him sexually.
"He was triple my age, but that did not stop him from assuming that my need for
a job would force me to accept what he was offering," said the 27-year-old
woman.
"I put up with him for a while," she added. "But when he crossed his lines and
tried to turn his words into physical action; so I quit."
Joumana said she was so furious for being forced to leave work, that she
decided to drag her boss into court.
"Nobody should be forced into leaving a job because of someone else's
misbehavior," she said. "It is hard enough to find a job these days. I am
currently unemployed because of what he did."
Joumana explained that a relative of hers, who is a lawyer, backed her decision
to sue her former boss, and also helped her with the legal action.
"If it was not for his help, I wouldn't have been able to take this step," she
said.
Joumana could not provide more details about her case because the trial is
ongoing, but she was not restrained in saying that she hoped the "bastard" - as
she called her former boss - would be sent to jail.
"That is the only thing that could make me feel better," she said. "No one
should pass through a situation like this."
According to lawyer Antonios Abu Kasm, the Lebanese Penal Code punishes a wide
range of moral crimes, including sexual harassment in the workplace.
Article 506 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who misuses his post to impose
verbal or physical sexual conduct onto a coworker or employee, especially when
submission or rejection of this contact, explicitly or implicitly affects a
person's employment or performance at work.
"Despite the fact that sexual harassment is not clearly mentioned in this text,
it still falls into context," he said.
However, Abu Kasm added that many obstacles stand in the way of fully applying
the article in cases of alleged sexual harassment.
"The fact that sexual harassment does not have a specific definition makes it
hard to investigate in such cases," he said.
The fact that the victim often has a job at stake also presents complications
in bringing about any legal action.
"Victims, who are usually employees, find it hard to take their harasser to
court, because the offender is frequently a higher ranking coworker or
sometimes the employer himself," he said.
"Moreover, (victims seldom) have the financial abilities to do so, since they
have already quit their job as a result of the incident, or are afraid of
losing the job if they make a legal issue out of it."
Society in general, it seems, can also serve as a strong disincentive to filing
charges.
"Lebanese society is still a conservative one, especially in its attitude
toward women," Abu Kasm said.
"Despite all the attempts to give women equal chances and rights, our society
is still patriarchal in many ways. ... Every move a woman might take to defend
her rights, especially in moral issues, is met with condemnation from the
society, which is why women usually prefer to give up their rights for the sake
of their reputation," he said.
Encouraging work establishments to take necessary steps to prevent sexual
harassment is, according to Abu Kasm, the main way to prevent this problem.
"Employers should take steps necessary to prevent sexual harassment at the
workplace, establish an effective complaint system and make it clear that such
actions will not be tolerated," he said.
According to sociologist Rajaa Makki, sexual harassment is a form of sexual
discrimination.
"Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when such
conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an
individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive
working environment," she said.
"Targets, usually women, are made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace, thus
limiting the extent to which they can effectively do their job."
Makki, who called the issue a "serious problem facing women, especially in
Eastern societies," said that women are usually the targets of sexual
harassment because "they are physically weaker than men."
"It is a fact that should not be underestimated," she said.
In addition, patriarchal social norms, which have persisted even as women have
made more progress in the workplace, also contribute to making woman the
targets of sexual harassment.
"Women are still perceived as tools of pleasure in many parts of the world, and
even in advanced countries," she said.
Although victims of sexual harassment can experience significant suffering,
Makki said the incidents usually go unreported.
"This is a common case scenario since the definition of sexual harassment tends
to be ill defined and broad in scope."
There is also another factor conspiring against action: fear.
"Many individuals fear the emotional repercussions that follow filing a
complaint. Many fear that their reputation might be manipulated and then
distorted," Makki said. "An employee's reputation may be the most important
reason why sexual harassment remains largely unreported."
In order to address this situation, Makki argued that social norms themselves
must change in order to allow people "to stand up for their rights and defend
themselves.
"A victim of sexual harassment is being assaulted twice, once when she is
sexually targeted, and the other when her society does not tolerate her raising
her voice," she said.
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