Combating Sexual Harassment at Work : Sexual Advances

Sexual advances in the workplace create an unhealthy environment for employees as they feel unsafe and uncomfortable. This impacts how they perceive the workplace culture as well as how this in turn impacts their work output. Moreover, sexual advances can also cause triggers for employees as well as lead to more grievous instances of violence within the workplace. POSH compliance policies that ensure organisations create a preventive environment against instances of sexual harassment go a long way in ensuring sexual advances in the workplace do not take place. This helps organisations traverse beyond legal mandates and maintain a positive and healthy workplace culture that is safe for all employees.

What are Sexual Advances?

Sexual advances are actions made by anyone in the workplace that can make someone uncomfortable. They can be physical touches that are unwanted or perverse comments. They can also be unwanted instances of someone in the workplace making sexually coloured jokes or insistent behaviour that makes one uncomfortable. Sexual advances are fall under the purview of the POSH Act and constitute as sexual harassment. If an organisation maintains a POSH compliance policy that is gender-neutral the complainant can be of any gender to report an instance of unwanted sexual advance.

While the severity of the sexual advance may differ, the impact that it causes to the employee against whom it was made remains the same. For example, while groping an employee at work may be considered as a case of direct assault, making perverse comments regarding an employee’s body is equally harmful and a case of unwanted sexual advance. Sexual advances may range from being comments or jokes to physical touches.

Objectifying someone, making a comment about someone’s body or appearance or using sexually coloured remarks for a person are all examples of inappropriate behaviour at the workplace.❌
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Some examples of sexual advances at the workplace are:

1) Unwanted insistence to meet outside the place of work

2) Insistent messages or emails that are sexual in nature

3) Light brushing touches that are deliberately made

4) Making subtle or direct propositions that are sexual in nature

5) Making jokes that are sexual in nature

6) Making assumptions and comments about a person’s sexual choices

7) Unwanted groping, caressing and so on

These are only some instances of sexual advances. Apart from this any and all actions that can make an employee feel uncomfortable and unsafe at work are considered as sexual advances and can be reported to a supervisor or any trusted person within the workplace.

Impact of Sexual Advances on Employees

Sexual advances can negatively impact how employees interact and connect with the workplace. It impacts collaborative processes as they feel disconnected with their colleagues. This in turn impacts how they perceive their general workspace. An employee who is being subjected to unwanted sexual advances will not be able to fully focus on their work as their will be a negative impact on their mental and physical wellbeing. Moreover, they will also not be able to fully cooperate with all the processes within the workplace for a lack of understanding on how to tackle the situation they are enduring.

Consequently, employees may feel increasingly alienated from their workplace culture. A lack of awareness surrounding redressal mechanisms as well as how they can approach the necessary parties to report the complaint can even make them endure these advances for long periods of time leading to lasting trauma. They can also choose to quit their position of work which leads to less employee retention for the organisation while the employee struggles to come to terms with complete displacement of their work identity. Hence, a lack of processes that keep a check on sexual advances in the workplace negatively impacts both the employee as well as the organisational culture.

How can Advisories Help Combat Sexual Advances in the Workplace?

Advisories are able to fully understand and curate policies that place effective preventive mechanisms in place. For example, advisories like Ungender, curate training and awareness programs that draw lessons from experience with corporate structures while understanding the unique needs of the individual organisations. Advisories also provide professional and legal support for cases of sexual harassment and are able to put redressal mechanisms in place that are helpful for the complainant. Moreover, advisories also ensure that organisations remain POSH compliant in a dynamic working environment. For example, given the sudden change to the online working environment, advisories are able to build online tools and platforms that are able to support and effectively tackle POSH compliance for organisations.

 

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Moreover, advisories also ensure that an organisation maintains a zero-tolerance policy against instances of unwanted sexual advances no matter the severity. A lack of awareness about the same can lead many organisations to face numerous employees coming out with their own experiences of tackling and struggling with sexual harassment within the workplace. A zero-tolerance policy ensures that organisations make sure all employees are aware that if they were to make anyone in the workplace feel uncomfortable, irrespective of them trying to do so deliberately or not, they will be met with strict disciplinary measures. Moreover, a zero-tolerance policy also increases feeling of safety for employees within the workplace.

Advisories are also able to ensure that organisations maintain a diverse and inclusive work environment which means creating more space and accessibility for systematically marginalised genders. This moreover ensures that there is a support system in place for all complainants and they are not afraid to reach out to colleagues or supervisors to report any instances of sexual advances. Hence, advisories are able to ensure with the perfect balance of legal knowledge and hands-on experience that organisations maintain a safe workplace for employee and keep sexual advances in check with proper policies and processes for a positive and safe workplace culture.

Written by: Anuska Roy

Ungender Insights is the product of our learning from advisory work at Ungender. Our team specializes in advising workplaces on workplace diversity and inclusion. Write to us at contact@ungender.in to understand how we can partner with your organization to build a more inclusive workplace.