It is now emerging that male bosses are now using foreign trips to sexually harass their female staff.
According to Uganda Minister Of Gender Labour and Social Development Betty Amongi, the male bosses in both private and public organisations have been using this trick to force their female staff into sex.
“…The boss has a trip abroad in UK to go and work and he has been making a pass at you, then he says, ‘let’s take a trip together.’ And you reach UK, you have not been to UK and your roos are next to each other, strategically,” the Minister said.
In this situation, the minister says that the female staff are usually cornered and forced into having sex, with no knowledge of where to report the incidences. This, she says, is hindering promotion of gender equality practises at work places.
“So those are the simple things we are talking about. When you have a colleague who is working and you are a man and you have the power, this person is vulnerable. And so, you use your power to harass us sexually in a workplace and tie it to promotion, tie it to giving us trips and so many things,” the Minister added.
Sexual harassment deep-rooted
Minister Amongi was speaking last Friday during the Gender Equality Seal Awards. The awards are organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU).
Although criminalised in Uganda, studies show that sexual harassment is deep-rooted in organisations, and is manifesting in different forms.
The vice, the minister says, continues to spread because some victims remain silent because of fear of losing their jobs.
“I want to thank these companies who have taken the bold step in making a Sexual Harassment Policy. If we want to engender the workplace we must focus on the private sector,” Minister Amongi said of organisations that received awards for promoting gender equality at workplaces.
What is sexual harassment?
The United Nations defines sexual harasent as “any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favour, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behaviour of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation to another person.”
It consist of, but is not limited to:
- Unwelcome comments and jokes.
- Sexually inappropriate conversation, gestures or actions about the physical appearance or sexual identity of an individual or group.
- Written or any form of electronic communication of a sexual nature.
- Unwanted kissing, touching, grabbing, or rubbing.
- Showing or sending sexually inappropriate materials to colleagues.
