CLUSTER NEWS
Skill Letts
VIEWS, VOICE & WAYS OF SKILLS
An in house journal of Additional Skill Acquisition Programme
CLUSTER NEWS
Towards safer work places – Importance of Internal Complaints Committee Preetha A
Women are increasingly faced with the pressing question as to how they should deal with harassment in the workplace. It ' s a story we ' ve heard many times, of a woman being bothered by the persistent interest that a male colleague( sometimes even the boss) is taking in her.
He may be direct about his intentions, passing lewd comments, issuing invites for dinner or coffee or flooding her with text messages, Or he may bother her in other ways, touching her ' accidentally ' or setting up situations in which she is left alone with him, and so on.
Either way, she is left feeling helpless and angry. Confronting the perpetrator of this harassment may result in job loss, and not doing anything about it means a daily struggle of fending him off.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
Every woman in the workplace needs to equip herself with information about what she can do if she is being harassed.
How to Deal with Sexual Harassment at Work?
1. Communicate your disapproval
If you can avoid the colleague who makes you uncomfortable, do so. If you have to work in close proximity to him, avoid being alone with him.
And tell him to stop his specific behaviour: If he stands too close, you can say: Can you stand away please, because such closeness makes me very uncomfortable.
Or, if he touches you, say: Can you please avoid putting your hand on my shoulder because that makes me uncomfortable. ' If the person has sent you a joke through an email or SMS, reply through
January 2017 22