The term ‘sexual harassment’ has often been used and misused in several cases. One thing which is misinterpreted is that ‘sexual harassment’ is not only for women. It could also be for men employees, it is just that we find the harassment more in cases of women.
We often find, women, facing legal and unethical issues and their workplaces and in most cases, women are afraid to raise their voices against it in the fear of losing their job.
Such behavior can not be neglected in a workplace, if you face such issues then you must immediately raise your voice. If you think you are facing such a problem then don’t take too much time to think about it. Try to analyze it as soon as possible and raise your voice and take the legal steps against it.
What Must be Your First Step?
Irrespective of whoever is the victim of such a situation in your workplace, you must first inform the HR. HR would take the necessary steps and follow whatever is the official rules for such a situation. But if you think that HR is not taking the measurable steps then you must look for legal help. Hence, you must first look for a sexual abuse lawyer, at your nearest vicinity.
An HR must always be aware of such cases,
- He/She must always keep his ears and eyes open in the office
- If he/she gets to hear anything of this sort in office, then he/she must try to investigate the case himself/herself.
- If he/she finds any employee disturbed then he/she might ask if they want any kind of assistance.
How to Handle Sexual Harassment in Work Place?
The first and foremost advice does not to be very emotional while dealing with the case. Remember one thing. While you deal with the case emotionally, the opponents will be dealing it with brains and minds. Here are some of the steps and actions that you must take if you are the victim of such a situation.
- Before you finally make a legal complaint, make sure that you inform all the employees about the company’s policy regarding any kind of sexual harassment. This would be a kind of warning to the ones who are doing it in the workplace.
- Do not make the mistake of complaining to the team head or managers. If you wish to inform someone in office and complaint about it then the human resource team (HR team) is the best option. If you think that your manager and your team head might take the reasonable steps then you can inform them before informing anyone else.
- Map out an investigation routine that would include all the people concerning the matter, situations, places, and locations of the beings involved in the case.
- The one who is the victim of the case or even if you are the victim then you must be courageous to stay strong and be ready to face all the problems that are to come on your way.
- If the victim is your friend then you need to be patient and listen to the whole story without being judgemental. If you yourself are the victim then you must be mentally strong to be able to tell your story again and again, whenever you are asked during the investigation process.
- On the other hand, you must also hear the accused, he too might have to say something. Assure him that a fair decision will be taken and there is nothing to be worried about. The accused and the victim must understand that there is also something called “consensual” and they can be given a chance to talk to each other and decide if everything that has happened is a consensual matter or not.
- While you are investigated, make sure you don’t lie about anything. If you really want some actions to be taken then, however, gross an incident might be, you should talk about it. If you are investigating the victim then make sure that you make him/her comfortable around you and you take the necessary decision.
Conclusion
It is strongly advised that you must not create a false situation and lie to the authority because if you are purposely trying to victimize yourself then you might land up in unexpected deep trouble which you never thought of. Sexual assault is something that must not be avoided or ignored at all.
