Sexual harassment: Beware forwarding messages
Persons are being told to think twice before forwarding messages which could be construed by the receiver as sexual harassment, and thereby land them in hot water.
The advice is coming from Principal of Rockley Law Group, Ella Hoyos. She spoke to the issue yesterday morning while giving a presentation on the Employment Sexual Harassment (Prevention) Act, at a workshop hosted by the Caribbean Training and Research Group at the Accra Beach Hotel.
“We all get those forwards and without thinking just click and send it out to everybody, and some of it is very explicit and could be offensive,” she explained.
Her comments came as she referred to the definition of sexual harassment in the law, which includes the use of sexually suggestive words, comments, jokes, gestures or actions that annoy, alarm or abuse a person; the initiation of uninvited physical contact with a person; the initiation of unwelcomed sexual advances or the requests of sexual favours from a person. Moreover, she said sexual harassment can be asking a person intrusive questions that are of a sexual nature that pertain to that person’s private life; transmitting sexually offensive writing or material of any kind; making sexually offensive telephone calls to a person; or any other sexually suggestive conduct of an offensive nature.
Hoyos referring to the aspect of the Act which speaks to unfair opportunities, explained that the introduction of the Act has brought “do for do” to an end. Her comments came as she stated that the piece of legislation prohibits an employer or a supervisor from suggesting to an employee that the prospects or working conditions of that employee are contingent upon the employee accepting or tolerating sexual advances. If this is done, she said the employee can complain to the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) and there is no requirement under the Act in such cases for the employee to make the complaint to the employer.
“So again in small societies where people would be afraid, the Act provides a framework where you can get some justice outside of the employment situation,” she indicated.
Meanwhile, turning her attention to the section of the Act which speaks to liability in cases of unfair opportunities, Hoyos noted that if an employer grants employment opportunities or benefits to an employee for granting sexual favours to the employer; or an employee agrees to grant sexual favours to a client or an employee’s supervisor, an aggrieved employee, who was denied an employment opportunity or benefit, can make a complaint with the CLO. Hoyos is warning that anyone seeking to make such complaints cannot just suspect, but must know that such occurred. (JRT)