Survey Reveals Women Lose Jobs To Sexual Harassment In FCT
…As survey indicts male bosses in private and public service
BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT – A new survey has indicted superiors in the public and private sectors just as it exposed them as major perpetrators of sexually based violence in the workplace, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Female workers in the FCT maintained that their bosses and superiors are the major perpetrators of sexual harassment in workplaces thus, constituting some kind of barriers to their career development, even as they also reveal that a staggering number of women are victims but cannot openly voice their frustrations.
In a survey, funded by the Ford Foundation, in its drive to promote a healthy workplace experience for the woman folk in Abuja, 91.5% of the respondents said their bosses and superior are the top culprits and perpetrators of sexual harassment in the work place.
The survey also indicates that 54.5% of the perpetrators of sexually based harassment are subordinates, while 13 percent of their peers harassed them at work place.
The survey was conducted by Heir Women Development was part of its activities under the Project: ‘Carrier Barrier and Workplace Sexual Harassment against young women in FCT’.
Founder, HEIR Women Development, Mrs. Anuli Aniebo Olaniyi said the outcome of the survey as an evidential research work which should propel progressive application into curbing the identified outcomes that were presented.
Olaniyi thanked the Ford Foundation for the support to provide empirical data that would be used to make the workplace more assuring and safer for the FCT worker.
In her words; “If young women are empowered with adequate tools to recognize and report sexual harassment at work and the organisations encourage and develop tools to ensure compliance with sexual harassment policies, then young women will have better protection and chances to excel in their carrier aspiration”.
The survey received responses from 1,060 young women between the ages of 18 and 35 years, who were respondents of 1000 off line and 60 online target audience.
It states; “Information from the online survey indicates that the highest proportion of sexual harassment was reported by women within the age range of 31 to 35 years.
“The incidence of sexual harassment at the work place seems to be positively correlated with age and could be plausibly explained to be due to more years of experience and or employment”.
The commissioned researcher, Dr. Obianuju O. Nnadozie, from the University of Benin, said a respondent in an explanatory note stated that; “Sometimes because of the nature of the work some persons will be getting ideas in their head and try nonsense but I always stand my ground.
“I had an experience where a guy tried rubbish, sometime It cost me my job eventually because I didn’t take it lightly with him. But he called after a while and apologized. I have forgiven him though,” the researcher pointed out at a zoom meeting organized to share the findings of the survey.
Findings from the survey further indicate that there is a low organisational support for women returning to work after childbirth as 41% of the women said in the survey.
More disturbing however were findings in the report indicating that analysis from respondents showed that members of staff from their various organisations are not concerned about developing measure to protect women from SGBV
It states; “Majority of the respondents report that members of staff, at all levels, are never involved in the design of preventive and protective measures Casual/contract staff (75%) Low level staff (76%) Mid-level staff (73%) Top management staff (73%) Famale workers (76%)”.
Olufunke Baruwa, Program Officer with the Ford foundation maintained that the report would be of effect where actions are taken by the relevant authorities in relation to the identified outcomes.
About 15 women organisations and stakeholders attended the validation session of the public presentation of the research outcomes.
They were unanimous in their condemnation of the findings and called on the government and non-governmental organisations to step up the campaign against sexually based violence SGBV against women to educate the population and work out instrument to tackle the challenge.
