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When we focus our efforts on addressing sexual harassment by asking victims to come forward, we assume the only way of addressing the problem is through the victims. But why not go into this issue by addressing the culture that allows this behavior in the first place? Therefore, if you’re considering how to take the focus away from victims, try these 2 techniques.
Start paying attention to the ways women are treated differently and all the funny stuff that comes up about gender in your office. Are women under 30 called, “young ladies” in your office? Do secretarial assignments get delegated to women? I’m not saying all men who are guilty of treating women differently at work are perpetrators of sexual harassment, just that they are contributors to a culture that doesn’t take women seriously. And once we start to pay attention to these parts of our culture, we can start to look for individuals who cross the line. Since it is unlikely that someone who is sexually harassing people is not displaying other problematic behavior right in front of our noses, we may start finding clues to the source of sexual harassment in our offices.
Put your efforts towards creating a culture where credibility is granted to victims. If victims weren’t presumed liars, exaggerators or instigators, they may be more willing to come forward. However, in order to create this trust, you must walk the walk, not just talk the talk. You have to actually create a track record where, under your leadership, victims are believed, and things don’t get worse for them after they disclose their experiences. Promises to have a no retaliation policy mean nothing if a person gets ostracized by her team after disclosing, or starts to get lower level assignments delegated to her.
You really have to show up differently if you want to make your organization a place where sexual harassment doesn’t occur. It’s possible, but it starts by putting our attention and efforts towards the elephant in the room that you have some control over: your company’s culture.