Sexual Harrassment Rocks Corporate Institutions

By Felix Dela Klutse

Sex seems to have eaten so much into the fabric of the Ghanaian society as sexual harassment in corporate institutions continue to remain high in the country with prospective female job applicants said to be the most affected.

A report from the Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana sometime back revealed that 74 percent of female employees and 42 percent of male employees in Ghana experienced sexual harassment in one way or the other within their working environment.

BUSINESS GUIDE’s recent survey in some corporate institutions also revealed that sexual pestering was still high in corporate Ghana as the problem appears to exist in large multinational, medium and small firms.

It cut across the banking, telecommunication, media and advertising and the aviation industry which tends to be very attractive and enticing to work.
In one of the ministries, the situation seems to be bad as a female young graduate expressed high concerns about the way senior officials pester young women for sex.

Victims of sexual harassment in separate interviews with BUSINESS GUIDE on condition of anonymity pointed out that it violates and impairs or nullifies their human rights and freedom.

"We try to avert the pressures but unfortunately we are not able to withstand it when it becomes so severe," a broadcast journalist with one of the leading radio stations in Accra told this paper."

I receive calls sometimes at midnight which I consider very strange, she asserted.
Another victim, who is presently out of job explained that she was forced to quit her front desk executive job because of persistent harassment by his overall boss.

According to the report, female employees between the ages of 21 and 25, were the group that largely experience sexual molesting in the workplace but it appears in recent times the ages of 25to 30 have not been left out. Over two-thirds of the perpetrators of the sexual harassment in the offices are males.

Though women generally are the frequent victims of sexual harassment in the workplace, the more frequent victims are specifically the single or unmarried women, the Centre for Social Policy Studies report added.

Young men are also said to receive sexual favours or molestation from their female superiors or bosses just to sleep with them. And these women, the paper’s sources say do not get much sexual satisfaction from their husbands.

Most at times, there are unwanted touching of intimate body parts, unwanted repeated proposals, unwanted sexual teasing and jokes, as well as questions or remarks about things related to sex.

This paper gathers that prospective female employees do everything possible to the extent of going to bed with their male superiors with the promise that they would be granted jobs after interview. Others who find themselves into the organization also play the sensual game to get favors leading to promotion. This result in excellent personnel being overlooked when they go for interview, a situation which could affect the productivity of the company.

Augustine Kobina Andoh, Senior Organizer for at the Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, who led the research, explained that married male superiors/employers are the most frequent perpetrators of workplace sexual harassment. About 68 percent of the male perpetrators are married holding influential positions while the other group happens to be colleagues.

He emphasized: "Although sexual harassment is very prevalent in Ghana, a greater majority of the victims do not formally report their experiences to management or superiors for redress." About 95 percent of the cases go unreported, he added.

Currently, there is no national definition of sexual harassment though the Domestic Violence Act has a clause explaining the illegitimacy of it while the Ghana business code also frowns on it.

E-mail: felixklutse@yahoo.com