A study by the Centre for Work and Life at the University of South
Australia
One of the authors of the study, Paula McDonald from Queensland
University of Technology said, 'The
consequences fall largely on the person who makes the complaint'. The
effects of this are that the 'negative consequences stop a lot of formal
complaints being made'.
Although as a man I have not been the victim of sexual harassment
I can relate to the reasons why women would not raise a complaint. In my
experience a person whether female or male who raises any type of complaint is
often further discriminated by the process of addressing the complaint. Within
the church denomination of which I am a member I have heard of cases where the
person or persons making the complaint are asked to leave their positions while
the person whom the complaint is made remains in their position. These
particular complaints have been about relationships of power. In other cases
both the complainant and the person complained about are asked to leave. There
seems to be little hope for natural justice or fair play being observed. The person making the complaint has to take into account that by making a complaint they are more than likely going to lose their job or be asked to move so they are silenced or bullied into remaining silent while the person doing the harassing continues in their position and harassing others. It seems very unfair and unjust. Often
the person being complained about holds power in such a way that intimidates
committees set up to deal with complaints.
As men I think we need more education and understanding about the
effects of sexual harassment on women. We need to take responsibility for our
actions and for our education in areas of sexuality and power and be aware of
the rights of others to come to work without fear of harassment by us. We need
to develop a sense of self-awareness. Our words, our body language, our
size, our position and our actions can be intimidating without our awareness of
the effects of these and we need to be aware that it is these very things that
perpetrators use to intimidate and harass. Where we men see other men behaving
in such ways we have to collectively summon up the courage to stand up to it.
The full article on Sexual Harassment Complaints can be found at
this link:
