Framing a code of conduct to curb workplace sexual harassment

Gender balance and removal of gender-based discriminations are keys to sustainable development and empowerment of the masses. Male and female workers are central to economic growth and women's participation is critical for  progress of developing countries. Moreover, investments on women often yield multiple dividends in terms of helping improve well-being of children, families and communities. Besides, providing marginalised people a voice in their communities is crucial for establishing social and economic stability in a conflict-ridden setting. It creates an enabling environment, ranging from delivering public services to the doorsteps of citizens to creating an effective system for citizen-government interactions.
In Bangladesh, women's entry into job markets, both in public and private sectors, is increasing day by day. However, female employees working in various sectors are often subjected to unwelcome and undesirable behaviour by their male colleagues or supervisors. At present, there exists no written code of conduct in Bangladesh regarding how male employees should behave with their female colleagues in any organisation although such codes and laws exist in many South and Southeast Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and Malaysia. Absence of such a code of conduct to prevent sexual harassment sometimes encourages male employees to behave inappropriately and make undesirable or unwarranted advances with their female colleagues or subordinates. Besides, male employees' ignorance of appropriate behaviour with female colleagues or subordinates may also cause such behaviour to occur. This situation is aggravated by natural tendency of women to suppress information about men's improper behaviour and leave this kind of incidents unreported.
Since balanced development of a country requires active and equal participation of both men and women in the workplace, introduction of a code of conduct is, therefore, an urgent necessity for creating an enabling working environment for all employees. This is likely to lead to a healthy working relationship, better team-work, as well as improved and enhanced performance-cum-productivity.
In such a backdrop, introduction of a code of conduct for public and private sector employees of Bangladesh would sensitise and educate the male employees to behave properly with their female counterparts. At the same time, it is likely to encourage female employees to report undesirable behaviour to the relevant authorities. Without a guideline for desired behaviour or a code of conduct in place, it becomes difficult to control  incidence of sexual harassment and ensure a proper working environment for female employees. A code of conduct is expected to limit (if not entirely eliminate) the undesirable behaviour directed against women at workplaces.
A Code of Conduct to curb sexual harassment can govern conduct and practice of all male officers and staffs working in public and private sectors of Bangladesh. The proposed Code would prescribe conduct and behaviour of male officers and employees with their female colleagues in discharging their day-to-day responsibilities and activities, which should be followed at all times. The Code would provide a guideline for behaviour of male employees at all levels (particularly at managerial and supervisory levels) to ensure a congenial work environment free of harassment, discrimination or intimidation.
Compliance with the Code is expected to enhance professionalism and help boost confidence of female and male employees in the workplace. It would facilitate handling of grievances by female employees in a systematic and time-bound manner and discourage male employees from resorting to sexual harassment of their female colleagues. The principles which need to be included in the Code of Conduct are as follows:
Negative gender portrayal should be avoided in full. Languages, attitudes and representations (either explicit or implied) that tend to associate particular roles, modes of behaviour or characteristics of women employees should not be negatively portrayed. Any type of gender-based discriminatory behaviour should be avoided by all means. The Code would warrant that a male employee is polite, helpful, and reasonably accessible in his dealings with female colleagues at all times. A male employee should recognize, respect and protect women's dignity and their rights as contained in the Constitution. Male employees should respect female employees' talent, competence, sincerity and zeal for work, and encourage their innovation, creativity, initiatives for change or reform. A male employee should be aware of his female colleagues' special needs and be respectful to these. Under the Code, a male employee would be expected to deal fairly, professionally, and equitably with female colleagues without any discrimination irrespective of race, colour, ethnic or social origin, age, disability, political persuasion, belief, culture or religion.
An informal approach to resolve complaints of harassment may be mediation between the parties involved and extending advice and counselling on a strictly confidential basis. A complainant, or a staff member designated by the complainant for the purpose, may report an incident of harassment informally to her supervisor, or a member of an Inquiry Committee, in which case the supervisor or the Committee member may address the issue at his/her discretion in the spirit of the Code. The request may be made orally or in writing. If the case is taken up for investigation at an informal level, a senior manager from the office or the headquarters may conduct the investigation in a confidential manner. The alleged accused may be approached with the intention of resolving the matter in a confidential manner.
If the incident or the reported case constitutes harassment of a higher degree, and the officer or a member reviewing the case feels that it needs to be pursued formally for a disciplinary action, the case may be taken up as a formal complaint with the consent of the complainant. The complainant may make formal complaint through her supervisor, CBA nominee or workers' representative, as the case may be, or directly to any member of the Inquiry Committee. The Committee member approached should be obliged to initiate the process of investigation. Assistance in the inquiry procedure can be sought from any member of the organisation who would be contacted to assist in the case. The employer should make temporary adjustments so that the accused and the complainant do not have to interact for official purposes during the investigation. This may include temporarily changing their rooms in case both sit in the same office premise, or withholding duties which may give one party excessive power over the other's job conditions. The employer may also send the accused on leave, or suspend him in accordance with stipulated procedures for dealing with the cases of misconduct, if required.
If the case is taken up for investigation at an informal level, a senior manager from the office or the headquarters may conduct the investigation in a confidential manner. The alleged accused may be approached with the intention of resolving the matter confidentially. Retaliation from either party should be strictly monitored. During the process of investigation, routine evaluation, daily duties, reporting structure and any parallel inquiries should be strictly monitored to avoid retaliation from either side. The harassment usually occurs when staffs are alone; it may therefore be difficult to produce evidence. It is strongly recommended that staffs should report an offensive behavior immediately to someone they trust, even when they do not wish to make a formal complaint at the time, although not reporting immediately should not affect the merit of the case.
Although the primary purpose of the Code is a positive one, namely, to promote exemplary conduct among male employees with their female colleagues, if an employee is found guilty of misconduct, he should be dealt with in accordance with relevant penal provisions in the Code. All employees are personally responsible for ensuring their proper conduct, but they should have the right and privilege of asking questions, seeking guidance and expressing concerns about compliance with the Code. Any employee violating the Code would be guilty of 'misconduct' as defined in the Code.
Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.
hahmed1960@gmail.com