Folks, responding collectively to the news and stories surrounding sexual harassment practices in the workplace that are unsettling,  Never Okay Project together with HRD Bacot (@hrdbacot) collaborated to create a basic guide to understanding sexual harassment in the workplace #metoo: All About Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.

This basic information about sexual harassment in the workplace will be shared in four series, covering:

1. What is sexual harassment in the workplace?

In the first series, we will be introduced to the concepts and basic knowledge regarding sexual harassment, sexual harassment in the workplace, its trends globally, and its forms.

2. Myths and Facts

Patriarchy can be said to perpetuate absurd perceptions surrounding sexual harassment. In this second series, we will delve deeper into three perceptions of harassment that we often hear:
(1) "Just joking"
(2) "Only women can be victims"
(3) "No report, no harassment"

So is that a myth or a fact? Has anyone heard other "urban legends" regarding sexual harassment?

3. Who can be perpetrators and victims?

In the third series, we will learn more about the actors, both perpetrators and victims. This is important because, due to the wide range of sexual harassment perpetrators in the workplace, the impacts on victims are also varied, with the most dominant being avoidance of certain work situations.

Imagine having to be in the same meeting room as the perpetrator, hih. Although the effects are really felt by the victims, many victims don’t immediately report incidents of harassment for various reasons. Try to be more sensitive to those around you; perhaps a friend of yours is a victim but is reluctant to report!

4. What can be done?

If we become victims/survivors of sexual harassment in the workplace (*knock on wood) or if we see the perpetrator attacking our coworker, what should we do? In the fourth series, we will be introduced to how-to respond to and report sexual harassment.

This collaboration is expected to build collective efforts and strengthen a comprehensive knowledge base to initiate a resistance against all forms of sexual harassment that exist in the workplace.

Let’s also share your voice by using the hashtag #metoo to rise up and fight together!