WORKPLACE GBV RIFE Transactional sex and ‘go phoraphora’ constitute GBV
Gender Based Violence (GBV) has become the number one pandemic that is negatively affecting families, communities and the workplace. A Community Development Activist focused on girls and women, Onkemetse Kwelagobe says GBV has been prevalent in the workplace for a long time.
According to Kwelagobe, there are many forms of GBV in the workplace, the common ones being verbal abuse which can include offensive comments and jokes about a colleague.
Another form is indecent assault which can include unwelcome fondling and touching in a way that makes the other person uncomfortable or “go phoraphora” in Setswana.
The other common type of GBV in the workplace comes in the form of sexual coercion where a colleague, usually in higher position would force another colleague to get intimate with them so that the working environment becomes conducive for her in the form of progression or promotions.
There is also transactional sex that occurs in the work place - you scratch my back I scratch yours - where some colleagues are always considered for opportunities such as career development, promotions, trips because they have sexual intercourse with supervisors, Kwelagobe explains.
The other common form of GBV in the workplace comes in the form of intimidation or bullying where a colleague is made to feel belittled or intimidated and their self-esteem dragged down. This type is so rife among females and aimed at other females. A typical example is using someone’s physical appearance or their style of living against them.
According to Kwelagobe in all the forms of GBV, females are often at the receiving end. She personally thinks that this is due to the fact that in most cases women are not in positions of leadership in the workplace.
She says that even where a woman is the head of the organisation, one would find that she is surrounded by men as her deputies.
“There are instances where this can become extreme that women would resign and stay home for their own peace since they could not cope with an abusive working environment.” The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its ‘Stop GBV at work, Convention’ states that between 40 and 50 percent of women experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment.
Kwelagobe says one of the contributing factors is poor working conditions because where employees are subjected to such conditions they become vulnerable.
They may be demanded to work overtime or excessive long hours involuntarily and this is when the most common forms of GBV in the work place, being sexual harassment, gets an opportunity to manifest itself.
Kwelagobe decries that there are no detection mechanisms in place to root it out. The challenge has been that GBV was taken to be part of the dynamics and traditions of the workplace. She says organisations can use ‘Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Policy’ effectively as it does not only address GBV in the form of sexual matters but all other forms. It is a policy that is aimed at ending GBV in the workplace.