Traditional relationships not an excuse, says Ali

TRADITIONAL relationships should not be an excuse for sexual harassment in work places, says Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali in response to the “Prevalence and Impact of Sexual Harassment on Female Journalists” report that was launched by the University of the South Pacific journalism program and Fiji Women’s Rights Movement this week.

The report shows that the level of harassment at both the workplace and in the reporting field for female journalists was high with up to two-thirds reporting incidents occurring at least sometimes.

Ms Ali said for example, it was no secret that in some cases for female journalists trying to get into radio, there were cases where bosses felt entitled to certain “favours”.

“We are well aware that sexual harassment has been an ongoing issue in the media industry, as in other workplaces, for quite some time,” she said.

“We have often dealt with this as well as other types of sexual harassment that we are not surprised by the survey results.

“We have anecdotal evidence, we have counselled women over the years in relation to this issue, and often there is no redress for the survivors.”

She said the challenge, however, was for media organisations to address the issue and this could only be done through gender sensitisation training and training on sexual harassment and implementing effective policies.

“Every media organisation should have a good sexual harassment policy which everyone should be aware of, and within the policy, there should be a clear reporting pathway.”

We have anecdotal evidence, we have counselled women over the years in relation to this issue ....... Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre coordinator Shamima Ali