Health & Wellness , Women’s Wellness , Mental Health , News & Innovation
How to prevent workplace bullying and harassment
The first global survey suggests these practices are rife across countries
Violence and harassment on the job are a global scourge that can make workers’ lives miserable while affecting their psychological and physical health. Strategies to prevent and deal with them are badly needed.
Soma Gosh told the BBC the constant bullying by a colleague who criticised and humiliated her while blaming her for others’ mistakes led her to develop anxiety and depression. She had trouble sleeping, recurring flu symptoms, and pain in her fingers, hands, and shoulders due to working long hours without breaks.
We now know that Soma’s experience is not unique but part of a larger trend. The first global survey on the issue has found that more than one in five persons in employment (22.8 percent) has experienced at least one form of violence and harassment at work, which includes physical (e.g., hitting or spitting), psychological (e.g., insults, threats, bullying), and sexual violence (e.g., unwanted sexual touching and sexual requests). Even more worrying, 6.3 percent of respondents had to endure all three of them.
Published in 2022, the survey was conducted by the International Labour Organization, together with Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Gallup, to provide global insights that could help address the problem. The findings are based on 74,364 interviews done across 121 countries.
“For too long, companies and organizations have been unaware or unwilling to tackle violence and harassment in the workplace,” said Andrew Rzepa, a Partner at Gallup, in a press release. “This dataset provides a baseline that we can all use to track much- needed progress on this vital safety issue.”
Youth, migrants, salaried workers, and especially women are the groups at greater risk of violence and harassment. Slightly more than half of the people surveyed talked about their experiences, usually with friends and family, while many others decided to stay silent for different reasons, including thinking it was a waste of time, fear for their reputation, unclear procedures at work, and lack of trust in the police.
In order to improve the experiences of workers, the report recommends regular collection of robust data on workplace violence and harassment to devise remediation laws and programmes as well as research and advocacy; prevention mechanisms like occupational safety and health management (OSH) systems; raising awareness about violence and harassment at work to encourage victims to speak up; and improving capacities of institutions at all levels to effectively prevent, remedy, and support victims.
Youth, migrants, salaried workers, and especially women are the groups at greater risk of violence and harassment.
“There is no denying that it is challenging to develop and implement successful and effective strategies and measures to prevent and remedy violence and harassment at work. Doing so requires the involvement of all levels of government, employers and workers and their respective organizations, as well as society in general and relevant international actors,” reads the report.
In Malaysia, for instance, verbal bullying, ignoring a subordinate, and cyber bullying are common in the manufacturing and services sectors, Simon Benjamin, President of the Malaysian Institute of Human Resource Management (MIHRM), told FMT Business, adding that employees should help each other so that colleagues could act as whistleblowers when a worker is bullied.
“The victim should submit a complaint in writing to the human resource department or even directly to the CEO, if necessary,” he advised.
Article source: Issue 1: Is Male Fertility Plummeting
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