Sexual harassment in the workplace is one of the most important health risks to which all employees of a company are subjected. In addition to being a crime, it generates serious consequences for the psychological well-being of the people who suffer it and, of course, it is hugely detrimental to the work environment, team cohesion, and company productivity.
If only it were not true, but completely safe work environments do not exist: perfection in the physical and psychological health of workers is something to aspire to, knowing it cannot be achieved.
Therefore, it is not possible to avoid sexual harassment in the workplace one hundred percent of the time, but it is a policy that should guide a company’s strategy for the care and protection of its staff.
To do this, it is essential to look the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace straight in the eye and admit with maturity it is something that can happen where we work. With this starting point, the company will be able to make concrete and effective decisions aimed at two objectives. Firstly, to prevent it from happening. Secondly, when prevention has not been effective, act to address the situation of sexual harassment in the workplace as soon as possible.
This is the only way to minimize the consequences for the psychological health of the person who suffers it and the negative consequences that sexual harassment in the workplace has for the working environment of the organization.
Preventing and addressing sexual harassment in the workplace
Preventive measures
If you are part of the HR department, make sure your employees are involved in this strategy. Inform your team members, especially when they join, which behaviors and attitudes are clearly considered sexual harassment and should therefore be avoided.
Inform them of the measures that can be taken within the company if they experience sexual harassment or if they witness someone in the team experiencing sexual harassment. Make it clear that this type of behavior will have serious consequences for the person who commits it.
Other preventive measures may include establishing certain codes of conduct, strictly respecting internal communication channels and official schedules, taking advantage of performance review interviews to ensure that everything is on track in this regard, avoiding situations that may lead to misunderstandings, etc.
Action protocol
Develop an action protocol in cooperation with the HR department and legal department and activate it as soon as necessary.
Staff members should know that sexual harassment in the workplace is something that is not permitted or allowed to happen in this company. In addition, the entire staff should know that the company has anticipated that these situations can happen and that there are explicit measures that can be taken safely and confidentially. People who harass awaken our vulnerability and the company must have planned how it will restore the security of the member of staff harassed.
Ifeel has created an emotional well-being program for companies, designed by its team of leading psychologists to help companies boost their employees’ mental health and increase productivity sustainably.
Thanks to this partnership, HR managers can receive personalized, data-driven advice on the most effective measures to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace or take action when it occurs in a way that is safe for the victim.
In addition, ifeel‘s emotional well-being program for companies offers employees a mental health care service structured at different levels depending on individual needs. This way, employees can access various mental health care tools with ifeel‘s app. On level two, they can receive emotional support through a chat with one of our platform’s licensed psychologists.
If additional support is needed, they can access the third level of the program: online psychological therapy with a psychologist specialized in cases such as theirs. It is important to remember that the best way to avoid absenteeism and reduce the number of sick leaves due to work stress or other reasons is always prevention through programs that take care of employees’ mental health.
We hope you found this post about sexual harassment in the workplace useful. If you want more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, simply request it and we will contact your team as soon as possible. You may also be interested in this post about psychosocial risks at work.
