Guidelines for the handling of sexual harassment in the South African Police Service

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Sexual harassment is an old problem for the women who are its victims but is relatively newas a social issue. Studies carried out in South Africa and internationally indicate that sexualharassment is a problem in virtually every organisation and that a substantial proportion ofworking women are the recipients of unwanted sexual attention in the workplace.A number of misconceptions, myths as well as stereotyping regarding sexual harassment inthe workplace have added to the frustration female employees experience in trying to havetheir sexual harassment complaints recognised. Like many organisations, the South AfricanPolice Service (SAPS) knows the problem exists, but is unaware of its full extent or thedestructive effects it has on employees and the workplace.As sexual harassment usually occurs in private, the women in the SAPS who are beingharassed usually do not know how to react or how to handle the harassing situation andconseq uently suffer in silence. Most female employees despair of having the traditionallymale dominated management component in the SAPS understand how much sexualharassment humiliates and frustrates them. They also despair of having the support ofmanagers in addressing the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace.Even though the SAPS has a sexual harassment policy, the problem of sexual harassmentcontinues to occur in the workplace. The only protection for the organisation and itsemployees, is prevention, or lacking that, immediate and appropriate action, followingnotification of a sexual harassment complaint. Prevention is only likely when the sexualharassment policy has been well communicated to all parties and enforced consistently andfairly. Inher capacity as a social worker in the SAPS, the researcher became aware that eventhough managers and employees are aware that this type of misconduct occurs, they avoidaddressing this sensitive issue because of a lack of proper guidelines.Therefore, the aim of the study was to present guidelines for the composition of a trainingprogramme for the implementation of the existing policy document regarding the handlingof sexual harassment in the SAPS. The purpose was to ensure that intervention andprevention of sexual harassment in the SAPS will be handled more effectively. Existingliterature on the subject of sexual harassment was studied and presented in a theoreticalframework.The history, legislation and dimensions of sexual harassment in the workplace i.e.internationally as well as in South Africa and the SAPS, were discussed. The developmentand consequences of sexual harassment for the organisation and all employees concerned wereemphasized. Preventative measures and implementation guidelines for addressing sexualharassment in the SAPS, were explored. The prevalence of sexual harassment in theworkplace and the subsequent experience(s) of and effects on female employees regardingsuch harassment (in the SAPS) is brought into focus.Exploratory - descriptive research was done with the aid of a questionnaire as an instrumentfor data-collection, at police stations in one area of the West Metropole in the SAPS (WesternCape) where social workers are rendering services. The opinions and attitudes of femaleemployees with regard to their experience(s) or knowledge of the occurrence and the handlingof sexual harassment in the SAPS, were determined. Information obtained from thequestionnaire is presented in six categories, namely : demographic characteristics ofrespondents, behaviour of male employees toward female employees, the person(s)responsible for the sexual harassment incident, reactions to the sexual harassment incident,effects of sexual harassment experience(s) on women as well as on the workplace and theaddressing of sexual harassment in the workplace.Conclusions and recommendations are made regarding the opinions, knowledge and sexualharassment experiences of female employees in the SAPS as well as how sexual harassmentshould be handled by various parties such as managers and social workers employed by theSAPS. The implementation of a sexual harassment training programme can be of great valueto the South African Police Service and all its employees, provided the staff at managementlevel, professional personnel (social workers, psychologists and personnel practitioners) andall other levels of employees commit themselves to working together on addressing andpreventing sexual harassment in the workplace. Regular evaluations should be done by thesocial worker after the sexual harassment training programme has been implemented, in orderto determine the effectiveness of the prevention training programme for addressing sexualharassment in the SAPS. Social workers in the SAPS should endeavour to clarify the extentof the problem of sexual harassment and should bring the seriousness of the problem to theattention of managers and all other employees. Social workers therefore have a crucial rolein assisting with the implementation of the organisation's sexual harassment policy and indoing further research regarding sexual harassment in the workplace.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University