Sexual harassment in the workplace. | Shavanah Taj | TEDxButeStreet

Summary

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a pervasive issue that transcends geographical boundaries and affects diverse groups, as highlighted by Shavanah Taj during her TEDx talk. Sharing her personal experiences, from her childhood to her leadership roles, Taj emphasizes the importance of addressing such misconduct comprehensively. She argues that victims often do not bear the sole responsibility for rectifying these situations, highlighting the role of organizational structures and societal norms in perpetuating harassment. Taj calls for systemic changes, including better support mechanisms within workplaces and stronger alignment with equality action plans to create safe, respectful environments.

Highlights

• Shavanah Taj shares personal stories of harassment starting from childhood. 👶
• She cites a lack of action from employers as a major issue in addressing workplace harassment. 🤷‍♀️
• Emphasizes that harassment is not limited to physical acts but includes verbal and online behavior. 💻👄
• Call for organizational accountability and systemic change to address workplace harassment effectively. ⚖️
• Highlights the role of intersectionality in harassment, impacting minority groups more severely. 🔍

Key Takeaways

• Sexual harassment is a global issue that affects everyone but is felt differently based on gender, race, and job security. 🌍
• Personal experiences of harassment often start at a young age and continue into adulthood. 👧➡️👩
• Silence and inaction from employers perpetuate the problem, calling for organizational responsibility. 🚫🤐
• Intersectionality plays a significant role, as harassment intersects with other forms of oppression like racism and sexism. 🌈
• There is a need for systemic change, including legislative actions and workplace policies, to address and reduce harassment. 🔄

Overview

In her enlightening TEDx talk, Shavanah Taj courageously delves into her personal experiences with sexual harassment, bringing to light a subject that affects individuals globally. From a young age, Taj encountered harassment, shaping her understanding and approach to tackling these issues. Her narrative beautifully intertwines personal experiences with broader systemic critiques, urging more profound conversations and actions for change.

Taj emphasizes the shared responsibility of addressing workplace harassment, critiquing the often inadequate responses from employers who might suggest simple shifts adjustments rather than confronting the perpetrator. She calls out the societal and institutional norms that allow harassment to persist, stressing the need for comprehensive policies and education to dismantle these barriers. Her talk is a clarion call for leaders to prioritize safety and respect in the workplace.

By intertwining stories with powerful statistics and analysis, Taj shifts the focus towards systemic change, advocating for robust legislative measures and organizational policies that challenge the status quo. She highlights the significance of intersectionality, stating that harassment often intertwines with other forms of discrimination, affecting vulnerable groups more intensely. Taj’s talk is a powerful reminder that change is both essential and possible, spurring audiences to act.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The chapter begins with the speaker introducing the topic of sexual harassment in the workplace. The speaker emphasizes the seriousness of the issue by starting with a quote from Maya Angelou: 'I can be changed by what happens to me but I refuse to be reduced by it.' This sets the tone for a discussion focused on resilience and empowerment despite adverse experiences.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Cultural Support for Misogyny In a discussion focused on cultural dynamics, it is highlighted how deeply ingrained misogyny and sexual harassment are within both the workplace and broader society. The chapter delves into the uncomfortable reality that everyone is part of a culture that, often inadvertently, sustains these detrimental norms. It resonates with many, as numerous individuals have firsthand experience of sexual harassment at work, underpinning the pervasive nature of gender discrimination. The narrative encourages a collective acknowledgment and a push towards changing these ingrained cultural attitudes.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Experiencing Various Forms of Discrimination The chapter discusses the personal experience of facing various forms of discrimination, including racism, ableism, and homophobia. It delves into the emotional and physical impact these experiences have on individuals. The narrative conveys the confusion and fear that arise when one encounters discriminatory comments or behaviors, leaving individuals questioning if they heard something correctly and grappling with the reality of the situation.
• 02:00 - 02:30: First Personal Experience with Sexual Harassment The chapter discusses the personal experience of the speaker with sexual harassment. The speaker acknowledges the financial constraints and challenges many people face, such as a cost of living crisis, and the difficulty of taking action in such situations. Before delving into more detailed discussions, the speaker shares that their first encounter with sexual harassment occurred at around the age of seven.
• 03:30 - 04:00: High School Experience with Harassment The chapter titled 'High School Experience with Harassment' begins with a reflective narrative of an individual recalling their first encounter with sexual harassment at the age of seven. The individual describes a scenario where they were playing on the street with friends and noticed a man standing in a window who waved and smiled at them. This incident marks the beginning of an ongoing journey of high school experiences surrounding harassment.
• 05:30 - 06:00: Standing against Harassment Today This chapter titled 'Standing against Harassment Today' begins with a vivid recount of an experience of sexual harassment. The narrator describes an encounter at a window where a man was behaving inappropriately. This disturbing act was something they felt was inappropriate for anyone to witness, especially a 70-year-old. The narrator reflects on the mixed emotions felt at the time, which ranged from finding it regrettably humorous to feeling deeply uncomfortable. This event marked a significant, albeit alarming, introduction to the issue of sexual harassment, highlighting the complexity and impact of such experiences.
• 06:30 - 07:00: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: A Global Issue The chapter discusses the global issue of sexual harassment in the workplace and how it affects individuals, particularly women. It starts with a reflection on a childhood experience where the speaker and their peers felt scared and concerned about potential repercussions from their parents if they disclosed an incident. The streets, which served as their playground, were crucial to their social life and freedom, highlighting the lack of technological distractions that exist today. As the narrative progresses, it fast-forwards seven years to when the speaker is in high school, setting the stage for further discussion on the impact of these experiences during teenage years.
• 07:30 - 08:00: Unique Impact on Black Women This chapter narrates an incident where a female narrator, dressed in black trousers and a white shirt with a tie on a hot summer day, experiences an unwelcome interaction. As she walks through a school corridor with her jumper tied around her waist, she feels a sudden 'ping' at the back of her shirt. Turning around, she discovers a boy who thought it was acceptable to pull the strap of her bra.
• 08:30 - 09:00: Shared Responsibility in Addressing Harassment This chapter discusses the importance of shared responsibility in addressing harassment. It highlights a personal experience where someone reacted instinctively to an inappropriate approach, either by kicking or punching the harasser. The reaction nearly caused the harasser to fall down the stairs. The chapter underscores the necessity of taking action when faced with such situations, emphasizing that immediate responses are part of a collective effort to oppose and address harassment.
• 09:30 - 10:30: Workplace Solutions and Inadequacies This chapter explores workplace dynamics and the challenges faced by employees in handling inappropriate behavior. A particular incident is highlighted where an individual was reprimanded by a superior for something deemed inappropriate, despite the behavior of others involved. It demonstrates discrepancies in workplace solutions and how they may be inadequate in addressing issues of fairness and accountability.
• 13:30 - 14:30: Effects of COVID on Harassment Dynamics This chapter explores the impact of COVID-19 on harassment dynamics. It discusses a disturbing incident involving a young girl being coerced by a group of boys, highlighting the gravity and sensitivity of harassment experiences. The narrative emphasizes the ongoing challenges and societal issues surrounding harassment that persist even during pandemic times.
• 15:30 - 16:00: Cultural Influences and Online Misogyny The chapter discusses the importance of leadership in addressing and eliminating sexism, alongside racism, within workplaces and schools, emphasizing the need for proactive measures against sexual harassment.
• 17:00 - 18:00: Intersectionality and Harassment The chapter discusses the global issue of workplace harassment, highlighting its universal occurrence across different communities. It emphasizes that the impact of harassment is not uniformly felt, with black women being disproportionately affected. They are more likely to be in insecure jobs, such as zero-hour contracts, which increases their vulnerability to sexual harassment. The connection between insecure employment and harassment risk is examined, suggesting that those in precarious job situations face greater challenges regarding harassment.
• 19:30 - 20:30: Legislative Change and Safety Campaigns The chapter "Legislative Change and Safety Campaigns" highlights the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, emphasizing its gendered nature as predominantly affecting women. It acknowledges that sexual harassment can be a personal and unique experience, with no two incidents being identical. The importance of not making excuses for such behavior is stressed.
• 21:30 - 22:00: Employer Responsibility and Worker Safety This chapter addresses the critical issue of workplace harassment, emphasizing that it should never be dismissed or justified by any circumstance related to the perpetrator, such as personal relationships or misconceptions. It acknowledges the relentless and compounded effects harassment can have on an individual's life and underscores the importance of recognizing its reality and impact.
• 24:30 - 25:30: Supporting Workers and Encouraging Union Participation The chapter discusses the importance of workplace safety and emphasizes that the responsibility for ensuring safety does not lie solely with the victims of unsafe conditions. It stresses that the issues of workplace safety are significant and not to be underestimated, and the chapter advocates for broader responsibility and action to address these issues, implying the role of management and collective efforts in ensuring a safe working environment.

Sexual harassment in the workplace. | Shavanah Taj | TEDxButeStreet Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 oh there's me but that's also me um so today I'm going to be talking about sexual harassment in the workplace so it's app that I actually start by referring to a quote from Maya Angelou I can be changed by what happens to me but I refuse to be reduced by it
• 00:30 - 01:00 and the reason why this quote is so apt is because whether we like it or not each and every one of us are forced into living in a culture that actually continues to support misogyny and sexual harassment in the workplace and within our societies many of us in this room will know what it is like to feel sexual harassment at work we'll
• 01:00 - 01:30 also know what it feels like to experience racism we'll know what it feels like to be to experience ableism we'll know what it feels like to experience homophobia we'll also know what it feels like what it does to you physically inside and the experience that you then go through as an individual where you are really scared as to what it is that did I hear that right did they actually say that did
• 01:30 - 02:00 that really come out of that person's mouth and you're thinking well I want to do something about this but I also know that those bills are coming through the doors that cost of living crisis is very very real every single person most people in this room will know what that feels like but the fact of the matter is there is something that we can do about these issues but before I go any further I want to talk a little bit about my own experience so I'm seven years old around that age
• 02:00 - 02:30 in this picture and the reason why I use this picture was because it was at the age of seven that I first experienced sexual harassment I'm playing on the street and we can see I'm with a group of friends and I can see asking my friend that there's a man standing in the window and he's waving he's waving and he's smiling and we're thinking okay and he just carries on waving and he's smiling so what do we do we're curious kids we
• 02:30 - 03:00 run over to the window we get to the window the man steps back his other hand is here and of course he's doing things that no 70 year old should ever have to see so that was my first experience of sexual harassment but that it didn't end there and I've got to say that again that feeling that goes through your body at that time now we know at that time we thought it was kind of funny but equally we were
• 03:00 - 03:30 really scared and we were worried but we also were concerned that if we went home and we told our parents particularly our mums they would say well that's it you're never gonna go out and play again so we weren't prepared to give up going out and playing on the street we didn't have technology like kids have these days those streets were really important to us those those streets were our playground but then fast forward seven years on I'm 14 years old I'm in high school it's a
• 03:30 - 04:00 summer Summer's hot day I'm wearing black trousers a white shirt a tie I'm walking through the school hallway corridors and I feel something behind me and I have I've got my jumper tied around my waist because it's a hot day right and all of a sudden I feel a ping at the back of my shirt so what is it I turn around there's a boy standing there and he thought it was perfectly okay to just have a little go at the at the strap of my bra
• 04:00 - 04:30 my immediate reaction at that point was to turn around and to kick him in the nuts or did I punch him I'm not quite sure I'm not sure not clear on that memory but he nearly fell down the stairs as a result of what happened at that moment in time but again I knew that I needed to do something because I wasn't prepared for somebody to approach me inappropriately and do whatever they
• 04:30 - 05:00 thought was okay and what they thought was funny what they thought was a bit of banter a bit of a laugh for him and his friends but as a result of that situation I got pulled into the deputy head's office and she said to me shyvana why did you do this and I said Miss are you having a laugh are you actually serious I mean look at what he did and she said hmm but you know what you're kind of lucky because there's there was another girl
• 05:00 - 05:30 that we saw that we found behind the bike shed and there was a couple of boys around that girl and let's just say they were blackmailing her and so she was being forced into doing things to those three group of boys that no 14 year old girl or any girl should ever or woman should ever have to experience in their entire lives but fast forward again I'm standing here in front of you in a
• 05:30 - 06:00 very privileged position where I now get to step into this powerful position that I have as a leader in Wales and say enough is enough we are definitely gonna have to move forward and Stamp Out not only racism with now within our workplaces and within our schools but also sexism so what is sexual harassment in the
• 06:00 - 06:30 workplace we know that it's Global it happens in every single part of the world it happens in every single Community we know that it's not felt equally that is for sure we know that when it comes to black women in particular they are more likely to be in insecure work more likely to be on a zero hour contract or we know that there is definitely a relationship therefore that they are more likely to experience sexual harassment as well because if you are in insecure work you are more likely to fall into that category so therefore
• 06:30 - 07:00 we also know that it is gendered it is predominantly women who experience sexual harassment in the workplace that is not to say that is not to say that there are other people that don't experience it too it can be personal it is personal no two experiences are ever the same and so it is really important that we are never ever making excuses for sexual
• 07:00 - 07:30 harassment in the workplace it should never be a case that it's okay it's okay that you're going through this because actually the person who did this the perpetrator well they're just you know they broke up with their partner they just you know they were just being a little bit friendly you may have misunderstood the signs and so it kind of never really happened right we know that it can be relentless we know that it's compounded any effects every single thing in your life but we also know that is actually a
• 07:30 - 08:00 barrier to workplace safety but what isn't it listen it's never low level it really is never low level and is sure as heck is not the victim's fault it is not the victim's fault but also let me be clear it is not solely the responsibility of the victim to find the solutions to that problem it is a
• 08:00 - 08:30 shared responsibility particularly in the workplace when we know that there are real hierarchies that they are various different people who are in positions of leadership who can find those Solutions and when we talk about Solutions the amount of times that I hear from women at work who say to me shyvana you know what they said to me when I spoke when I eventually when I eventually found the nerve to speak about this issue they said to me oh yeah uh okay so
• 08:30 - 09:00 um what we can do is um so we'll just make sure that the two of you are not working in the same building or you're not both on the same shift um and therefore it's okay because you're never gonna come across that person so they don't actually take any action they don't actually reprimand that individual and go through a process no they they genuinely believe there's actually some bosses there are some employers who believe well this is a way
• 09:00 - 09:30 of making it okay making it okay so that both of these individuals can carry on working within this workplace it's definitely not limited to physical verbal or online acts and it's definitely not just banter now we know for example that during the period of covid all of a sudden we saw lots of technological changes happen we've seen what AI does we've also seen what the fact that all of a sudden things started
• 09:30 - 10:00 to change because you know you particularly for key workers they were carpooling they were physically going to work and coming back together you were all of a sudden your your kind of personal spaces and your workspaces that kind of those lines became really really gray as a result of that and so the way that we deal with sexual harassment and the experiences that people have of sexual harassment in the workplace has very much changed additionally of course we've heard at
• 10:00 - 10:30 the TUC the uni movement we've heard from workers who have been telling us that actually the way that I experience sexual harassment is you know it starts off with a better banter yeah sure but then it also results in being cyber flashed it also results in various different images of me being sent around various different circles within the workplace as well again apparently is just a bit of banter as well
• 10:30 - 11:00 but what is actually driving this why is this stuff happening why is it that all of a sudden it is okay it is okay for young men in particular to have online content on platforms like Tick Tock Where They are promoting the sorts of values that we've been discussing this evening in a very negative way where they are Inc where
• 11:00 - 11:30 they all of a sudden become the teachers of other young men and other young girls where they're telling them that actually you know what all women are lies and cheats all women women are lies and cheats and actually when it comes to women A Woman's Place is at home a good wife is a silent wife a good girlfriend is one that cooks cleans raises the children makes sure that everything is okay and you know what my girlfriend my
• 11:30 - 12:00 wife she never experiences sexual harassment because you know what she don't go nowhere unless she's with me because all of a sudden that's what it comes down to because all of a sudden women need men as their protectors the all of a sudden all of this progression that we've seen of women entering into a range of different sectors goes out of the window we know that it's targeting young people but we also know that there is so much
• 12:00 - 12:30 workplace in action and the final Point here about far-right ideology in cell culture manosphere all we we've seen it we've seen it all over the news over the last couple of months all of a sudden these individuals who who have become like the next big thing it's been spoken about on this stage today here about being in Vogue these content creators they know what they're doing but also as far as Tick Tock is concerned
• 12:30 - 13:00 the way the algorithms actually work is their algorithms don't actually recognize misogyny and when they actually eventually take down a video that is misogynistic or has sexual harassment very highly within their content it just means that something else appears because the way that the algorithms work is you look at one video and all of a sudden you everything else that you look at is telling you the same thing as well
• 13:00 - 13:30 but it is intersectional it is more likely to happen to young women we've done some research into this and we know that when it comes to young women who work in retail for example and Hospitality 9 out of ten young women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace we also know that actually when it comes to particular sectors NHS workers nine one out of ten NHS workers have
• 13:30 - 14:00 experienced sexual harassment in the workplace we also know that if you are a black woman you then are wondering am I experiencing racism or am I experiencing sexism am I experience in misogyny more likely than not you're experiencing all of the above you then wonder what exactly is it that I tackle first is this how do I explain what is happening to me all of a sudden is back to that you start doubting
• 14:00 - 14:30 yourself you start doubting yourself because it goes back to your seven-year-old self because it it doesn't it doesn't stop because you are a particular age it doesn't stop because you work in a particular sector or in a particular industry it's absolutely everywhere but the truth is that things can change because going back a couple of years in this room this room would have been full
• 14:30 - 15:00 of what smoke do you remember that time when people used to smoke indoors right but overnight almost overnight almost it legislation was introduced and it became a thing of the past but as a result of that every single person in his room got to benefit as a change of that legislation so there are things that can happen change can happen and it can benefit every single person as well as I say we're a work is most vulnerable
• 15:00 - 15:30 so we know that when it comes to hospitality workers particularly because of the shifts that they more often than not work getting to and back from work can be quite difficult it can feel really really unsafe and that is the reason why we've been working with employers on a campaign called get me home safely and basically it means that more often than not when people work in those sectors more often than not they're on insecure Zero Hour contracts
• 15:30 - 16:00 and so forth and so by the time it's time for them to physically go home all of a sudden there's no public transport if you work in Cardiff but you live in Newport or you live in The Valleys good luck trying to get any public transport at that time of night it's just not going to be possible and so we've been working with employers and saying you know what it's actually your responsibility because if something goes wrong because we know that women are watched at work as well we know that women are stroked we hear these stories
• 16:00 - 16:30 on a day-to-day basis this we know that the this is where I say that whole kind of like blurring of lines between what is personal and what is work and of course when it comes to alcohol or distress people but we also know that the real issue here is that we don't actually train our employers we don't train our managers on how to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace and we also know the workers really do need support but the other thing I often hear
• 16:30 - 17:00 from is people who say well okay so um people often talk about don't be a bystander but what does that actually mean so where does that leave me where does that leave me because um if I'm gonna whistle blow uh does that mean all of a sudden potentially um I might lose my job as well um are they going to start questioning me on maybe my lateness because my or my own sick absence like because I've been
• 17:00 - 17:30 trying to keep some of those things under the radar a little bit but now I want to help my friend out or work and if I talk about that issue where is that going to leave me and that is the reason why we have to get all of these things out in the open but our leaders and our managers have then got to make sure that they have management support in place as well but it is we do have hierarchical workplaces there are real imbalances of power in all of this as well
• 17:30 - 18:00 but I also think that if we work in Social partnership as unions as as representatives of workers that workers feel safe within the workplace that we recognize that bullying culture we recognize the misogyny and racism and sexism has no place within our workplaces we recognize that it is intersectional we recognize that we now in Wales have so many different equality action plans within those equality
• 18:00 - 18:30 action plans we have to act so my calls to you are if you are not a member of a trade Union join the union organize your workplace and demand that your bosses do better demand that your bosses do the right thing thank you [Applause]