Sunday, April 04, 2010

Sexual harassment at workplace seminar

Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), a Singapore-based rights organisation, is organising a free seminar on "sexual harassment: protecting your organisation" on the 22nd April. The event is to launch AWARE's training programme for companies on sexual harassment.

The event is particularly useful for HR policy makers, corporate responsibility professionals, corporate counsels and anyone with an interest in the workplace harassment issue. For more details, see here.

Aware is the first women rights NGO in Singapore to have developed a workplace sexual harassment training programme for companies after several years of research.

In 2007 and 2008, AWARE conducted a survey of sexual harassment at the workplace. The NGO also gathered information about companies’ sexual harassment practices and policies, and recommendations on legal recourse for victims of workplace sexual harassment.

Key survey findings were:

-More than 50% of respondents said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment at their workplace.

-1 in 4 knew of people who had experienced some form of sexual harassment.

-Of those who experienced sexual harassment, 34% of women respondents and 19.2% of men respondents reported being harassed several times.

Singapore companies have shown remarkable reluctance to recognize that sexual harassment is a real issue that needs to be addressed by way of a firm policy and action.

AWARE's new training programme is an opportunity for all companies to make use of the training and introduce long overdue policy on sexual harassment.

2 comments:

Nance Parry said...

Before your seminar (and before you spend another day at work) you should read my ebook, HOW TO AVOID/HANDLE/LITIGATE OVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT. There is much information in it about what sexual harassment is, how to handle it, and what the laws are (in America). It's also an entertaining read! You'll find it at: http://www.booklocker.com/books/4397.html
I did a radio interview on 2/25, which should still be up on the LA Talk Radio website. That's at: http://www.latalkradio.com/Sam_Kara.php
Good luck - Nance Parry

HR Training Expert said...

Workplace bullying and harassment is considered a very serious issue in the United States and is strictly forbidden. Employers can be held liable for any bullying or harassment that occurs in the workplace. However, if they take reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment, they will not be liable. It's important to have a written company harassment policy and training program in place. These are two of the most important steps in preventing and dealing with workplace harassment.