Sexual harassment at workplace (II)
Thus, how can a worker be protected from sexual harassment? What can encourage such a protection?
Indonesia’s textile industry contributed about 1.9 percent to the country’s gross domestic product last year. Its export value reached about Rp. 120 trillion. Behind the industry, there are about 1.4 million workers, mostly women.
Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Ade Sudrajat, described that textile producers gain more profit if they manage to export. However, international buyers have strict and detailed buying standards. This is called compliance. One of them is to obey the law of the country of origin and to produce goods humanely and safely.
“Basically, the compliance from a buyer is more powerful than that of the government. Our relationship with the buyer determines the sustainability of an industry. The sanctions? There will be no tolerance. The buyer will immediately stop ordering. They do not want to be scorned by their press for supporting bad treatment in a factory. We must maintain our integrity. We have been doing it for over 10 years,” he said.
Sudrajat complained that factories must provide several workplaces to meet the demand of the buyers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) saw the loopholes. The United Nations body then offered a Better Work program or appropriate work required internationally. The program’s factory associate Sutrisna said that the ILO included sexual harassment management into the program, which has involved about 70 garment factories.
“It’s because labor-intensive industry or factories employing many workers are very vulnerable to social problems. One of them is sexual harassment. In addition to that, Indonesia has already ratified applied one of the core conventions on discrimination, which includes aspects on sexual harassment,” Sutrisna said.
The Indonesian Textile Association (API) supports the program. They are required to impose ILO standards that have to be accepted by international buyers. Ade Sudrajat added that textile business owners do not want any sexual harassment to happen, because it can disrupt work productivity. “In the garment industry, our productivity and efficiency are very strict. Thus, no time will be spent to play around, because every minute has been calculated with efficiency. Sexual harassment is usually committed by a superior against his or her subordinates. If such a case happens, the immoral superior shall be punished because he or she has already damaged/reduced efficiency. The factory can suffer losses later,” Ade explained.
That afternoon, KBR68H met some textile workers in Tangerang, Banten after their working hours. Some refused to be interviewed. Many of them even expressed objection to fill in a questionnaire. One of the workers was finally willing to talk to KBR68H. Just call her Indah. She said that many of her colleagues are mostly the perpetrators of sexual harassment. The harassment is committed when the workers finish their works and walk out of the factory. Outside the fence, they are poked, greeted by an intimate name and a giggle.
Yatini Sulistyowati, chairwoman of the equality commission of KSBSI, confirmed that co-workers are harassment perpetrators in various sectors, not only in the textile industry. “In 2010, we conducted a survey with 150 respondents as samples. It was conducted mostly in the daytime and at all working status, not only among outsourcing or contract workers. About 80 percent of workers experienced it, but at different levels. The perpetrators were their own co-workers and it happened in the daytime. And the place was always at their workplace,” she said.
Yatini added that the number of sexual harassments at workplace is apparently bigger than what is seen. Psychologist Winanti Siwi Respati said that sexual harassment emerges because of high pressure of work. According to her, if no action is taken, it potentially endangers women. “It’s different from the condition of saturation. The perpetrator doesn’t even think that it can be a problem. It makes him or her relaxed, etc. The problem is that if such a condition is allowed indiscriminately, it will be forgotten, because while the perpetrator just does it for fun, their other male workers will think that the girl is a slut,” she said. (*)
This article is the second article on sexual harassment at workplace from a series of three in-depth articles written by Pebriansyah Ariefana and Guruh Dwi Riyanto of KBR68H and published on 6 May 2013. The article is part of the ILO’s media fellowship programme on gender and employment, jointly conducted in collaboration with the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta and six selected leading, national mass media. The media fellowship programme was part of the campaign conducted by the ILO through its Access to Employment and Decent Work for Women Project, funded by the Australian Government.
Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Ade Sudrajat, described that textile producers gain more profit if they manage to export. However, international buyers have strict and detailed buying standards. This is called compliance. One of them is to obey the law of the country of origin and to produce goods humanely and safely.
“Basically, the compliance from a buyer is more powerful than that of the government. Our relationship with the buyer determines the sustainability of an industry. The sanctions? There will be no tolerance. The buyer will immediately stop ordering. They do not want to be scorned by their press for supporting bad treatment in a factory. We must maintain our integrity. We have been doing it for over 10 years,” he said.
Sudrajat complained that factories must provide several workplaces to meet the demand of the buyers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) saw the loopholes. The United Nations body then offered a Better Work program or appropriate work required internationally. The program’s factory associate Sutrisna said that the ILO included sexual harassment management into the program, which has involved about 70 garment factories.
“It’s because labor-intensive industry or factories employing many workers are very vulnerable to social problems. One of them is sexual harassment. In addition to that, Indonesia has already ratified applied one of the core conventions on discrimination, which includes aspects on sexual harassment,” Sutrisna said.
The Indonesian Textile Association (API) supports the program. They are required to impose ILO standards that have to be accepted by international buyers. Ade Sudrajat added that textile business owners do not want any sexual harassment to happen, because it can disrupt work productivity. “In the garment industry, our productivity and efficiency are very strict. Thus, no time will be spent to play around, because every minute has been calculated with efficiency. Sexual harassment is usually committed by a superior against his or her subordinates. If such a case happens, the immoral superior shall be punished because he or she has already damaged/reduced efficiency. The factory can suffer losses later,” Ade explained.
That afternoon, KBR68H met some textile workers in Tangerang, Banten after their working hours. Some refused to be interviewed. Many of them even expressed objection to fill in a questionnaire. One of the workers was finally willing to talk to KBR68H. Just call her Indah. She said that many of her colleagues are mostly the perpetrators of sexual harassment. The harassment is committed when the workers finish their works and walk out of the factory. Outside the fence, they are poked, greeted by an intimate name and a giggle.
Yatini Sulistyowati, chairwoman of the equality commission of KSBSI, confirmed that co-workers are harassment perpetrators in various sectors, not only in the textile industry. “In 2010, we conducted a survey with 150 respondents as samples. It was conducted mostly in the daytime and at all working status, not only among outsourcing or contract workers. About 80 percent of workers experienced it, but at different levels. The perpetrators were their own co-workers and it happened in the daytime. And the place was always at their workplace,” she said.
Yatini added that the number of sexual harassments at workplace is apparently bigger than what is seen. Psychologist Winanti Siwi Respati said that sexual harassment emerges because of high pressure of work. According to her, if no action is taken, it potentially endangers women. “It’s different from the condition of saturation. The perpetrator doesn’t even think that it can be a problem. It makes him or her relaxed, etc. The problem is that if such a condition is allowed indiscriminately, it will be forgotten, because while the perpetrator just does it for fun, their other male workers will think that the girl is a slut,” she said. (*)
This article is the second article on sexual harassment at workplace from a series of three in-depth articles written by Pebriansyah Ariefana and Guruh Dwi Riyanto of KBR68H and published on 6 May 2013. The article is part of the ILO’s media fellowship programme on gender and employment, jointly conducted in collaboration with the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta and six selected leading, national mass media. The media fellowship programme was part of the campaign conducted by the ILO through its Access to Employment and Decent Work for Women Project, funded by the Australian Government.