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Sexual harrassment is still rife in some workplaces - and that makes it a big issue for trade unions. Gary Flood reports on the challenges women still face in the 21st century
Time up for sexism?
Sexism - a word only ever used nowadays by radical separatist feminists,
and a concept that really died out in the 1980s when the last barriers
to women’s equality were abolished.
If you agree with the above statement you may be surprised to learn that
sexism is still very much an issue. Chances are, however, you’d be
in the minority anyway, as most people would agree that sexual discrimination
remains as much a concern in our society as other sorts of discrimination
based on race, age, or class.
There’s probably no better figure to sum this up than foot-in-mouth
specialist, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who seems to be
making a career out of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Fresh on the heels of his other 'colourful' comments about Germans and
Mussolini, in September the Euro politician told astonished US businessmen
they should consider investing in his country as there were now fewer
Communists but more importantly it has many “beautiful secretaries”
and “superb girls”.
So perhaps we’d be a bit premature to say old-fashioned attitudes
to sexual stereotypes have gone. But, one might say, there’s no real
harm done by such statements?
That all depends on how deeply you want to take it, of course. There
are many philosophical, cultural and what have you debates around sexism,
and they all remain fascinating.
But the focus of today’s real-world concerns about sexist behaviour
all centre on work, and the threats women still face in getting their
jobs done. And there’s no denying there’s some serious workplace
issues still out there.
A recent headline-grabbing case in point is the huge row at giant American
supermarket chain Wal-Mart (the owners of Asda in this country). The company
is facing the possibility of a huge lawsuit from no less than 1.6 million
former or current women workers, who are alleging years of underpayment
and being overlooked for promotion, simply because they have two ‘X’
chromosomes (the genetic marker for being female).
One of the lawyers trying to get the case to court told the BBC: “Women
have been paid less than men at every one of Wal-Mart’s 3,500 stores
since 1976.”
If the case goes would has an embarrassment on its hands to say the least,
as it has based a lot of its PR image on the fact its nearly 1 million
staff enjoy being its employees so much.
Another organisation that has some explaining to do is no less a body
than the British police.
Again in September a disturbing report from the Police Complaints Authority
revealed that nearly a quarter of all complaints it receives are from
women, up 8% since 1993. This is against a background of a 5% rise in
the number of misconduct cases in the last two years.
Examples it cited included a case where a liaison officer sexually harassed
a murder victim’s relative during his enquiry – which he also
managed to make six unconnected blunders with.
That officer was simply fined after a misconduct hearing instead of being
fired, due to staff shortages. “Sexist police officers are getting
away with conduct in the force in a way no other profession would tolerate,”
it warned.
Not as if there aren’t examples enough in other professions. How
many times have you read reports of industrial tribunals where appalling
behaviour has been perpetrated on women by their male bosses?
Earlier this year there was a (sadly) typical case: financially-hit communications
group MCI Worldcom’s Reading office was the backdrop to the humiliation
of yet another high-flying female professional, who was told she was only
hired as her line manager wanted to have sex with her.
This shining example of malehood also called the victim a range of unpleasant
names and made offensive jokes, in public, about her private life and
conduct. The 29-year old was so embarrassed she gave up her well-paid
job and is now trying to win some compensation for her trial.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is thus a major issue for trade unions,
and UNISON is very active in this area (see box, left). And while a big
part of sexism, it plainly isn’t the only aspect of workplace environment
that’s a problem, if Wal-Mart and Berlusconi et al are representative,
which worryingly they do seem to be, even in 2003.
So is one person’s sexism another’s ‘political correctness’?
The answer really is that while we all have a sense of humour there’s
just no excuse for making female colleagues feel uncomfortable, let alone
there being any defensible reason for treating them differently from men
either financially or in their career structures.
Sexism, it seems, will be with us a while longer. That doesn’t mean to say we have to put up with it.
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UNISON SAYS LAW ALONE NOT ENOUGH With regard to sexism and sexual harassment in the workplace UNISON’s acting national women’s officer Sorcha O’Neill says it’s still a significant problem - and something that the law alone cannot eliminate entirely. In terms of sexism there are numerous examples, such as the continuing huge disparity between men’s and women's earnings, the inequality faced by part time workers (the majority of whom are women) who face low pay and low status jobs, the glass ceiling blocking promotion, discrimination faced by pregnant women in the workplace - to name just a few. There are areas of law which cover equal pay, part time workers, discrimination against pregnant women and so on - but discrimination is still persistent in these areas. A shift in attitude and perception is also needed. |
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