My first Magazine | Page 22

CLUSTER NEWS

Skill Letts

VIEWS , VOICE & WAYS OF SKILLS
An in house journal of Additional Skill Acquisition Programme

CLUSTER NEWS

Towards safer work places – Importance of Internal Complaints Committee Preetha A
Women are increasingly faced with the pressing question as to how they should deal with harassment in the workplace . It ' s a story we ' ve heard many times , of a woman being bothered by the persistent interest that a male colleague ( sometimes even the boss ) is taking in her .
He may be direct about his intentions , passing lewd comments , issuing invites for dinner or coffee or flooding her with text messages , Or he may bother her in other ways , touching her ' accidentally ' or setting up situations in which she is left alone with him , and so on .
Either way , she is left feeling helpless and angry . Confronting the perpetrator of this harassment may result in job loss , and not doing anything about it means a daily struggle of fending him off .
WHAT YOU CAN DO ?
Every woman in the workplace needs to equip herself with information about what she can do if she is being harassed .
How to Deal with Sexual Harassment at Work ?
1 . Communicate your disapproval
If you can avoid the colleague who makes you uncomfortable , do so . If you have to work in close proximity to him , avoid being alone with him .
And tell him to stop his specific behaviour : If he stands too close , you can say : Can you stand away please , because such closeness makes me very uncomfortable .
Or , if he touches you , say : Can you please avoid putting your hand on my shoulder because that makes me uncomfortable . ' If the person has sent you a joke through an email or SMS , reply through
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