“It's time we convince our women that sexual harassment is definitely not something they should tolerate.”
Sexual Harassment: My Story
by Cristina Peczon, originally aired on
XYZ : Young Women's TV, Philippines
It has become a sad fact of life that the crime of sexual harassment in the workplace is a major offense that happens everyday. Yet at the same time, it is one of the least reported problems in our society.
The reason why? More often than not, victims are often either embarrassed to come forward with their complaints or they are convinced by their family and friends that what has happened to them is shameful. Either way, the offender gets off scot free, allowing him the opportunity to sexually harass another until he is finally made to stop.
I was once sexually harassed. I had an officemate who constantly abused me verbally. At first I shrugged the comments off as the jokes of a clearly poorly bred individual. But when he persisted after I politely asked him to stop, I had to put my foot down. I reported my case to the all male management of my network, where naturally they tried to convince me not to bring my case to court. The incident was studied over the period of a year by my company, and in the end, my sexual offender who was old enough to be my father was given nothing more than a slight reprimand.
The flimsy basis for such, I later learned, was that he had been with the company a good 10 years and that he was a good cameraman. Yes, but he had terrible character. I resigned shortly afterwards and was immediately taken in by a rival network with double pay. My only consolation is that the case was celebrated enough that to this day that cameraman is constantly teased by his peers. I doubt he'll ever sexually harass another woman as long as he lives. He knows the next time, justice will actually be served.
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“I won't lie to you, once you openly expose your case of sexual harassment, many will shy away from you...But you have to stand firm. You cannot allow your offender to harass someone else.”
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When I was sexually harassed, it still hurt me as if I had actually been physically violated. At first I was scared to report my case, thinking that I would be laughed at or even worse that I might lose my job. It came to a point that I could no longer work, and that was when I knew I had to take a stand I realized that what he was doing was embarassing and I definitely was not in the wrong.
Experts say that Filipino men use sexual harassment to prove that they are "macho", to show that they have power over women. It's also the irimmature way of showing the victims that they find these women attractive.To me, it only shows poor breeding.
The men are only showing off, but the effect on the employee can be devastating to her career. Suddenly, her dignity, self esteem, her pride--- they are all at stake. A woman being sexually harassed becomes irritable, she looks miserable, and her performance is affected. Often it becomes a choice between harassment or unemployment. I won't lie to you, once you openly expose your case of sexual harassment, many will shy away from you. Friends will disappear, officemates will sneer at you, upper management will shake their head at you because you will be the cause of a big legal headache. But you have to stand firm. You cannot allow your offender to harass someone else.
Cristina was a former newscaster for a Philippine TV network. She shared this story on air at XYZ: Young Women's TV, where she was a co-host.
Short bio on Cristina
More BagongPinay web pages about Sexual Harassment:
Sexual Harassment of Women of Color
by Sabrina Margarita Alcantara-Tan, U.S.A.
The Control Factor of Sexual Harassment
by BagongPinay
includes:
More Internet Links on Sexual Harassment