What do we know about sexual harassment at work place in Indonesia: Survey by Never Okay Project

Abstraksi

Gender equality in the economy is good for economic development. Research by McKinsey shows that closing gender gaps in work only could add as much as US$ 28 trillion or 26% increase to annual world gross domestic product (McKinsey Global Institute, 2015). If every country in the world attempts to narrow gender gap at the same rate as the fastest-improving country in its regional peer group, the world could add US$ 12 trillion to annual gross domestic product by 2025 (ibid). Gender equality in that research is being defined as equality in work; essential services and enablers of economic opportunity; legal protection and political voice; and physical security and autonomy. Moreover, gender equality boost company’s profitability. McKinsey did another research that shows how companies who are the in the top quartile for gender diversity in the executive teams were 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability than those who are in the bottom quartile (McKinsey & Company, 2018). Those companies with highest executive-level gender diversity would be 27% more likely to outperform the bottom quartile peers in terms of long-term value creation measured by economic-profit margin (McKinsey & Company, 2016). In profitable firms, a move from 0 to 30% percent of female leaders is associated with 15% increase in the net revenue margin (Noland, Moran & Kotschwar, 2016). Violence against women and low quality jobs are the causes, among others, of global inequality that has been blocking the progress to reach those numbers (McKinsey Global Institute, 2015). World Bank identifies three laws that determine whether women join and maintain in the labour force: can a woman legally get a job or pursue a trade or profession the same way as man; law that mandates nondiscrimination in employment based on gender; and legislation on sexual harassment in employment (World Bank, 2018). That means World Bank acknowledges that protection against sexual harassment is one of determinants of economic development. Sexual harassment has proven to be linked with lower job satisfaction, worse psychological and physical health, higher absenteeism, less commitment to the organisations, increase in inefficient turnover and generally waste of working time (Hersch, 2015). Thus, the company will suffer from unnecessary financial lost, and if the organisation is non-profit such as NGOs, sexual harassment is a significant stumbling block for them to reach their social goal. Meanwhile, the violence against women itself creates 2% of world’s GDP or $1.5 trillion globally (Remarks by UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, Lakshmi Puri at the high-level discussion on the “Economic Cost of Violence against Women”, September 2016, cited in CARE Australia, 2018). Sexual harassment is defined by Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration of Indonesia and ILO (2011) as: “any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, request for sexual favours, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or other behavior of a sexual nature that makes the recipient feels humiliated, offended and/or intimidated, where such reaction is reasonable in the situation and condition; or made into working requirement or create an intimidating, hostile or inappropriate working environment.” Sexual harassment can take into physical, verbal, gestural, written or graphic, and psychological forms (ibid). There have been many studies about the prevalence of sexual harassment at the workplace in many countries such as UK, Egypt, Singapore, USA, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, Vietnam, India and Cambodia (Care Australia, 2018). There had been no such study, about workplace sexual harassment in wide range of industries, from Indonesia yet. The survey that was conducted by Never Okay Project at the end of 2018 fills exactly that gap. We opened the survey form for public, anyone who are workers can fill in, from 19 November to 9 December 2018. The survey asked several questions about the experience and types of of sexual harassment that people have faced and its impact on their well-being. We gained 1,240 responds from workers in various industry, from private, public to media sector. The results are 96% of female respondents and 77% of male respondents said they have experienced sexual harassment, showing that sexual harassment at the workplace impact both men and women. The survey also asked people about the prevention or reporting system in their workplace and why only 14.27% of them reported to HRD, revealing that how current practices in many organisations are insufficient. Although we acknowledge that the survey has limitations because this is not a comprehensive academic research and done by a small volunteer-based organisation, this is the first survey that holds sexual harassment at workplace data in Indonesia. We believe that the survey brings the voice of the people who are marginalised in the economic development that are deserved to be heard to achieve profound economic development in Indonesia. That information, that voice, is what we want to present at the Indonesia Development Forum. Never Okay Project survey that the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace is immense and sticky, that it requires the government and business and organisations leadership to make systemic change. In the presentation, we will also explain the root cause of sexual harassment as a systemic and cultural problem just like violence (Booker, 1998; Feary, 1994; Hunt, Davidson, Fielden & Hoel, 2007; ILO, 2018; McLaughlin, Uggen & Blackstone, 2012; Lunenburg, 2010; Miller, 1997; O’Laery-Kelly, Paetzold & Griffin, 2000; TUC, 2016; Uggen & Blackstone, 2004). We will also invite the audience imagine what would happen if organisations have enact and implement different policy and processes (Sahgal & Dang, 2017) and the government pushes for legislation that is pro-victim like many other countries, from Belgium and Australia to Tanzania and Brazil, have (Human Rights Watch, 2018).