10th year of the Equal Employment Counseling Office, discussing female employees’ present and future (2)
By Hwang Hyeonsuk
Published: November 29, 2010
Translated by Marilyn Hook
Editor’s note: It’s been 10 years since the Equal Employment Counseling Office support system was introduced through the 4thAmendment to the 2001 Equal Employment Opportunity Law. During that time, the Equal Employment Counseling Offices of private organizations have been functioning as female workers’ practical safeguards and have acted as liaisons that report to society the realities that female workers encounter. Through the case consultations received in the Equal Employment Counseling Office, Ilda and the Women Workers Association intend to look at the realities and problems of women workers, who are losing ground after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Author Hwang Hyun-sook is the current head of the Seoul Women Workers Association.
Through incidents of horrible child molestation, a famous politician’s sexual harassment, and others of which the entire nation is aware, sexual violence has become an issue that often comes up in the press. According to the complaints of women workers who’ve knocked on the Equal Employment Counseling Office’s door because of sexual harassment, there are also cases occurring that surpass light sexual jokes or touching to go as far as rape. Workplace sexual harassment itself not only has bad mental and physical effects and worsens work environments, but is even of such a magnitude that jobs themselves [of victims] may be threatened.
Workplace sexual harassment extending to job threats
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“If
you say no to me, you’re saying no to the renewal of your contract.” ⓒ Neuti
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“My manager would ask, ‘Are you tired?’ and massage my hands and feet; it was so uncomfortable and I always went around feeling anxious. One day he even touched my thigh, and so while suffering from depression, I made a complaint; because of that I received notice that my contract wouldn’t be renewed. I became unemployed because of sexual harassment – it’s so unfair.”
-Contract worker (2009 counseling case)
“The president of the company often asked me out and said ‘When you come near me my heart pounds. If we go out I want to hold you, put my head in your lap and talk, and have fun. Can’t you accept me?’ I refused, telling him I wasn’t interested in men, and through the general manager I received notice that I was to resign…”
-Employee who worked for 2 months (2009 counseling case)
Every year, about 75-85% of the consultations are ones in which the perpetrator of sexual harassment is the business’ owner or victim’s boss. There are many cases in which the perpetrator is directly in charge of the company’s human resources. Because of this, when the victim has rejected the perpetrator’s advances or made an official complaint, there have been cases in which the perpetrator may cause her to quit though direct or indirect harassment, urge her to resign, or even find grounds to fire her. Therefore, even though sexual harassment occurs, making it public is difficult and the perpetrator often exerts his authority to conceal it.
The hotbed of sexual harassment, male-centric office dinners
“I was at an office dinner with head office management-level employees only a week after joining the company. The executives had habits of holding my hand, putting their arms around my shoulders and waist, hugging me, pressing their cheeks against mine… It felt as if it was a place for the female employees to serve executives; it was hard to get a job here so I can’t quit and [don’t know] what to do…”
-Regular employee (2007 counseling case)
“I went to the second [drinking-heavy] part of our office dinner like I was being dragged. Male employees who were drinking were trying to hug me so I avoided them; suddenly I was embraced from behind and picked up and put down. The manager and section chief overlooked everything, and the section chief asked me to slow-dance with him. So I came home crying; also my peers who work at other district offices or dong offices have a really hard time because of sexual harassment at office dinners. They say the female employees who slow-danced are treated well, and if you don’t dance they curse and treat you badly.”
-Government employee (2007 counseling case)
There are places where office dinner culture is changing, but sexual harassment at office dinners happens regularly even now. Office dinners progress similar to the business itself, in which one must adjust to the preferences of a superior ahead of one in the workplace’s hierarchical relationships, and follow his demands. Our society’s male-centric culture and hierarchy-connected office dinner culture lead to the worsening of women’s working conditions.
Sexual harassment in a small business bound by close relationships
“I’ve been working for 2 months at an office that doesn’t even have 5 people in it; from the morning on the president suggests drinking together, asks me how many times I do it with my boyfriend, and keeps saying ‘Let’s date or something’. When I say, ‘I don’t work in order to stand that kind of nonsense’, even though he gets on his knees and says he won’t do it [anymore], when he drinks, he gets like that again, so it’s like a torture chamber, not a workplace.”
(2008 counseling case)
“At the end of the year, the president wanted to have an end-of-the-year party, so I went though it was annoying. I ended up going to the second part and at a karaoke room he forcibly kissed me and put his hands under my clothes and touched me. I refused him and pushed him hard so he said ‘I’m the president and you’re the bookkeeper’ and ‘From tomorrow, don’t come in to workanymore.’ I’m looking for another job and I feel angry and afraid of seeing his face, and the more I think about it, the angrier I get and the more unfair it feels.”
-Employee of the office with an employer and another coworker(2008 counseling case)
There are many cases in which the perpetrator of sexual harassment in a small business workplace is the business owner, so real legal measures are a challenge, and they are the workplaces to which the Sexual Harassment Prevention Education Exception Clause applies, so prevention education is not mandatory for them.
In situations in which a business only has one employee,, cases in which the business’ owner expresses his unjustified sexual demands or personal feelings of intimacy through sexual speech and behavior also frequently occur. If victims rebuff the sexual harassment, their labor rights are highly likely to be threatened by immediately receiving notice to quit., Even if they are not fired, continuing to work is really difficult, because they have to see the perpetrator’s face nearby every day.
Increasing service-industry workers, increasing sexual harassment by customers
“I work in a customer service center. An employee ofour subcontractor says things on Messenger like ‘Let’s go out’, ‘How many times have you done it with a boyfriend?’ and so on, and touches melike we're in a relationship. How can I deal with this using the law?”
- Telemarketer (2009 counseling case)
“I work in elder care. My patient is 70 years old and says he used to be a school principal. From the first day he has often pressed up against me and said ‘Because there’s a young person at my side I feel like I’m becoming a man again’ and yesterday, saying bluntly, ‘My lower body is coming back to life”, he made pass at me; I’m really upset. I don’t know what to do…”
- 45-year-old employee (2009 counseling case)
As types of employment and ways of conducting business are diversifying, the range of relationships formed through business is also diversifying and becoming complicated. Sexual harassment afflicted by employees of subcontractors or clients, and in which personal service workers are victimized also presents itself in various ways. Also, in line with the increase in social service positions like nursing or elder care, the number of female in-home care workers seeking sexual harassment victim counseling is also increasing.
Sexual harassment is personal business?
“A male coworker often makes jokes and says, ‘Let’s kiss’, ‘Do you too know how to do night work [sex]?’ and other things to humiliate me, so I made a complaint to the company. They said it was personal business and just told me to deal with it privately…”
(2009 counseling case)
Workplace sexual harassment is directly related to the employee’s right to work in a safe environment. Therefore, the Equal Employment Opportunity Law not only prohibits workplace sexual harassment, but it also stipulates, as the business owner’s duty, 1) implementation of education for the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, 2) disciplinary action, or taking steps in accordance with disciplinary action, against the perpetrators of sexual harassment, 3) not firing or taking other disadvantageous action against victims. However, when sexual harassment occurs and is reported to the management, itis stilloften regarded as mere personal business, as in the case consultation above.
Securing perpetrators’ public apology, disciplinary action, etc., through the Equal Employment Counseling Office
“The vice director frequently asked the nurses to give him massages or talked about sex, so it was difficult. A few days ago he stroked my leg with his bare feet; because of the nasty and shameful feeling, I even got psychiatric counseling. But the Equal Employment Counseling Office helped me so the vice director’s public apology and pay docking measure, and even sexual harassment prevention education for the whole hospital were implemented!”
“I suffered because of my manager’s sexual harassment, but the Equal Employment Counseling Office helped me so I received a public apology and the perpetrator was transferred to a different workplace so I don’t see his face and I’ve become able to work!”
Workplace sexual harassment itself has a negative effect on a work environment, and if one reports it, dismissal or disadvantages often follow.However, the number of women saying that, for the sake of other women workers, they can’t just let it be and accordingly, making complaints, is rising. In this way there have been many cases that secured rights, but regrettably, as the instability of jobs themselves increases, there are many cases in which victims hesitate to take assertive action.
Workplace sexual harassment culture? Needs to change now
We need to make it so that situations in which, if one experiences workplace sexual harassment, they hold back and endure it because they’re afraid of being told to quit, or in which if they report it, they end up quitting, are no longer repeated. Last year, 78% of the workplaces reported to the Women Worker’s Association’s Equal Employment Counseling Center for sexual harassment were places where sexual harassment prevention education had not been implemented. Therefore, in the workplace, prevention education that is not cursory needs to be implemented, and for sexual harassment that occurs in-house, research, action, recurrence prevention measures, etc., need to be arranged and implemented.
The government needs to use assertive administrative guidance and supervision to make these remedies become reality. Also, recognition of sexual harassment from a gender-sensitive perspective that is not male-centric, securing support for sexual harassment prevention education for the owners of small businesses, research, prevention education, and measures regarding the sexual harassment of care-industry workers, etc., have to be arranged. When, through these, both our society’s and all workplaces’ male-centric culture changes, they will also be able to lead to changes in the understanding of and countermeasures for workplace sexual harassment.
This translation was originally posted on The Grand Narrative.
*Original article:http://www.ildaro.com/sub_read.html?uid=5563§ion=sc2§ion2=