More Kenyan Men Are Silently Being Sexually Harassed In The Workplace. Why?

By Perminus Wainaina

It’s no secret that women have for the longest time been victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Cases of women being sexually harassed by their bosses, colleagues and sometimes even clients are not uncommon to hear.

These women have not been shy to speak up and report cases of sexual harassment. And this has been made easier by women’s rights advocacy groups such as FIDA going as far as offering free legal aid.

Quickly Read This >>> Where Do We Draw The Line On Sexual Harassment In The Workplace?

But there is a silent form of sexual harassment that is now going unreported.

The fact that more men are now being sexually harassed in the workplace without coming forward to report such cases.

While the #metoo movement has provided an avenue for more people to speak up against sexual harassment and share their experiences on twitter.

Even though the movement has had more women share their ordeals, some men have come forward to speak up.

One of the most notable victims of sexual harassment is popular actor, Terry Crews who narrated his ordeal after he was sexually harassed by someone in Hollywood and why he chose to remain silent.

And this brings me back to the Kenyan context, why are there cases of men being sexually harassed in the workplace but none or very few of these cases are reported?

As a man, have you been a victim of sexual harassment yourself?

According to theEmployment Act Of Kenya on Sexual Harassment, Article 6. (1) An employee is sexually harassed if the employer of that employee or a representative of that employer or a co-worker;

(a) Directly or indirectly requests that employee for sexual intercourse, sexual contact or any other form of sexual activity that contains an implied or express

(i) Promise of preferential treatment in employment;

(ii) Threat of detrimental treatment in www.kenyalaw.org The Employment Act, 2007 15 employment or

(iii) Threat about the present or future employment status of the employee

(b) Uses language whether written or spoken of a sexual nature

(c) Uses visual material of a sexual nature

(d) Shows physical behavior of a sexual nature which directly or indirectly subjects the employee to behavior that is unwelcome or offensive to that employee and that by its nature has a detrimental effect on that employee’s employment, job performance, or job satisfaction.

That said, let us look at these 3 reasons why Kenyan men are not speaking up against sexual harassment:

1. Fear of embarrassment or “unmanliness”

Unfortunately, we live a very cultured society that has hardened men to believe they cannot be vulnerable.

So when you’re are sexually harassed in any of the ways listed above, you would rather suffer in silence than go through the “humiliation” associated with speaking out.

But this is a lie that most Kenyan men tell themselves and eventually, the result is depression, anger and overwhelming feeling of frustration.

You would rather suffer internally and silence than position yourself anything less than a man.

2. Failure and ignorance to understand what constitutes sexual harassment

In my 9 years working as a HR practitioner, I have mediated in cases where men did not even know they were being sexually harassed.

One time I had a gentleman tell me that the boss (a lady) was overly casual in her language which was very suggestive, she would playfully touch him and send him what he considered inappropriate text messages.

He was always getting undeserved favors from his boss and this was starting to make him very uncomfortable and made his job difficult to do. He dismissed the intentions of his boss by merely stating, “I don’t think that counts as sexual harassment.”

It was only then, I let him know that he was being sexually harassed and it was time to inform him of his rights as an employee!

Most men in this stage, are also in denial.

3. Fear of consequences

I have always said, it is hard getting a good job in Kenya today but it’s even harder to keep one.

What I have discovered is that a man who is being sexually harassed will chose to suffer in silence because of the ramifications that will follow.

Most of them fear that office politics will cause them to lose their job.

And during a job interview, they will have a difficult time explaining why they left.

There are some victims who also don’t speak up because they fear nobody will believe their story. Or worse still, if social media catches wind of such a case, it may cause the story to spiral out control or misrepresent it making you look bad.

So if you are a man and you’re are being sexually harassed in silence, what do you need to do?

The first thing is to examine who is harassing you and in what ways are you being sexually harassed?

If it’s your boss/supervisor/colleague, it might be wise to involve a third party such as the HR Manager.

If you are still not comfortable with this, talk to an experienced 3^rd party who can professionally handle the sexual harassment case.

Your career should fulfill you NOT frustrate you so start speaking!