Umuhoza (not real name) was 20 years old when she got her first job as customer care service provider, at one tourist agency in Kigali. It was a few weeks after she started working, when her boss started proposing to her to spend a little time alone with him. She didn’t welcome the proposal, claiming to know how such situations end, but the boss didn’t take it well. He threatened to make her lose her job, well knowing her family would face it hard to survive, as the boss knew she was the bread winner of her family. She was brave to play her cards well; maintaining her job but not give in into her boss’ demands, up until she got a new job. Umuhoza was willing to let the case go, until her friend got a job in the same company and the same thing happened to her, with the same person. “She approached me, telling me of the same thing I had faced. That is when I decided to expose him, after realising this is something he was going to keep doing,” she says. Her story is not an isolated one; sexual harassment has become a common issue to both genders at the workplace. Although no one easily comes out direct and talks about it, due to their personal reasons, it is often whispered among workers, to an extent where it ends up affecting some employees’ careers. According to Gender activist, Chantal Mutesi Gasana, clear rules and regulations should be set earlier to help both female and male employees not to overstep or sexual harass another. “On sexual harassment, I find it a wide subject to discuss. I know most of the times, sexual harassment is considered only for the female gender but it could be the same for male employees,” Gasana says. She adds that, setting a clear stand about the companies’ non-tolerance to sexual harassment of any case, by any gender, should be in play, and how it should be done. A written document should be signed upon recruitment of any new employee; this can also be communicated via weekly or monthly meetings held. “The way they hold meetings about work, is the same way they should keep reminding people about the set rules.” Putting signs in corridors, toilets or any other public place could also be another way of highlighting clear messages or signs. There should also be team building to create synergy and trust among the employees. Fidel Rutayisire, Executive Director of Rwanda Men’s Resource Centre (RWAMREC), says organisations need a robust policy about sexual harassment. “Although laws in Rwanda always show how sexual harassment is penalised, that’s not enough. Organisations should also set their own, for them to have standing values about sexual harassment,” he says. Organisations must set a reporting mechanism that is very strong and clear, so that victims should report in a safe and effective way, without any further effects, Rutayisire says, adding that, managers must be taught about the concern, because many people do not have enough knowledge about the forms of sexual harassment. “More awareness is needed and companies should often do a follow up among employees, to check if there is any case,” Rutayisire says. How to protect your job as a victim Many sexual harassment victims are scared to report about what happens to them as a way to protect their jobs. According to Silas Ngayaboshya, Director General of Gender Promotion and Women Empowerment at the Ministry of Gender and Family promotion, the risk to lose a job shouldn’t be reason, in any way, of concealing any form of sexual harassment. “Victims should understand that disclosing is a better way of sustaining one’s job. Because if you don’t, the boss is still there, and he knows that he committed a crime, he will make sure that you are eliminated, where it may even end up in losing everything,” Ngayaboshya said. He advises victims to always keep evidence because without it, prosecution will not be able to make an effective and fair trial.
