According to a 2018 study by Transparency International – Rwanda on Gender based corruption, the vice was found to be most prevalent in higher institutions of learning (65%) closely followed by local government at 63 per cent. While these numbers are absurd, what was more disturbing is that more than half of the cases are never reported for various reasons including, fear of reprisal and stigma towards the person who reported and the lack of evidence. To make our workplaces or universities safer, it is imperative that these institutions put in place strict and elaborate sexual harassment policies. These institutional policies must clearly define what sexual harassment is, the mechanisms for reporting and the severe punishments for those found guilty. It is rare to find a workplace that does not have or has not had cases of sexual harassment. And, if it is not reported, it does not mean that it is non-existent. For organisations that have conducted internal surveys, more often than not, they will discover that their workplace is not the safest especially for women. There may be other laws and policies that address sexual harassment; however, studies have shown that the safest workplaces are those that have specific policies on sexual harassment and every staff member must sign that they have read and understood the policy as well as the consequences for violation. Some organisations have even taken a step further and demanded their suppliers to show proof of policies before doing business with them. According to the TI-Rwanda study, 84.5 % of the victims of gender-based corruption at workplace were women. As a country that puts women at the forefront of all policies, more should be done to protect them at the workplace or schools. And, one way of doing this is for advocating for businesses and organisations, both private and public to put in place sexual harassment policies and ensure that all their staff are educated about them and they append their signatures if they want to stay on the job. This may not solve the problem, but it will go a long way at making workplaces and schools safer for women.
