Sexism in the Workplace: What to Do!

“Old boys’ jokes? Misguided attempts to be charming? Many believe such things no longer happen in companies,” writes Patricia Andreae in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (January 2024). “Far from it.” Especially in male-dominated industries, young women often drop out of their training programs, not least because of such experiences. “Even in advertising agencies, architecture firms, theaters, government offices, laboratories, law firms, and consulting companies, women are apparently still frequently ignored or excluded in meetings. There are even cases where individuals avoid walking down certain hallways because they know someone is watching them intently.”

Good teamwork is impossible if sexist behavior is tolerated. “This harms companies by causing them to lose employees and making it harder to attract new talent. (…) That’s why it is crucial for not only large corporations but also smaller businesses to establish structures to combat sexism—structures that protect potential victims and make it clear to potential offenders that even a careless joke or an inappropriate compliment can end their career.”

The industrial union IGBCE has released the results of a survey on sexual harassment in the workplace in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It calls for a zero-tolerance policy and a culture of respect. The union ver.di provides a template for workplace agreements against sexism on its website.

👉 Nina Strassner, a specialist lawyer for labor law, manages prevention programs against sexism and harassment in the workplace. In an interview with herCAREER, she discusses how victims can respond and what companies should do.

👉 “Let’s talk about SEXism @work – because sexism remains omnipresent, even in the workplace”: A discussion event at the herCAREER Expo on this topic, featuring Nicole Riggers, Christoph May, Volker Baisch, Andrea Betz and Annette Gräfin von Wedel, is available as a video in the media library. Under Andrea Betz’s leadership as spokesperson of the Diakonie Munich and Upper Bavaria, the organization developed a guideline titled “Handling Sexualized Violence Between Employees” and trained over 600 leaders accordingly.

👉 “He Hasn’t Even Touched You Yet” is the title of a book by psychologist Franziska Saxler. In an interview with herCAREER, she discusses typical patterns of harassment, workplace cultures that enable sexualized violence, and strategies for addressing it.

💡 Not all men are perpetrators. But the perpetrators are overwhelmingly men. Everyone is responsible for their own behavior and their contribution to improvement. This applies to all forms of violence against women, including the more subtle ones.

💡 Nicht alle Männer sind Täter. Aber die Täter sind in den allermeisten Fällen Männer. Für das eigene Verhalten und den persönlichen Beitrag zur Verbesserung trägt jeder die Verantwortung. Das gilt für alle Formen von Gewalt gegen Frauen, auch die subtileren.

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Published by herCAREER, 
Posted on LinkedIn on 28.11.2024

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