More than half the working women in South Africa have at some stage felt afraid of going to work because they fear some kind of sexual harassment. According to Lisa Vetten of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, studies done in South Africa show that somewhere between 67 and 76% of all working women experience sexual harassment at some time.

Yet, says Vetten, sexual harassment is one of the most under-reported crimes, because it can be hard for a woman to decide if comments or behaviour are inappropriate, and very difficult to know what to do about it. Vetten is one of the National Network on Violence Against Women consultants on the fourth series of Soul City, the successful multi-media health and development programme. The series examines the issue of sexual harassment as part of a focus on violence against women and is working in partnership with the Network to raise public awareness and provide support to abused women.

Sexual harassment is defined as any unwanted sexual behaviour or comment which has a negative effect on the woman (and sometimes man) who is on the receiving end. It includes demands for sex in return for job favours or promotion, offensive gestures, inappropriate touching, comments or suggestions of a sexual nature, continuous unwanted sexual advances, the display of offensive or degrading pictures and sexual assault or rape.

Women are most commonly affected, mainly because men still hold most positions of power. Women are still very often seen as sex objects rather than as equals. But men can fall victim as well, especially gay men whose colleagues object to their sexual preferences and make their feelings known through inappropriate comments and behaviour.

Sexual harassment has a profound and long-lasting effect on a person. It can cause self-doubt, self-blame and even deep depression. The distress the women feels can sometimes even result in physical illness. Work performance can also suffer as a result of sexual harassment. Lack of concentration causes poor performance, concern about the incidents may lead to lack of motivation and less loyalty to the company, and fear of what one has to face might result in sexually harassed women coming in to work late or even staying away for days at a time.

The prevalence of sexual harassment and lack of knowledge of how to deal with it was one of the reasons the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication decided to include it as one of the themes tackled in the fourth series of their popular television and radio drama "Soul City". The television programme is currently showing on SABC1. Booklets are distributed throughout the country to supplement the information conveyed through the electronic media. The combined material reaches audiences of millions.

"Many women simply resign themselves to their predicament, in the belief that there's nothing they can do about it, particularly given the power imbalances which still exist in the workplace," says Aadielah Maker of Soul City. "However, South African labour legislation addresses the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. This series of Soul City informs the public of their rights in this regard and encourages people to take action to end this form of abuse."

There is an agreed code of good practice on the handling of sexual harassment cases in the workplace, which was negotiated by government, business, labour and community at Nedlac, the National Development and Labour Council. The code provides appropriate procedures to deal with the problem of sexual harassment and prevent its recurrence.

According to Maker, this current series of "Soul City", which has been extended from a half-hour to an hour-long programme, challenges existing attitudes towards a number of health and development issues. "The series aims to stimulate debate and encourages people to speak out and take action collectively against issues such as violence against women, including sexual harassment." Research has shown the three previous series have proved to be successful in getting across messages that lead to change in attitudes and behaviour.

Soul City is working in partnership with the National Network on Violence Against Women in this fourth series. The Network is a country-wide coalition of government and organisations working to eradicate violence against women.

Soul City is sponsored by Old Mutual, BP, the European Union, the UK Department for International Development, Kagiso Trust, and the Department of Health.

Additional Information on Sexual Harassment