Forcing yourself on a woman is wrong. Raping a woman is wrong. Men who do these are 100% aware of what they’re doing. There is absolutely no excuse and we must publicly denounce sexual harassment and assault. Men in positions of leadership, here are 11 things you need to do NOW!
1. If you don’t already have an anti-harassment policy for your company, create one
2. Pull all your leaders into a meeting and tell them you will not tolerate sexual harassment and assault
3. Schedule a meeting with your entire organization and educate them on the new policy
2. Pull all your leaders into a meeting and tell them you will not tolerate sexual harassment and assault
3. Schedule a meeting with your entire organization and educate them on the new policy
4. Bring in an external facilitator (if helpful) to run a program with your company about sexual harassment/assault awareness
5. Inform everyone that they must take an annual training on sexual harassment/assault
6. Add the policy into your new employee handbook and onboarding
5. Inform everyone that they must take an annual training on sexual harassment/assault
6. Add the policy into your new employee handbook and onboarding
7. Set up an anonymous whistleblower system for reporting sexual harassment/abuse (and perhaps other infringements), and assign someone very senior to escalate cases. Every time someone submits a report, an email should go to the CEO, Head of HR and the entire executive team.
8. Don’t sexually harass or assault anyone because that sets your culture. Openly respect female colleagues.
9. When there’s a sexual harassment/assault allegation, act swiftly and decisively. Start with benefit of doubt for the accuser and work backwards. Never blame the victim.
9. When there’s a sexual harassment/assault allegation, act swiftly and decisively. Start with benefit of doubt for the accuser and work backwards. Never blame the victim.
10. Speak up about the recent incidents. Don’t be quiet. Other men are watching you/us. If they think we don’t care, this behaviour will continue. We have to educate men, but we also need to institute systems that impose hefty penalties for sex offenders. Even for people we know.
11. If you want to support, find organizations that are doing the hard work of advocacy + helping victims get help, and consider volunteering with or donating to them. There are people who already know what to do. Let’s amplify them. Like @MirabelCentreNG and many others.
My fellow men, the ball is in our court. Let’s be on the right side of history. Let’s do the right thing. It’s not rocket science. There’s a guaranteed solution to ending sexual harassment, assault and rape. It starts and ends with educating boys and men not to harass & assault.
This list, by default, is not perfect and cannot possibly cover everything that needs to get done to ensure that men #StopRapingWomen. Feel free to add anything else you believe would be helpful, or tag independent organizations who you know are making a big impact in this space.
