Making sense of sexual harassment: narratives of working women in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore how Sri Lankan women make sense of their experiences of sexual harassment at the workplace using Weickian's 'sense-making in organizations' as the theoretical lens. Drawing from three narratives of working women, the findings indicate how women seek to understand what is going on, through a complex and interrelated process of enacting, selection, action and reaction, where retrospection, focusing and extracting on cues, social processes and identity construction, takes place in an ongoing process of sense-making. The findings move beyond previous studies by providing an in-depth understanding of the multifaceted process of sense-making in its entirety from experiencing sexual harassment to responding to it, in a backdrop of cultural norms and beliefs. Keywords: narratives, sense-making, sexual harassment, Sri LankaKey points 1 Women interpret and make sense of their experiences of sexual conduct at work in a multidimensional, complex, and ongoing process of enacting, selection, action and reaction. 2 Sense-making occurs in a complex web of retrospection, extracted cues, relationships, emotions, identity construction, and social processes, embedded in various cultural ethos. 3 In making decisions about sexual harassment complaints, managers should understand and consider this complex process of sense-making and why a recipient would react in a certain manner, without considering the instances or reactions in isolation or in an objective manner.

Caring with a Forced Smile: Emotional Labour Among Private Hospital Nurses in Sri Lanka

“…Though Sri Lanka is one of the first Asian countries to address sexual harassment at workplace through government legislation and consider it a criminal offence under the Penal Code (Amendment) No. 22 of 1995 (Adikaram, 2018, p. 102), this study confirmed that some Sri Lankan managers to date took an ‘avoidant approach’ to make decisions relating to sexual harassment complaints by ‘pushing them under the carpet’ (Adikaram & Kailasapathy, 2021).…”

Sexual Harassment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Qualitative Systematic Review

“…Sexual harassment as a manifestation of gendered power. Power dynamics between perpetrator and those experiencing sexual harassment and societal norms surrounding gender have been identified as central by most of the studies included in this review to understand the causes of sexual harassment as well as the barriers and facilitators to help-seeking and disclosure (Adikaram, 2018;Mügge, 2013). Studies featured a variety of male perpetrators, including male students, teachers, professors, colleagues, supervisors, and customers.…”

“…Remaining silent about these victimizing experiences is also a way to avoid further victimization and the perpetuation of powerlessness. (p. 184) Societal norms place importance on women's virtue, femininity, and respectability yet some women responded assertively and confidently to the sexual harassment, especially when they faced continued harassment (Adikaram, 2018). This was rare for those who experienced sexual harassment especially in South Asia where women's submissiveness and passivity is encouraged:…”

“…Across all studies and settings, few women disclosed or sought help for sexual harassment as they faced a variety of interconnected barriers. On the individual level, these included timidity, avoidance of attention, protecting one's reputation, pity for the perpetrator and his family, financial dependence on their job and fear-fear related to job insecurity, reprisal, being blamed, not being believed or ridicule against men reporting sexual harassment (Adams et al, 2019;Adikaram, 2018;Chaudhuri, 2007;Eller, 2016;Morley, 2011;Mügge, 2013;Nwadigwe, 2007;Newlin, 2019;Saldaña-Tejeda, 2014;Sinha, 2015;Wamoyi et al, 2021;Webber & Spitzer, 2010;Zietz & Das, 2018). A sense of shame was emphasized in multiple studies as a major barrier: ".…”

Social sexual behaviour and co-worker trust in start-up enterprises

“…Aquino et al (2014, p. 10) define social-sexual behaviors as "workplace interactions occurring between two or more organizational members (including clients and customers) that are construed by the parties as having sexual connotations, but that are not necessarily perceived by one or more parties involved as having a threatening or harassing intent". These sexual behaviors can be split into harassing and non-harassing, yet difficulty exists in determining where the demarcation between these two conditions lie (Adikaram 2018). Behaviors characterised as sexual harassment are often suggested to be an exercise of power rather than of sexual interest (Gutek Cohen and Konrad 1990) and are considered part of a spectrum of abusive or counterproductive workplace behaviors (McDonald 2012;Van Fleet 2018).…”