DEFINING SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICIES OF SRI LANKAN ORGANISATIONS

Abstract

Anti-sexual harassment policies have been identified as a successful means of preventing and settling sexual harassment that occur in organisations. Yet, the mere existence of policies will not serve this purpose. Among the various characteristics that should be present in a policy for it to be effective, the manner in which the notion is defined is considered to be vital. Hence, the aim of this paper is to explore how sexual harassment is defined and explained in anti-sexual harassment policies in Sri Lankan organisations to examine their efficacy. Eleven companies’ anti-sexual harassment policies were examined and a qualitative document analysis was carried out. The analysis revealed that while some policies do provide a detailed explanation of the meaning of the term, some other policies are very brief and non-descriptive. Even among the detailed definitions, certain shortcomings were identified. All the companies have failed to explain what a workplace can mean, and tended to give a narrow understanding about who the victims can be and who the harassers can be. Moreover, none of the policies have mentioned the subjective and complex nature of the issue indicating a major drawback. It was also apparent that some companies have failed to identify the covert nature of sexual harassment, which is the most common and most vague. These drawbacks in definitions will lead to the issue being unclear and imprecise to users of the policy, ultimately leading to the ineffectiveness of the policies in preventing and combating the issue.