The ManicaPost
Tracy Mutowekuziva
Correspondent
I HAVE a cosmopolitan taste in music.
I groove from Migos to Fela Kuti, back to Nicholas Zakariya.
The motivation behind each genre depends on my mood of the day.
I find old Zimbabwean music very educating, it was a mirror of the societies.
The song by the late Paul Matavire, “Tanga Wandida” comes to mind every time l hear about sexual harassment in the workplace.
It is sad to note that the song was a hit in 1988, but 33 years later, we still do not have laws that adequately protect women in the workplace.
In the song there is dramatisation of a male motorist offering a woman transport, asking her to sit in the front, and her husband in the back.
Matavire was prophetic in the song. While the issue of transport was symbolic, it is actually now a veracity with the Zupco woes.
I have been watching the American telenovela, Grownish, which follows a young woman`s experiences as she navigates life at a tertiary institution.
One of the major topics which stood out for me was the issue of consent to sexual activities.
The use of the word activities and not intercourse is deliberate.
In the film, the issue was on enthusiastic sober consent.
Consent to sexual activities should be enthusiastic.
What is enthusiastic consent?
This is a topic on its own.
This paper wants to discuss the importance of an encyclopaedic sexual harassment policy.
Some argue that the problem with sexual harassment is that it only becomes harassment when the recipient is not interested.
The evil of sexual harassment is a universal one.
It has birthed the social movements such as the #metoo in America where women were speaking against sexual harassment.
Zimbabwe is on the true trail in enacting legislation to deal with the vice of sexual harassment.
The use of sex as a currency in getting placement in institutions, passing the degree, and graduating and even getting attachment is a norm in Zimbabwe.
Women do a number of embarrassing things to protect their jobs.
Sexual harassment is one of the major problems that contribute to gender inequality.
This is largely because it makes the workplace unworkable, thereby excluding women or limiting them from workspaces.
It does not help that sexual harassment is not criminalised in the laws of Zimbabwe, it is treated mostly as a civil wrong.
This paper seeks to discuss the extent of the lacunae in the Zimbabwean legislation, and bring out the link between sexual harassment and sextortion.
It further attempts to explain why sextortion should be included in the Sexual Harassment Act.
Defining Sexual Harassment and Sextortion
The International Labour Organisation has defined sexual harassment as a sex based behaviour that is unwelcome, and offensive to its recipient.
It usually takes two forms, the quid pro or hostile working environment in which the conduct creates conditions that are intimidating or humiliating for the victim.
This behaviour according to ILO maybe physical violence, unnecessary close proximity, offensive phone calls, non-verbal behaviour like whistling , sexually suggestive gestures and display of sexual materials.
United Declaration on violence against Women, 1993 Article Two provided that violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not limited to physical, sexual and psychological violence including sexual harassment and intimidation at work.
Women have been silent victims of sexual harassment .They find it difficult to report .
Sextortion employs non–physical forms of coercion of sexual favours from the victim.
Sextortion refers to the broad category of sexual exploitation in which abuse of power is the means of coercion as well as to the category of sexual exploitation in which threatened release of sexual images is the means of coercion.
Sexual extortion or sextortion according to Transparency International occurs when those entrusted with power use it to sexually exploit those dependant on that power.
It is a gendered form of corruption that occurs in both developed and developing countries.
There is an interlink between sexual harassment and sextortion.
Sexual harassment definition by Universal Declaration on Violence Against Women includes psychological violence which is what sextortion entails.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Labour Act, and the Public Service Act are in serious want of detail when it comes to providing both a punitive and deterrent mechanism for sexual harassment and sextortion in Zimbabwe.
A study by Transparency International Zimbabwe indicated that from the 1 680 women surveyed, three percent had experienced sextortion.
“Women who do not have money to pay for bribes are thus forced to use sex as a form of payment.
“15 percent used employment favours as a form of bribe.” One of the key informant from civil society argued.
She added:“Sex is a currency in many corrupt deals in Zimbabwe. Sexual harassment is institutionalised, and women have been suffering for a long time.
Include ‘sextortion’ in Sexual Harassment Bill
“There is need to actively deal with all forms of sexual harassment in all sectors.”
Section 24 of the Constitution is an ambitious provision of the right to work.
Section 65 converses labour rights on every person and refers directly to the right to fair and safe practices and standards.
Agreeing with the definition, an act of sexual harassment constitutes a violation of the constitutionally protected right to fair labour standards and also violates the right to full and equal dignity.
The right to fair and safe labour standards is provided for in the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] whose prime tenacity is providing guidelines of the employer-employee relationship.
The Act narrowly defines sexual harassment through inference from section 8(h) which provides for unfair labour practices.
Under this provision, engaging in unwelcome sexually determined behaviour towards an employee, whether verbal or otherwise, such as making physical conduct or advances, sexually coloured remarks or displaying pornographic material in the workplace constitutes commission of an unfair labour practice.
Sexual harassment comes under the realm of unfair labour practices, and the prescribed penalties are cessation of the practice of sexual harassment, compensation for such acts and criminal sanctions against the perpetrator.
Section 14 of the Constitution provides that ‘the State and all institutions and agencies of Government at every level must take practical measures to ensure that women have access to employment.
Section 80 of the Constitution is more expressive in that it provides for the rights of women.
In section 80 (1), it is provided that every woman has full and equal dignity of the person as with men, and this includes equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities.
This is specific to women’s rights and empowerment.
With hindsight, the legislature could have expressly inserted the provisions specific to sexual harassment in this section.
In section 80 (3) of the Constitution, there is a clear outlaw or bar against all laws, customs, traditions and cultural practices that infringe on the rights of women conferred by this Constitution.
What is therefore apparent from the provisions of the Constitution is that is inclined towards complete eradication of sexual harassment.
Sextortion is rampant in Zimbabwe, and it is not reported because there is shame associated with reporting, as well as poor investigation mechanisms.
In some instances, it is fear of reprisal that stops victims from reporting, while in others, there is no reward for reporting corruption.
Generally, the justice system is too masculine, hence most opt not to report.
There is need to include sextortion as a form of sexual harassment in the Sexual Harassment Act because:
◆ It will guarantee that women are protected from sexual exploitation in the workplaces;
◆ It will ensure that there is proper investigations mechanism;
◆ It will act as a deterrent for would be offenders
The need for a piece of legislation regulating sextortion cannot be overemphasised. Sextortion is closely related to sexual harassment, therefore, it makes sense for it to be included in the Act.
It is problematic to use the Constitution, Labour Act and the Public Service Act to prosecute extortion because there is no clear definition of what it is.
