6 Ways to Empower Women in the Workplace on International Women's Day
International Women’s Day (IWD), held on March 8th every year, is a day that focuses on women’s rights and equality around the world. If you are a business owner, manager or HR professional that wants to celebrate IWD in a meaningful way, ask yourself:
Would you like to support women in your workforce to feel empowered?
Are you ready to start real conversations about what really matters to women in your workplace?
Would you like to play your part in changing society’s deep-rooted culture of sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace?
If the answer to those questions is ‘yes’, then congratulations - just having that mindset is a great start.
If you would like to discover 6 ways that we can all help to support and empower women in the workforce, then read on!
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
In 2023, you might be mistaken in thinking that women are treated fairly, equally and respectfully in the workplace. After all, there are laws to protect women, businesses have policies and procedures in place, and we live in a progressive society, right? Wrong.
Sadly, despite the legal frameworks, many women are still subject to sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
We meet these women every day when we train in personal safety and self defence and we are shocked and saddened by what we hear.
Here is just one story that we have been given permission to share (name changed to protect identity).
Lucy’s story
Lucy worked part-time for a small business which employed around 15 men, with her being the only female. She enjoyed her job and was good at it. As time went on, she got to know a number of her colleagues and they got on well.
The company was owned by one man ‘The Boss’ who immediately made it clear that he thought Lucy was attractive. He often addressed her as “Hi gorgeous” or “Hello beautiful”. She found this uncomfortable but didn’t say anything as she didn’t want to rock the boat. She told herself ‘that’s just his way’ and it’s fine as he is married and he knows I am married.
The Boss was always overly familiar with Lucy but she didn’t want to get on the wrong side of him. She had heard him arguing and swearing with the male employees and she didn’t want any conflict.
As time went on, The Boss, started making personal comments about how Lucy looked. Sometimes they were nice:
“You go and tell the guys the news, they’ll listen to you as you’re so beautiful,” he said as he touched her arm.
“You look beautiful today xxx”, he sent by email.
Sometimes they were cruel:
“Your arms are so thin they look like chicken nuggets”, as he held up her arm in front of other men in the office
“Your hair looks a mess today, is that why you were late in”, as he flicked her hair when walking past.
After The Boss commented on Lucy’s hair she felt upset and humiliated. The other men in the office looked embarrassed but no one said anything.
She went and spoke to The Boss and he said she was “being sensitive”. Lucy said she just wanted to be treated like everyone else, like one of the boys.
Later that day The Boss came up to Lucy, punched her on the arm and said loudly “Did you get your leg over this weekend?”. Lucy shouted at him and asked him what the hell he was doing. He had hurt her arm and humiliated her again. The Boss said he was just “treating her like one of the boys”.
After that incident, things calmed down for a while and Lucy tried to stay away from The Boss as much as she could. Until one morning, she had a meeting with him.
Lucy was standing waiting for him to walk past and as he squeezed through the gap in the table, he casually patted her on her lower stomach. Lucy felt shocked and sickened and immediately told him that he was out of order. The Boss once again said she was “overly sensitive” and dismissed it.
When Lucy got home that evening she felt that too many boundaries had been crossed and she sent him an email. She wanted to make it clear that she did not want to be touched by him ever again.
The Boss didn’t reply to the email and when she raised it with him over the phone he caused an argument. He told Lucy that she should “consider her position in the company” as she had made him feel uncomfortable.
Thankfully, Lucy had a friend who was a solicitor who gave her the advice to resign with an email outlining why he had made her feel she could no longer return to work. The solicitor thought they had a strong case for a sexual harassment tribunal.
Lucy and her solicitor took the case to ACAS for mediation. Naturally, The Boss didn’t want to go to tribunal and Lucy eventually received a lump sum payout from him.
Lucy hopes that any future women employed in the company are treated with more respect than she was. As uncomfortable and stressful as the situation was, Lucy is glad she stood up for herself.
CASUAL DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT
What shocked us about Lucy’s story (and so many others we hear), is the casual way in which discrimination occurs in our workplaces, in particular when the man is in a position of power.
You may think that this type of problem is just confined to smaller businesses where there is no HR system or manager in place. Wrong. These problems are rife in big corporations and in all industries.
Time and time again we hear of women that are subjected to inappropriate comments, offensive jokes, semi-pornographic photos being sent to their phones, comments about their appearance, inappropriate touching, sexual assault and even rape.
And that is just in everyday work situations, never mind social events and office parties, where apparently there are no rules.
TIME TO CHANGE
So, we’ve established that sexual harassment and sexual discrimination is still very much an issue in the workplace. But what can we do to change that?
In our view, meaningful change, and meaningful celebration of International Women’s Day, comes from starting an open and honest conversation and letting your female employees know they are supported.
EMPOWERING WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Here are six ways we can all create change:
Employers - Communicate your commitment
- Tell your staff - female and male - that you are committed to equality and respect in the workplace.
- Outline what this looks like - i.e. how should the workplace look and feel.
- Give examples of unacceptable behaviour. This is important as some people may not realise what they are doing is offensive or might think ‘well we’ve always done it, so it must be ok’.
- Let women know who to contact if they need support.
Take personal responsibility
- When Lucy was sexually harassed by The Boss, the men in the office watched in silence. No one stood up for her. No one spoke to her afterwards. No one took personal responsibility for what they witnessed.
- If you witness sexual harassment or discrimination, speak up and give your support. Even if you don’t feel able to act in the moment, you can (and should) report the incident.
- Giving your support to the person affected will mean they feel less isolated and more able to take action.
Set clear boundaries
- This can feel very uncomfortable but is necessary otherwise people will continue with the inappropriate behaviour. This is something we cover in our e-course ‘Self Defence for Women’.
- Here’s how to do it:
Name the behaviour that constitutes a boundary violation and why it makes you uncomfortable
Tell them what you want them to do/not do
Repeat your boundaries if necessary, but do not debate
End the interaction/relationship if no change. Seek advice or support to do so.
Remember:
Behaviours that are ignored will nearly always escalate
Remove the title - it doesn't matter whether it is a manager, director, or company owner, you have the right to feel comfortable and be safe
Remove toxic people from your life or distance yourself from them.
Stand up for yourself and for other women
- When Lucy resigned from her job, she wanted justice - both for herself and for other women. This gave her the strength to speak her truth and to fight for what was right.
- As stressful and upsetting as it is, we women have to stand up and speak out when we are treated poorly.
- The more we do this, the more we create change for other women and future generations of female employees.
- If you can’t find support from your employer, look elsewhere. Confide in a friend or family member; look for independent employment support (ACAS is great for this in the UK); or seek legal advice.
Men - Be aware of your own behaviour
- Men - of course, we know you’re not all chauvinistic women-haters who will sexually harass or discriminate against women at work!
- However, sometimes, a ‘light-hearted’ remark or joke can be upsetting and create an uncomfortable atmosphere.
- And, it’s just not appropriate to touch a female colleague in any way (perhaps unless you are shaking hands and even then, in a post-Covid era, many people prefer not to shake hands).
- Even if you pat guy colleagues on the back, even if it’s ‘just’ a hand on the shoulder or a tap on the arm. Don’t do it.
- It can make women feel uncomfortable and you could even trigger a trauma response if the female colleague you are touching has experienced abuse or assault in the past.
- Just be respectful, and courteous and ensure you give women enough personal space so they don’t feel encroached upon. That’s all we want.
Employers - Provide personal safety and self defence training for female staff
- Women tell us that when they complete our self defence training they feel empowered.
- Why? Because our focus is on self defence of the body and the mind. Emotional abuse, whether at work or at home, is just as damaging as physical abuse.
- What we teach is as much about mindset as anything else. We want women to know and believe they are worth defending.
- Our training covers how to set boundaries to keep yourself safe, learning to trust your gut instinct, understanding your body and your mind, verbal de-escalation of social violence, how to avoid dangerous situations, and how to respond physically to an attack.
- We are a trauma-aware and trauma-informed self defence training provider.
- Our courses have been developed with women, for women - so no macho martial arts, just real education and techniques that work in real life.
DO YOU WANT TO OFFER WOMEN IN YOUR WORKPLACE PERSONAL SAFETY TRAINING THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY?
Yes?! Here’s how.
Bulk purchase our e-course ‘Self Defence for Women’
This online video course provides your female employees with a complete guide to personal safety and self defence (of the body and the mind).
With 4 hours of video content and lifetime access to content, ‘Self Defence for Women’ is a great employee well-being initiative.
It’s quick and simple to set up in time for International Women’s Day - you tell us how many courses you wish to purchase, we give you an access code for your staff and they log in to complete the course in their own time. You won’t even lose any work hours.
And, with our bulk purchase rates, it is your most cost-effective option.
Just get in touch to request our bulk purchase rates and a free viewing of the course.
2. Book training in your workplace
Alternatively, you could host a personal safety and self defence class for women in your workplace.
When we train at a business, we’re often told that there was quite a buzz afterwards and lots of discussions.
You can find out more about our training on our corporate page or get in touch to discuss what would work for you.
MAKE IT COUNT
We hope that sharing our thoughts on sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace has got you thinking.
Our challenge to you is to make your celebrations for International Women’s Day count. Do something meaningful that will empower women and create real change.
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