Great disaster because of... "compliments"
Ms. Nguyen Minh Quyen, Customer Service Manager at a travel company with an office in Go Vap, Ho Chi Minh City, told about a case the business encountered a few months ago.
That time, the company received a contract for a 3-day, 2-night tour to Phu Quoc with a group of nearly 40 guests. During peak season, the company had to call in additional seasonal tour guides from outside at a cost of 1.8 million VND/day including accommodation and meals. Among them, there was a male tour guide who had worked with the company several times.
In addition to touching, sexual harassment is also expressed through words (Illustration photo).
But on the second day, the trip hit a rough patch when a female guest in the group, who was the manager of the other company, "got angry" with the temporary male tour guide. She left the tour and demanded that a representative of the company come and meet her.
Ms. Quyen immediately flew to Phu Quoc to handle the matter. It was determined that during the trip, the hired male tour guide repeatedly praised the female guests in the group, especially the female manager, saying things like "so delicious", "so horny", "so sexy that no one can stand it"...
The day she went to Sao beach, when this female manager had just changed into a bikini to go to the beach, the male tour guide immediately exclaimed "it's so hot", "I can't stand it", "looking at you makes me want to... go to jail" and jokingly described the customer's measurements and body shape.
This employee also joked about sexual abilities like "with you like this, your husband at home must take viagra" and suggested "if you need anything, call me"...
The male employee could not have expected that, unlike many people, who would joke back or stay silent when hearing a joke, the female manager would get angry, accuse him of insulting her, sexually harassing her, and then go back to the hotel...
Ms. Quyen said that when talking, the male employee explained that he was just joking to make everyone happy, and that he did not touch the customer's body. The female customer affirmed that she was sexually harassed and insulted with vulgar words, with impure implications.
In front of this guest, Ms. Quyen said that some customers had complained that the above male tour guide had an attitude, words, and eyes that lacked seriousness and respect for women. However, at that time, the company thought it was just a joke, adding a little spice to the journey.
This time, the company realized the problem, apologized to the customer, replaced the male tour guide with another female employee, and permanently stopped working with the male tour guide.
"After the incident, we organized training for employees on sexual harassment so that they could identify and know the limits of their behavior and words when interacting with customers," Ms. Quyen shared.
Can't say "just kidding"
Ms. Phan Thu Hang, 29 years old, in Ho Chi Minh City, told her own story when she moved to a new company. There, she was often teased and harassed by a male employee.
Jokes and verbal harassment also cause stress and anxiety for the victim (Illustration photo).
From the words "you're so delicious", "looking at you makes my mouth water", he often compared and described Ms. Hang's body as well as openly and crudely hinted at her bed skills.
The female employee repeatedly expressed her attitude and asked this person to stop, but the subject continued to make endless jokes, making her extremely frustrated and uncomfortable. When all reactions were ineffective, Ms. Hang went straight to the Board of Directors to report that she was sexually harassed by her colleague.
At first, the company manager was also very confused because Ms. Hang, the accuser, was not touched or groped. With her knowledge, Ms. Hang analyzed to everyone that she was sexually harassed with words, teasing, insults...
The "culprit" was a male colleague who was also caught with the charge of sexual harassment in the workplace, claiming that he was "just joking". After the incident, he was transferred to another facility and quit his job a few months later.
Ms. Hang said that in the office environment, physical jokes and sexualization of others are common. Many people consider it a joke, and sometimes both the victim and the perpetrator do not know that it is sexual harassment.
Based on her experience, Ms. Hang warns that awareness of sexual harassment is increasing. Therefore, in daily behavior and speech, each person needs to be truly serious and respectful of others.
Even when giving compliments, we need to consider whether the compliment is proper and whether it makes the other person feel comfortable. In fact, many compliments are derogatory, mocking, and insulting.
In particular, according to Ms. Hang, not only men but also women are the "bosses" of sexual harassment with their excessive joking words.
A training program on identifying sexual harassment in the workplace in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: HN).
When training on the topic of preventing sexual harassment in the workplace at enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Pham Hai Binh, a community development expert, emphasized that Vietnamese people often have the habit of telling jokes about sex, joking about women's bodies or casually alluding to other people's bedroom abilities...
Many people think it's funny, but Mr. Binh thinks it's not funny in relationships, especially in the workplace.
According to Mr. Binh, harassment cannot be justified by saying "just kidding". Each employee needs to have the knowledge to prevent becoming a victim of harassment as well as avoid becoming a perpetrator, abusing others. Only then can we have a civilized and professional living and working environment.
According to the 2019 Labor Code, sexual harassment in the workplace also includes verbal sexual harassment including direct speech, by telephone or by electronic means with sexual content or sexual implications.
According to the Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, verbal sexual harassment includes socially, culturally and unwelcome comments with sexual overtones such as sexually suggestive jokes or comments about a person's clothing or body in their presence or directed at them.
This form also includes unwanted offers and requests or repeated personal invitations to hang out.
Source link
Comment (0)