Sexual harassment and gender-based violence in Tanzania’s public service. A study among employees in Mtwara Region and Dar es Salaam

• Published date: 03 April 2017
• Pages: 116-133
• Date: 03 April 2017
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-02-2015-0011
• Author: Myriam Vuckovic,Annette Altvater,Linda Helgesson Sekei,Kristina Kloss
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare

Sexual harassment and

gender-based violence in

Tanzania’s public service

A study among employees in Mtwara Region

and Dar es Salaam

Myriam Vuckovic

Department of International Health, Georgetown University,

Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Annette Altvater and Linda Helgesson Sekei

Development Pioneer Consultants, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and

Kristina Kloss

Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ),

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes, forms, extent, and consequences of sexual

harassment and sexual violence at public sector workplaces in Tanzania.

Design/methodology/approach –A total of 1,593 civil servants participated in the survey, which was

conducted in the Mtwara Region of Tanzania. The quantitative data were complemented with the results from

eight focus group discussions.

Findings –The study revealed that 21 percent of women and 12 percent of men had experienced sexual

harassment personally. Overall, rural-based public servants had less knowledge of relevant policies, and

experienced more sexual harassment than their urban colleagues. The majority of perpetrators were

identified as men in senior positions; the majority of victims were recognized to be young female employees.

Frequently reported behaviors included sexual bribery with regard to resource allocation, promotions,

allowances, and other benefits.

Practical implications –Despite the existence of conducive legal and policy frameworks aimed at

protecting employees from sexual harassment and violence, their implementation and effects were found to be

limited. Only half of the study population was aware of the existing regulations. The study found that the

majority of public servants who had knowledge on the issue had learned about sexual harassment in

the context of an HIV/AIDS workplace program. This finding indicates that well-designed workplace

interventions can play an important role in creating awareness, addressing gender stereotypes, and informing

employees about their personal rights and responsibilities.

Originality/value –Sexual harassment and gender-based violence at the workplace has never been studied

before in Tanzania. The study provides practical recommendations for future preventive interventions.

Keywords Violence, Workplace health, Workplace wellness, Tanzania, Sexual harassment, Public service,

Employee behaviour, Health promotion, Wellness interventions, Sexual violence, Workplace culture,

Workplace programmes

Paper type Research paper

Background

Sexual harassment at the workplace is a global problem that causes serious harm to

individuals, organizations, and society. Studies in industrialized countries, including the

USA and the European Union, estimate that between 40 and 50 percent of female workers

have experienced sexual harassment (Dromm, 2012; United Nations, 2011), and surveys in

selected Asian countries have found that 30-40 percent of women have faced some form of

sexual harassment at the workplace (International Labour Organization (ILO), 2013).

Studies on sexual harassment in developing countries are still rare, especially from

International Journal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 10 No. 2, 2017

pp. 116-133

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-02-2015-0011

Received 12 February 2015

Revised 9 February 2016

4 August 2016

27 October 2016

16 December 2016

Accepted 19 December 2016

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1753-8351.htm

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IJWHM

10,2

African workplaces, where almost no data are available (Prekel, 2001). With regard to

occupational context, international research suggeststhat public administration, socialwork,

health care, andeducation are sectors where the frequency of harassmentis particularly high

(Zapf et al., 2011). This study explores the magnitude, manifestation, and consequences of

sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the public service in Tanzania.

Victims of sexual harassment are harmed in multiple ways: they typically report

decreased job satisfaction, psychological distress including anxiety, anger, and depression

(Merkin, 2008), as well as physical distress such as weight loss, fatigue, and even symptoms

of post-traumatic stress disorder (Marsh et al., 2009). Economic hardship due to job loss,

either because the victim quit or was fired as retaliation for reporting, and lost opportunities

for career advancement are other serious consequences of sexual harassment. Organizations

in which harassment is prevalent suffer from absenteeism, increased turnover, lower job

performance and productivity, increased legal fees, and negative public image (ILO, 2013;

Hoel and Lewis, 2011).

The International Labour Organization (2010) highlights two forms of sexual harassment

specific to the workplace: when a job benefit is made conditional on the victim acceding to

demands to engage in some form of sexual behavior; and hostile working environment in

which the conduct creates conditions that are intimidating or humiliating for the victim.

Sexual harassment is considered part of gender-based violence, which affects the attainment

of gender equality[1] and equity aswell as sustainable development,goals explicitly voiced in

the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals[2]. According to

the United Nations (2006) definition, gender-based violence constitutes any form of violence

“that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women

disproportionately”. The UN General Assembly declared in 1993 that “Violence against

women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women,

which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men, and

the prevention of full advancement of women; and thatviolence against women is one of the

crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared

with men.”Over theirlife-course, most women experience various forms of gender violence –

from the most common forms of sexual harassment to life threatening physical and sexual

assaults. Sexual violence against women is not the sum of random, individual acts of

misconduct but part of a continuum of attitudes, beliefs and actions that support violence

against them.This continuum of sexual violencedefines women’s experiencesof everyday life

and functions to maintainthe overarching gender order of female inequality and domination.

In this continuum,the more common and everyday abuses might be considered a normal part

of male behavior and, as a consequence, women might not define these as abusive but

interiorize them as natural (Kelly, 1988). Gender-based violence occurs any time a woman is

forced, coerced, and/or manipulated into any unwanted sexual activity (Martin et al., 2010).

While sexual harassment and gender-based violence do not affect only women

(McLaughlin et al., 2012; Norman et al., 2013), the majority of victim-survivors[3] are female,

while men are overwhelmingly the main perpetrators of violence against other men and

against women (Orr, 2007). Sexual harassment and gender-based violence at the workplace

occurs in the broad context of social, economic, and cultural norms, which reflect and

reinforce inequalities between men and women. Women are at substantially greater risk of

violence in the workplace than men (Chappel and Di Martino, 2006), and the experience

of violence and harassment should be seen as gendered (Hoel and Lewis, 2011). In many

countries, including Tanzania, sexual harassment and gender-based violence are common

behaviors tolerated by both men and women despite their negative impact on peoples’lives

(United Republic of Tanzania and USAID, 2008). These behaviors result from a patriarchal

ideology, which supports norms, beliefs, and practices as well as socio-economic inequalities

that deny women the same rights, privileges, and opportunities to advance in the workplace

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