#Harassed on the job professional#

To research this issue, Buchanan conducted focus groups with Black professional women across the country. “They are more likely to be targeted for more severe forms of, and are likely to be economically vulnerable or unable to extract themselves from within the organization,” Buchanan says. Buchanan, an associate professor of psychology at Michigan State University. “Black women tend to experience higher rates of sexual harassment ,” says Nicole T. Here’s what you need to know if it occurs at your job. While #MeToo has largely focused on the rich and powerful in Hollywood, media and government, the truth is, sexual harassment can happen to any one of us-anywhere. Ever since numerous allegations of lurid behavior from Hollywood bigwigs came to national attention in 2017, many companies have begun to take these claims more seriously. The difference between then and now is the upswing in the popularity of the #MeToo movement, a campaign created a decade ago by activist Tarana Burke that put stories of sexual assault and harassment in the spotlight. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), anywhere between 25 and 85 percent of -women have encountered sexual harassment in the workplace. When she couldn’t stomach it anymore, she started looking for another job and eventually found one, though she took a pay cut. I really felt I had no recourse except just to grin and bear it,” says Session, 49, who is now a human resources consultant. Session was an executive assistant to a boss who would constantly joke with her and make crude and sexually explicit comments. Both companies pledged to investigate the allegations.This feature originally appeared in the May 2018 Issue of ESSENCE Magazine. Last year, for instance, reports discovered gender-based violence at factories in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka that supply H&M and Gap. The tragedy brought global attention to labor abuses in the garment industry, but reports of abuses continue to trickle into the media. In 2013, more than 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh died in the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory that manufactured goods sold by brands including J.C.

Bryher cited a recent report that found 80 percent of Bangladeshi garment workers who furnish goods for international companies have experienced or witnessed sexual harassment in the workplace. ”Īnna Bryher, an advocacy director for the campaign Labour Behind the Label, told The Guardian that women who labor at the bottom of supply chains often suffer most from the voluminous demands of fast fashion. “While our production at this factory is extremely limited, we will ensure workers are protected from any form of abuse and are treated fairly.” The Canadian company produces and purchases its wares from several countries whose factories employ competitively cheap labor, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Cambodia.Ī spokesperson for the UN Foundation, which recently partnered with Lululemon on a campaign to promote mental well-being of aid workers with an emphasis on “self-care training,” said, “We believe all workers should be treated fairly and welcome Lululemon’s investigation. “We will work with an independent nonprofit third-party to fully investigate the matter,” a spokesperson told Reuters. In response to these reports, Lululemon announced it would open an investigation.

I never got beaten myself but I have seen other people get beaten up.” The Guardian also spoke to a factory worker who said men also bear some of the managers’ violence.

He told his bosses I left without telling anyone and the next day, when I went to work, the technician in charge of my line slapped me … He slapped me so hard my cheeks turned red and everyone asked me what happened. “I was sick, so one day I left work at 5 p.m. One worker told The Guardian that she was slapped for leaving work early due to illness: Workers reportedly feel pressure to stay at their posts overtime to hit quotas and labor in the factories even when they’re sick. This also falls short of the 16,000 taka a month workers unions have demanded as well as the agreed-upon minimum of a “living wage.” Some young women say they are paid as little as 95,00 Bangladeshi taka a month, roughly $112 - incredibly, less than the price of some Luluemon leggings. The Guardian reported earlier this week that workers who make Lululemon garments at a factory in Bangladesh (the factory is operated by the Youngone Corporation, the brand’s supplier) say they are paid scant wages, verbally harassed by their managers with slurs like “slut” and “whore,” and face the threat of physical violence on the job. Pricey athleisure company Lululemon is the latest fashion brand to come under fire for allegedly mistreating some of its garment workers. Photo: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Harassed on the job