Feminist leader and Executive Director of Oxfam, Lebo Ramafoko, says flirting is very difficult to define in the workspace because what someone might think is appropriate the person receiving it might regard it as harassment.
She says it becomes even more difficult to define the concept when power dynamics are involved, as one might say they responded to the flirting because they feared losing their job.
“Flirting is a slippery slope in the workplace,” she warned while reacting to the conversation, sparked by the shocking details which have so far come out of the Judicial Conduct Tribual hearing into the sexual harassment claims against Eastern Cape Judge President, Selby Mbenenge.
Former Eastern Cape High Court secretary, Andiswa Mengo, alleges that Mbenenge made unwanted sexual advances towards her between 2021 and 2022.
Claims of Mbenenge attempting to expose his private parts to her, and of him asking her whether she wanted to suck ‘it’ are some of the details that came out of today’s hearing.
The mother of three has said that she played along with the Judge’s sexual advances because she feared losing her job.
Mbenenge, however, maintains that their interactions were flirty and consensual.
According to a 2019 survey by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), around 30% of women had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace.
Ramafoko says it is never advisable for superiors and their subordinates to have any form of a flirtatious or sexual relationship.
“As a senior person in the employment you wield a lot of power and how you wield it has to be beyond reproach,” she adds.
The social justice activist and former CEO of Soul City Institute has commended Mengo for speaking out, saying it is evident power dynamics were at play and some hard questions need to be answered.
She also believes that there are many lessons to be gleaned from this scandal.
Among them, she says, is the need for legal and psychosocial support for those who find themselves in such situations.
Ramafoko believes this is crucial for a victim to protect their mental health when their alleged abuser tries to cast doubt on their version of events and even release information that their accuser might not wanted released to the public.
“In cases where there might have been sexual violence, they also need to understand that they will be triggered by memories and that will cause them harm,” she adds.
She has also urged sexual harassment survivors not to pay much attention to what social media users say as they will most likely talk about their lived experience as though they have all the facts.
Ramafoko warns that women will always pay the price in such cases due to society’s patriarchal systems, which usually leave unscathed.
https://wlce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Sexual-Harassment-at-Work-Booklet.pdf
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