Talk in the cities and towns in Namibia is rife with rumours of what have come to be known as “carpet interviews,” “sex for work” and other such incidences.  Yet, apart from these rumours, it is virtually unheard of for a female worker to take the issue further by reporting it to a supervisor, or even, as has occurred in countries like the United States of America, to take the case to court.

 The obvious questions when thinking about issues such as these are why are the rumours rife, but the women are so quiet? Why are the courts not full of such cases, if women are really being harassed at work? Is it because women don’t know how to define what is happening to them? Do they think it is “normal” to have to “pay” their boss or potential employer with sex, so as to obtain a job? Is it because there is no one to tell? Is it because the very supervisors or bosses whom one should report these wrongs to are the perpetrators of sexual harassment at work? Does it even happen?

These questions demand answers if we are to take our constitution seriously and seek the advancement of the position of women in society. There are several issues at stake here.  How do we in Namibia define sexual harassment? South African law, for example, has a very different definition to that proposed by the European Community, which is different still from the Canadian definition.  The Ontario Women’s Directorate defines sexual harassment as: “any behaviour, comment, gesture or contact of a sexual nature that could be considered objectionable or offensive.” Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, sexual harassment includes: “repeated sexual remarks, or physical contact, that are degrading; sexual advances or invitations made by a person who is in a position to grant or deny a benefit to another; and threats or reprisals against the person who rejected the sexual advance.”

 The Labour Act No. 11 of 2007 section 5, subsection 7 (b) (i) (ii) states that: “Sexual harassment means any unwarranted conduct of a sexual nature towards an employee which constitutes a barrier to equality in employment where the (i) Victim has made it known to the perpetrator that he or she finds the conduct offensive; or (ii) the perpetrator should have reasonably realised that the conduct is regarded as unacceptable, taking into account their respective positions of the parties in the place of employment, the nature of their employment relationships and the nature of the place of employment “Subsection 8” A person must not, in any employment decision or in the course of an employee’s employment, directly or indirectly sexually harass an employee.”

Although we are concerned here with what occurs at work, sexual harassment also occurs on the street, at home, school, universities and in Parliament.  The sexual harasser may be a supervisor, a colleague at work, a landlord, a client, a friend, a neighbour or a stranger.  Sexual harassment has to do almost entirely with power relations, those in positions of lesser power are most vulnerable to harassment by those in more powerful positions.  How much sexual harassment is really going on in our country?  It is simply the view of a few moralists or hysterical women? It is a “first world” phenomenon, something which is limited to countries where almost half the women work?  The African Rights Organisation, an organisation which specifically focuses on human rights situations throughout Africa, published a report in July 1994.  It is called ‘Crimes without Punishment; Sexual harassment and violence against female students in school and universities in Africa’.  The research that time points to a “pandemic of sexual violence and harassment in educational institutions in Africa, acting as a major constraint for women to pursue their studies, and hence their chosen careers.”   If there is a “pandemic of sexual……. harassment in schools in Africa, then there is nothing to suggest that the rest of the societies on our continent are free of this offence.  But why do women not report those who harass them? There are several reasons a women will not report being sexually harassed at work.  If sex is demanded from a woman at a job interview, how will she report a potential employee? She is not after all employed by the company.  And if she complies and then obtains the job, she may be ashamed of having given in and since she has no right to complain.  She may also feel that he is an important person and therefore nothing will happen to him. Or she may fear the scandal that will emerge in the newspapers that she may in fact be blamed or possibly not be believed.

Too often, women are discouraged from reporting what has happened to them by messages that society gives them, and the fact that the courts do not appear to be concerned about the right of victims.  It is imperative that Namibia start to face this issue head-on.  Sexual harassment needs to become central to public debate, whether it takes place in the office, in the factory floor, or on the street.  Serious research should be done on the issue of sexual harassment in Namibian work places.  As Mary John Mananzan pointed out: “Even when done with the consent of women, the fact that she consent is extracted or even just conditioned by the weakness or position of disadvantage make the act an act of exploitation.” This possibility of coercion in the exchange of values or the power of intimidation by a superior strength makes sexual exploitation doubly exploitative, and this happens in Third World situations that are compounded by economic, political, and social coercion.

* Reverend Jan. A. Scholtz is the former Chairperson of ||Kharas Regional and former !Nami#nus Constituency Regional Councillor and is a holder of Diploma in Theology, B-Theo (SA), a Diploma in Youth Work and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), Diploma in Education III (KOK) BA (HED) from UNISA