Digital solutions making it easier for women to report workplace harassment
The problem of sexual harassment in the mining sector is being compounded by victims’ reluctance to reporting cases, says Deloitte Digital workforce engagement leader Joanne Doyle-Went.
She explains that this is because superiors are often the guilty parties, with incident reporting often directed at shift bosses. Women also often lack the necessary assertiveness to report cases.
“Many women still have concerns about reporting issues, such as sexual harassment, and are scared to speak out,” she says, adding that using mobile communication to address some of these problems through anonymous reporting, in conjunction with training and education, could “grow the confidence of women to [enable them to] have a voice”.
Doyle-Went says digital solutions are making it easier for women to report incidents timeously and anonymously through SMSes, for example, resulting in swift and effective responses.
She notes that human resources using digital solutions can also provide services for women, such as pre- and postnatal information.
“Using these tools contributes to a female workforce that feels valued and protected by their employer, which, in turn, will benefit productivity.”
Although the number of women being hired to do underground work in South Africa is increasing, they are still outnumbered by men, Doyle-Went adds.
“This [results in] a number of issues, including sexual harassment and abuse. Technology empowers these women by providing them with information in their pockets that enables them to know how to handle these unwanted situations and instantly report incidents of harassment directly to the right people,” she explains.
Doyle-Went notes that sexual harassment incidents, reported through SMSes, can now be handled by skilled personnel who are trained to deal with these incidents. The person reporting an incident knows that it is done anonymously and will receive direct confirmation when the message has been received, as well as an indication of when it might be resolved.
“This solution closes the communication loop between workers and management. Deloitte Digital’s technology solution allows for communication on a minutely segmented and granu- lar level, delivered in the recipient’s language of choice, so this means that we can target the women in a workforce to supply them with the right information,” she notes.
She cites that, on a company’s workforce engagement platform, Deloitte Digital can target different types of people to supply them with a variety of information.
“We can specifically target women to supply them with educational content and other gene- ral healthcare information.”
She explains that content will differ from employer to employer, but the main advantage of this platform is that workers receive the precise information they need to work safely and effectively.
Meanwhile, one of the major challenges women in the mining industry face is access to adequate personal protection equipment (PPE) such as the correct gloves and work overalls, Doyle-Went states. “It is becoming a major issue, as more women work in the industry, and some employers have not responded to their needs.”
Another major challenge is a lack of safe and secure ablutions underground, she adds.
Doyle-Went declares that the biggest potential for growth lies in leadership roles: “Only about 8% of mining companies have more than one woman on the board of directors. Even though South Africa has the highest [incidence] of gender diversity in boardrooms, the Mining Charter aims to transfer more than 26% of the industry to previously disadvantaged groups, which include women.”
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