Male and female workers at mines in South Africa face continual sexual harassment, which, in turn, is perpetuated by fear that generates and maintains a silence around the scourge.

This is according to a study that was conducted by communication agency The Guild Combination (TGC) and development, learning and project management services provider Intelesi on behalf of the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC).

The study on sexual harassment in the South African mining industry entailed workshops and discussion forums at 12 mines – comprising 16 shafts – between July 2014 and April 2015.

The study resulted in TGC and Intelesi producing a research report, an illustrated booklet, a poster and an 11-minute DVD, which the MHSC distributed to mines in South Africa to better educate employees on sexual harassment.

Intelesi managing member Arlene Walsh tells Mining Weekly that, for the purposes of the study, sexual harassment was defined as any form of unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature.

The study found that sexual harassment frequently occurred underground, but that it also commonly occurred among office-based employees in support or administrative roles, as well as among senior and top management, she adds.

Walsh avers that no space in mines is immune to the threat of sexual harassment, “therefore, every person working on a mine is vulnerable to this form of harassment”, citing the findings of the study.

The study found that the prevalence and normalisation of sexual harassment made an “inevitable” part of the working environment at mines to the extent that many workers believe that nothing can be done to stop it, she says.

The frequency with which a female employee at a mine felt harassed caused her to comment: “I sometimes wish I was working somewhere else.”

The study also indicated that male-on-male (which is spoken also about less often), male-on-female, female-on-female and, quite commonly, female-on-male harassment are widespread, defying the stereotypical notion that the perpetrators are male and the victims female.

“This is the first time men have spoken openly about being harassed, particularly by other men. Some men make advances towards other men and ask them out,” said one male worker who was interviewed by the project researchers.

Walsh also points out that male and female focus group participants reflected on the sexual abuse they had experienced at the hands of female coworkers.

She tells Mining Weekly that women are known to mock, taunt, ridicule and criticise the bodies and clothing of their colleagues, particularly their underwear; they even label and joke about the illnesses of these colleagues.

A female mineworker commented during the study that harassment among women by women was more common than harassment from men.

Further, some of the men interviewed by the researchers said their female colleagues constantly belittled them, often by making provocative statements. Consequently, some men felt that they had to ‘prove themselves’ by making unwarranted sexual comments or advances in response.

Walsh points out that it is especially difficult for male mineworkers to report this type of sexual harassment, as they fear being ridiculed.

She concludes that, to combat the scourge of sexual harassment at mines, there needs to be frequent education campaigns, attitudinal changes by workers and management, and the effective implementation of disciplinary and monitoring measures at all levels.