
Commentaries | Mar 09,2024
Dec 5 , 2018
By Hanna Haile
The African Union recently announced that a policy on sexual harassment at the workplace will be put in place. This was a rude awakening to the fact that there were no clear prior policies to protect women working at the African Union from sexual misconduct. Unprotected workplaces present scenarios that have and continue to put women in situations that do not offer safety.
Harassment in the workplace or schools brings with it emotional trauma, and when matched with a system that does little to protect those who have fallen victim, the injustice is allowed to continue.
Sexual abuse fills one with an initial shock and wave of embarrassment that strikes unexpectedly with a cloak of anger and shame engulfing the body. The victim rethinks the moment to see where the misstep was, and how the problem that led to that situation could personally have been dealt with.
These painful circular thoughts do nothing to appease. In the end, if one decides to tell others, they risk having their legitimacy questioned even when clear evidence is presented.
Surviving the culture of abuse is hard, yet many brave souls triumph each day. They have to choose to survive, because the alternative is to keep falling victim. Even while all this is in the back of women’s minds, they have more than survived. They have triumphed. They continue to compete alongside men and have not fallen short.
Each and every office and learning institution needs to have a sexual harassment policy in place to protect women and girls. Mandatory notifications of where to go and what to do in this incidence should be given to everyone. An information gap is one of the reasons many have taken refuge in the system while abusing women.
Institutions like Addis Abeba University have such a policy. Yet many have complained at the lack of procedural decorum. Those implementing the policy and procedures often fall short of protecting students and female faculty members through - those that have attended the university would say - unnecessarily long procedures and antics that weaken the survivor’s will to get justice.
Even as a woman who has had all the advantages education can afford, I do not feel safe. Higher education, marital status or income merely eliminate the few common problems society says stand in the way of girls becoming capable woman. We are educated women in a patriarchal world that has sophisticated ways of muffling our voices and dominating spaces that are equally ours.
The sophistication in having embedded systems that continue to oppress women is far reaching. Friends of the abuser lie in testimony. Colleagues find loopholes for him to keep his job. All of this provides the abuser with advantages over victims.
It is also the culture that tells a woman not to speak up and concerns itself with what she was wearing instead of what happened. This prevalent patriarchal system can only be countered by strict policies.
Development should not come on the shoulders of the marginalised groups, though this has been the norm for far too long. We must all hold ourselves responsible for creating a more just world.
Imagine when women no longer have to weigh sexual harassment and abuse as part of their “con” list when deciding to take a job, go on an adventure or speak one-on-one to a professor.
Imagine a world where women feel safe to work and attend schools.
All of us must think of what we can do to make this happen.
PUBLISHED ON
Dec 05,2018 [ VOL
19 , NO
971]
Commentaries | Mar 09,2024
Viewpoints | Mar 11,2023
Viewpoints | Mar 26,2022
Commentaries | Dec 14,2019
Radar | Mar 25,2023
Covid-19 | Jun 13,2020
Viewpoints | Jun 07,2025
Radar | Aug 22,2020
Covid-19 | May 31,2020
Viewpoints | Jun 18,2022
Photo Gallery | 173232 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 163457 Views | Apr 26,2019
Photo Gallery | 153411 Views | Oct 06,2021
My Opinion | 136496 Views | Aug 14,2021
Editorial | Oct 11,2025
Dec 22 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Charged with transforming colossal state-owned enterprises into modern and competitiv...
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 28 , 2024 . By TIZITA SHEWAFERAW
Unhabitual, perhaps too many, Samuel Gebreyohannes, 38, used to occasionally enjoy a couple of beers at breakfast. However, he recently swit...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transporting commodities, and f...
Oct 11 , 2025
Ladislas Farago, a roving Associated Press (AP) correspondent, arrived in Ethiopia in...
Oct 4 , 2025
Eyob Tekalegn (PhD) had been in the Governor's chair for only weeks when, on Septembe...
Sep 27 , 2025
Four years into an experiment with “shock therapy” in education, the national moo...
Sep 20 , 2025
Getachew Reda's return to the national stage was always going to stir attention. Once...
Oct 12 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
A sweeping change in the vehicle licensing system has tilted the scales in favour of...
Oct 12 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE
A simmering dispute between the legal profession and the federal government is nearin...
Oct 12 , 2025 . By NAHOM AYELE
A violent storm that ripped through the flower belt of Bishoftu (Debreziet), 45Km eas...
Oct 12 , 2025 . By BEZAWIT HULUAGER
An evolving joint venture between Etihad Airways and Ethiopian Airlines is shaping up...