By Vipul Gupta
In an era of movements like MeToo and Time’s Up, it has never been a better time to discuss the rampant workplace sexual harassment many women employees face. Be it glittery stars from Hollywood, politicians from the United Kingdoms and South Korea, media moguls like Harvey Weinstein or the President of United States; no man has been able to escape the heat of this movement with the help of his power and might. But, as many feared, women coming out in public against these prominent people haven’t had the expected trickle-down effect, making every big and small workspace safe for women. The same was visible when a case of sexual harassment was reported in an agency of the world’s largest international organisation, the United Nations.
The case
Luiz Loures, an assistant secretary general at UNAIDS, was recently alleged by a woman subordinate of sexual assault in a lift, while they were out on an official trip. Though the investigative committee found the allegations against him unsubstantiated, serious concerns have been raised about the procedure followed in the vindication of Loures. Not only this, no convincing response was given by the 22-year old UNAIDS for its indecision to hand over the investigation to an external, independent body.
Instead, it became more protective about the institution’s reputation and decided to send an advisory to its employees, almost institutionalising the process of intimidation. In this mail, UNAIDS advised its staff not to respond to media enquiries, or “circulate emails, web links, tweets, social media links or any other material containing information that is not authenticated by UNAIDS”. The aim of this e-mail, according to them, is to protect the staff and the organisation from any possible defamation.
UNAIDS’ complicity
Two women staff members recently alleged that they had warned the agency’s chief, Michael Sidibe, about Loures’ behaviour on more than one instance, but he chose to ignore them. This alleged bias of Sibide was visible when he publicly thanked Loures for his contribution towards the agency after the latter decided not to seek a renewal of his term. Sidibe also made it clear that the decision of Loures to no longer remain a part of the agency, is not related to the harassment case against him.
Speaking on the sensitive issue, he suggested that the whistleblowers, in this case, lacked basic ethics and morals. All of this comes at a time when UNAIDS staffers have alleged that they were asked to sign a declaration vindicating Loures of any past misdeeds. The declaration stated that Loures has always respected the integrity of women and has never engaged in any wrongdoing. Though this ‘pledge of loyalty’ was voluntary, many feared that a voice against it would endanger their career and prospects at UNAIDS.
The proposed five-point action plan
In a press briefing earlier in February, the UN Secretary-General presented his five-point plan to create a neutral and safe work environment for women. He asserted that every allegation; be it for the past crimes or present, will be taken seriously with a detailed procedural response. The second point, which has already been implemented, is of having a sexual harassment hotline, wherein victims can contact experts anonymously and can seek any informative and procedural help. To further the moral and social support for the victims, a new Special Task Force comprising of top UN leadership was also announced. To provide a safe environment for victims to speak up, the UN Secretary-General assured full protection to the whistleblowers. The last part of this action plan included the conduction of regular surveys among employees regarding workplace environment, emphasising on a bottom-up policy based on extensive feedback.
Though the organisation is already seen implementing these reforms, it has been alleged by several women employees that there still is an environment of fear amongst victims, primarily due to a non-transparent redressal system. As in the case of Luiz Loures, the report which vindicated the accused was not shared with the victim, and there was a substantial procedural gap between what is said and what is done. Moreover, Loures’ boss Michel Sidibé acted both as a chief investigator and as a witness, raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest and as many allege, of UN being a ‘boys club’.
The response from the international community
Many women leaders, including Malayah Harper, now general secretary of the World YWCA, has said that she has seen widespread bullying and sexism within the UN agency. She alleged that at multiple times in her 10-year career at UNAids, she was harassed and sexually assaulted. Giving an insight into the procedural flaws in UNAIDS, Harper alleged that she was sexually assaulted in 2013 by Luiz Loures. And the reason for not reporting the incident was her lack of faith in the investigating agency. According to her, in an unrelated complaint by her about to bullying and intimidation, the agency didn’t share the investigation report with her, no counselling was ever offered, and the alleged perpetrator was later given a promotion.
An anti-harassment group, Code Blue, called this case a “gross miscarriage of justice”. The group further highlighted the unprecedented power that the chiefs of UN agencies enjoy in such cases, wherein they are the final approvers of the verdict, virtually hijacking the investigation. Many Members of Parliaments have also written to their respective governments, asking them to raise this issue with utmost sensitivity and priority in the United Nations, with the intention of creating pressure on the agency.
Though, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has responded to all such concerns through his five-point action plan, what is important is the implementation of these reforms. It is especially so, considering the fact that the power structure within UN remains the same, and moreover, not a single one of the suggested reforms target the procedural flaws highlighted by Malayah Harper and Code Blue.
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