• In Sri Lanka, three out of five people have experienced workplace violence or harassment
• Nearly one out of five people have felt unsafe at work
• Sexual harassment and online violence among most underreported

Three out of five people have experienced some form of workplace violence or harassment. Nearly one out of five people have felt unsafe at work. Sexual harassment and online violence seem to be the most underreported forms of workplace violence.  These are the findings of a survey conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) over the last two years, titled “The Business Case for Creating Respectful Workplaces in Sri Lanka”. The study was conducted to gain a better understanding of the prevalence and impact of violence and harassment on employees and business in Sri Lanka, and covered workplace experiences, behaviours, and their impacts on a total of 1,653 employees. Sarah Twigg, a gender, employment, and private sector specialist, is the IFC Women in Work Sri Lanka Programme Manager and IFC Workplace Responses to GBVH (gender-based violence and harassment) Global Lead. IFC is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. In her 15 years of development experience, she has been involved in gender work in the Pacific since 2014, and in Sri Lanka since 2019.  She joined Kaleidoscope to better understand the prevalence and impact of violence and harassment on employees and businesses.   Following are excerpts from the interview:   What were some of the most revealing aspects of the findings in this report?   Workplace violence and harassment affects all genders and ages, and exists across all sectors.  We looked at the impacts and the prevalence of workplace violence and harassment across nine companies, and found that 61% of the employees we surveyed had experienced some form of workplace violence and harassment. We found that one in five said they felt unsafe at work at some point during the previous four weeks.  Ultimately companies are losing more than six workdays every year per employee because of these workplace behaviours, since it results in absenteeism, lateness, and low productivity of employees. This translates quantifiably to more than $ 1.7 million across the nine companies we studied.  Overall, there is a relatively low understanding by employees, managers, and companies of how these behaviours occur in the workplace, or about the impact they can have on individuals and the business. As a result, many companies assume workplace violence and harassment is not prevalent at their business, and hence, do not take proactive steps to address it.   In a nutshell, where does harassment occur, and in what form?   Violence and harassment can happen at work, when travelling to and from work, and in workplace-provided accommodation, but it can also happen outside of work hours and online. We also found that bullying was the most commonly reported behaviour, with 59% stating they had experienced some form of bullying, including being yelled at, gossiped about, and subject to hurtful jokes or being teased and scolded. More than one in 10 said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment, which we believe is an underreporting, as respondents reported higher rates when asked about whether others in the workplace experienced sexual harassment. Reports of online harassment were also relatively low, but again we believe this underreported due to a lack of understanding of what online harassment is.  We found out that some staff are more vulnerable. For example, people with disabilities are more likely to report having experienced violence and harassment. Yet employers and managers appear to have limited understanding of how this happens and how to address it.   Since Sri Lanka has a number of cultural and traditional boundaries related to this, which have to be overcome as well, what are your recommendations to create respectful workplaces in Sri Lanka in the immediate future?   We all bring our own cultures, experiences, and expectations to work, which can include cultural or traditional boundaries leading to behavioural patterns that can prompt negative consequences in the workplace. But the great thing is that once we join a company, we have to abide by the cultural and behavioural norms and expectations of that company. So in this way, companies can create their own, more respectful boundaries. There are good practices already in place that companies can draw on to support staff affected by workplace violence and harassment, and create a respectful workplace culture. This can really make a difference. Many companies are already taking action by implementing policies and practices, and ensuring employees feel comfortable reporting violence and harassment when it happens. These also include making sure employees are aware, and receive training on the action to be taken if violence and harassment happen at work.  For example, strengthening online processes to ensure staff have access to proper privacy settings, and ensuring they have an understanding of the features of online bullying is quite important. These are areas that are under-recognised in Sri Lanka.  So basically, companies must encourage staff to raise issues, provide support, and hold staff and the company accountable for workplace violence and harassment. Ideally, companies should also reach out to local service providers so staff can be referred to them if needed. We know from our work in other countries that companies with greater diversity and inclusion are less likely to accept and condone workplace violence and harassment.    In your opinion, what are the challenges in having a respectful workplace within Sri Lanka?   One of the things seen in this study is that most of these behavioural patterns are ingrained, where most don’t necessarily realise are hurtful or are having harmful impacts. So raising awareness is a start. For example, raising awareness, and an understanding that a joke may actually have a hurtful impact on someone in the business is a good place to start. If we begin addressing some of these areas, even at the less serious end of the spectrum, overall incidents will reduce in the workplace.   What do employers and employees need to be aware of when it comes to respectful workplaces?   Employees need to think of the impact of their interactions and engagements with junior colleagues, peers, and supervisors, and think about how those actions are received and experienced. For employers, it is about demonstrating leadership and ownership from the top, seeing leaders walk the talk, practice positive workplace behaviours, and send signals on what they want to see in their business.  Our Acting Country Manager summed this up best: “We’re not a team because we work together; we’re a team because we treat each other with respect and we care for each other.”