Workplace sexual harassment: Action, inaction and the way forward

• Published in: Veftímaritið Stjórnmál og stjórnsýsla
• Main Authors: Pétursdóttir, Gyða Margrét, Hjálmarsdóttir, Kristín Anna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Stjórnsýslustofnun 2019
• Subjects: Sexual harassment; action; resistance; Reykjavík Metropolitan Police; Kynferðisleg áreitni; aðgerðir; viðnám; Lögreglan á höfuðborgarsvæðinu; Reykjavík; Stemma
• Online Access: http://www.irpa.is/article/view/a.2019.15.1.5; https://doi.org/10.13177/irpa.a.2019.15.1.5

In the wake of the Icelandic #Metoo movement ways to eliminate sexual harassment, a manifestation of gender-based discrimination, have been called for. A fairly broad consensus seems to exist that policies, procedures and education is the key to success. However, research shows that gender equality projects often face resistance. This article is based on action research conducted at the Reykjavík Metropolitan Police, focusing on formal and informal resistance to analyze barriers and opportunities in equality work aimed at combating sexual harassment. The aim of the research was twofold; to map existing gender structures and to educate. In this article there is a special emphasis on the responses and experiences of the in-group forum designed to educate and raise awareness. The results reveal that there was a tendency to shift the responsibility elsewhere, that resources were limited and that there was a tendency to focus on ‘bad’ individuals instead of seeing sexual harassment as part of the workplace culture. These are examples of both formal and informal resistance. In the in-group forum there was an opportunity to discuss these manifestations of resistance and to discuss different manifestations of sexual harassment. Other organizations can learn from the results when strategizing to combat sexual harassment. Í kjölfar íslensku #Metoo-hreyfingarinnar hefur verið kallað eftir úrbótum og leiðum til að útrýma kynferðislegri áreitni, einni birtingarmynd kynbundinnar mismununar. Sátt virðist ríkja um að skýr stefna, verklagsreglur og fræðsla séu lykillinn að árangri. Engu að síður sýna rannsóknir að jafnréttisverkefni mæta gjarnan mótstöðu og viðnámi. Hér er fjallað um niðurstöður aðgerðarannsóknar sem framkvæmd var hjá embætti Lögreglunnar á höfuðborgarsvæðinu og sjónum beint að formlegu og óformlegu viðnámi til að greina hindranir og tækifæri í jafnréttisstarfi sem ætlað er að stemma stigu við kynferðislegri áreitni. Markmið rannsóknarinnar var tvíþætt; í fyrsta lagi kortlagning á stöðu mála og í öðru lagi ...