GBV victims in the workplace ‘still scared to speak out’, leadership dialogue hears

South African companies may have policies and reporting systems in place to deal with gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), but employees are still asking a question: is it safe for me to speak up?

This was one of the key messages from a leadership dialogue in Sandton on Thursday marking the second anniversary of the Private Sector Coalition (PSC) Against Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the Workplace.

The coalition, which now has 33 companies, is shifting its focus from commitments and policies to whether those measures are actually working for employees.

Joy Ruwodo, head of Shared Value Africa’s gender equity unit, said baseline engagements with companies show that the problem is not necessarily a lack of policies.

“We encountered policies, we encountered codes. Most organisations have multiple reporting channels. There are EATs, there are survivor support mechanisms and disciplinary processes. There are formal governance structures as well,” she said.

The baseline process included 24 interviews with organisations, with 27 companies contributing to the process. It looked at nine organisational areas and was designed as a listening exercise rather than an audit or compliance assessment.

But Ruwodo said the findings show a gap between what companies have on paper and what workers actually experience. “Why can organisations have so much infrastructure in place and yet still struggle to know whether people actually feel safe?” she asked.

Gender-based violence, femicide and harassment doesn’t check academic qualifications, your job title, your income bracket—  Dorothy Field, GBVF Response Fund board member

An employee may not recognise that what is happening to them amounts to GBVH. Even if they do, they may not trust the reporting system. If they report but see inconsistent accountability, that trust can disappear.

Ruwodo warned that policies often work better at head offices than among contractors, branch employees, people travelling for work or workers based at client sites. “The workplace is bigger than the office,” she said, pointing to the impact of domestic and sexual violence on employees working from home.

She challenged companies to rethink how they interpreted their reporting figures. A drop in reported cases does not automatically mean that GBVH has decreased. “Fewer reports could mean, yes, there’s less gender-based violence and harassment — but it could also mean that there’s greater fear, and hence the silence,” said Ruwodo.

An increase in reports could also mean that employees had become more aware of what constituted GBVH and felt safer reporting it, she added.

The human cost of silence was highlighted during the discussion.

Dorothy Field, a board member of the GBVF Response Fund, told the gathering about a call she had received from a woman whose brother, a respected specialist surgeon, was being abused by his wife.

“When we hear gender-based violence, we don’t picture a male surgeon as the victim or his wife as the perpetrator,” she said.

Field recalled her own experience as a 21-year-old in her first job, when a manager trapped her in a lift and told her: “One day, I’m going to get you.”

“I remember that feeling of extreme vulnerability, and I remember the power imbalance,” she said.

GBVH does not discriminate based on a person’s qualifications, job title or income, said Field.

“Gender-based violence, femicide and harassment doesn’t check academic qualifications, your job title, your income bracket.”

The resounding need and appeal from many of the corporates we’ve engaged is a harmonised, structured and practical tool that supports the transition from commitment to impact—  Koketso Rathumbu, GBVF Response Fund

The dialogue heard how fear of reporting could leave workers feeling they had to choose between protecting themselves and their careers.

Malusi Mbonani, group head of diversity, equity and inclusion at Standard Bank, said organisations need to understand the human reality behind workplace complaints. He gave an example of a junior employee who could feel that it was safer to tolerate abuse than report it.

Somebody needs to make an executive decision to remove the threat that junior people may feel at work, Mbonani said, adding that companies need to balance supporting those who make allegations while also ensuring that cases are handled fairly.

Fatima Collins, regional head for Women in Mining at Sibanye-Stillwater, said her organisation has seen an increase in reporting after repeated awareness programmes explaining:

But she said culture remains central. “Culture on paper and your values on paper may be very different from a lived experience,” Collins said.

To help companies close the gap between policies and practice, the GBVF Response Fund launched a new GBVH maturity model and digital toolkit at the event.

Koketso Rathumbu of the GBVF Response Fund said companies have been calling for a practical and structured tool to help them move from commitments to real change.

“The resounding need and appeal from many of the corporates we’ve engaged is a harmonised, structured and practical tool that supports the transition from commitment to impact,” she said.

Rathumbu said the model was developed after consultations with companies and designed to help organisations understand:

“It is not an audit tool, compliance checklist or a ranking exercise,” she said.

Instead, companies can use the digital tool to assess their systems and practices across three areas:

The story that is emerging is not that corporate South Africa has no policies. It’s not that they’re not doing anything and it’s not that they don’t care. They, in fact, do. There’s a lot to build on—  Joy Ruwodo, head of Shared Value Africa’s gender equity unit

The model uses four levels of maturity to show where an organisation is on its journey:

It consists of 21 questions and can be completed in about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on a person’s seniority and experience in the organisation.

The tool then provides a roadmap with practical recommendations and improvement plans to help companies move from one level to another.

The aim is not to create more work for companies but to help them build GBVH prevention and response into systems they already have, she said.

For Ruwodo, the message from the baseline work is clear: companies do not need another policy sitting on a shelf. “What the organisations need is tools that they can actually use,” she said.

The ultimate measure should be whether workers experienced dignity, safety and accountability, not simply whether a company could point to a policy, she said.

“The story that is emerging is not that corporate South Africa has no policies. It’s not that they’re not doing anything and it’s not that they don’t care. They, in fact, do,” said Ruwodo. “There’s a lot to build on.”

The challenge now, she said, was closing the gap between policies and the lived experience of employees.