Bosses are often to blame for sexual harassment in the workplace: Lawyers

In total, 117 protection orders against workplace harassment – ​​sexual and non-sexual, such as bullying, discrimination and abuse – were filed with the Harassment Protection Tribunal in 2023, compared to 125 in 2022.

Between June and December 2021, 78 such orders were issued.

The widespread introduction of home office policies since the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in face-to-face contact in the office, which could have led to fewer cases of workplace harassment, lawyers say.

Nevertheless, intimidation and harassment continue to occur.

One of Mr Fong’s clients said he was bullied and ostracized by his boss because he was gay.

Mr Fong said: “The supervisor frequently made derogatory comments about the victim in front of other employees, used abusive language against him, excluded him from team meetings and unfairly criticized his work performance.”

The man filed a complaint with his company’s human resources department and the matter was resolved through mediation. He was transferred to another department.

Another client was a flight attendant whose colleague had shared intimate pictures of her in a WhatsApp work group. This colleague suspected the flight attendant of having an affair with her husband and secretly obtained the pictures from her husband’s phone.

All three parties worked for the same airline.

The flight attendant obtained a protective order prohibiting her colleague from sharing any pictures or information about her.

It is often the bosses who commit the sexual harassment, but many victims do not go to the police or court to report their superiors, say several lawyers interviewed, including Rajan Supramaniam, senior criminal defense attorney at Regent Law.

He said: “Most of these cases go unreported because those affected are afraid of losing their jobs if they stand up to their bosses.”

While #MeToo may contribute to a lower tolerance for such acts, many victims continue to suffer in silence.

A 2021 study by Aware of 39 women who had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace found that only about half filed a complaint with their human resources department or called the police.

Fear of retaliation was a major reason many remained silent about the abuse. Ms Wong said many victims of sexual harassment were shocked, afraid and guilty, and blamed themselves for not stopping the harassment.

They may spend significant amounts of money on counseling or psychiatric treatment, she added. The study also found that about 40 percent of these women left their jobs because of the harassment.