Woman sparks debate after recounting blunt sexual harassment training she undertook at work

A woman has sparked debate online when she revealed some blunt advice her company’s employees received as part of a sexual harassment training course, including telling men not to “sexually harass people.”

In a recent video posted on TikTok, Hamsa, @binoloves, detailed how she received training as a clerk in New York City.

The clip began with a presentation claiming that “60 percent of male managers say they feel uncomfortable working alone with a woman because they fear sexual harassment complaints.”

The presentation continued by encouraging men not to discriminate against women in the workplace, and then explaining that men should “not sexually harass” the opposite sex to avoid harassment complaints.

“Men: Don’t avoid working with women because you’re afraid of sexual harassment complaints,” said the speaker’s voice and the text on the slide. “That’s gender discrimination. To avoid sexual harassment complaints, don’t sexually harass people.”

According to Hamsa’s video, these parts of the training were slides 69 and 70 of a 164-slide presentation.

She also jokingly asked what could be learned from the two parts of the presentation, writing in the caption of her video: “So, kings and queens, kingzoms and queenzems and all the other beautiful creatures, what did we learn today??”

As of July 11, the clip had more than 1.2 million views, and many viewers expressed disappointment in the comments that men have to be explicitly told not to sexually harass others.

“Sad that men have to be told this,” wrote one, while another said: “You can feel the ‘I can’t believe we have to say this’ in his voice.”

Other people expressed dismay that men were afraid to work with women because of allegations of sexual harassment.

“The fear is all the more comical when you consider that there are countless cases where an employee has come forward and been silenced and punished by her own company/HR,” one person wrote.

“Men who are ‘afraid’ of making false allegations have a guilty conscience. There is nothing to worry about if you don’t commit,” said another.

However, some people defended the presentation, noting that false allegations of sexual harassment can still be a problem in the workplace.

“You miss the point,” wrote one. “You are afraid of false accusations, because they are actually quite common.”

“The fear is understandable. Even if there is no evidence, the accusation alone (even if it turns out to be false) can have serious consequences,” said another viewer.

Hamsa also attached the link to the sexual harassment training she attended in the comments section of her video.

According to the New York State Department, “every employer in New York State is required to provide sexual harassment prevention training to its employees.”

The training must be “interactive” and “include a statement on sexual harassment in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Labour in consultation with the Department of Human Rights”.