Sylvia Wynter's Dream

Harassment has been going on for a while. More than any other person, our women have been most affected. So, what is harassment? According to the online Oxford Dictionary, harassment is aggressive pressure or intimidation. There are several types of harassment but the focus will be on non-verbal harassment, sexual harassment and verbal harassment.  Non-verbal harassment, this type of harassment can occur without any physical contact. It includes unwanted, inappropriate comments, sexual gestures and facial expressions. Sexual harassment is very broad and sometimes covers a mirror of offences such as sexual assault or sexual advances. Therefore, sexual harassment can be referred to as any “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature” (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC as cited in [https://www.rainn.org/articles/sexual-harassment]). Verbal harassment is the use of derogatory language and hostility in an inappropriate manner. From physical harassment to verbal harassment, our women have experienced them all. If we should place “catcalling” under verbal harassment, every woman in this culture, within Jamaica would have had an experience of harassment.

Women have been silent based on the corrupted connection where they tend to report less harassment. Sometimes, it depends on who is the harasser since they are not all treated the same. The victim/ harasser ratio is large since 65% of our women get harassed whether verbally, non-verbally or sexually.

What does Harassment look like?

There is the link to a podcast which is an interview done with a victim of verbal harassment.

Here are some kinds of harassment:

• The physical act of sexual intentions
• Unwanted touching or physical contact
• Racial slurs- Jokes about skin colour or race
• Unwanted sexually explicit photos via email or messages
• Unwanted calls or text
• Verbal abuse- degrading names, bullying, threatening, insults or even spreading rumours
• Nonverbal- making the facial experience of throwing kisses, winking, licking or biting lips
• Hand gestures of sex
•  Touching of genital areas

Harassment can happen anywhere. It can happen at home with your partner, at work with the boss or even on the road. Victims tend to blame themselves and that results in them not reporting such issues even when they are aware of the harasser. Many Caribbean counties have put aside the importance to protect our women. It was only in 2021 in Jamaica that a bill was passed that updated the Sexual Harassment (Protection and Prevention) Act. In 2005, offences against the Person (Amendment) (Harassment) Act were updated in Trinidad and Tobago.

What if you witness any type of Harassment?

Generally, the human population must protect each other and sometimes that means protecting one another from each other. If one should observe any foul play which is an unpleasant, unwanted or unnecessary company or acts towards another, here are some ways to assist:

• Create a distraction- whatever you can do to interrupt or stop the harassment. However, this may put you at risk and may trigger anger in the harasser.
• Report it to the authorises- think about the possibility of you saving the individual that may be trapped with this harasser. This might be the safest intervention.
• Direct communication- asks the individual that you think might be harassed. In cases of school or work, agencies are in place to serve and protect. Also, it is your right to be protected by the state hence provisions must be made for you.

The Effects of Harassment

Survivors of sexual harassment tend to become a heavy burden. Many of which suffers

Psychologically.

Physical

• Increased Stress Level
• Eating disorder
• Sleeping disorder
• Sickness- headaches

Mental

• Anxiety
• Depression
• PTSD- Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Suicidal 

Emotional

• Guilt
• Fear
• Shame or humiliation
• Powerless

Educate Self about Harassment

There are numerous websites, blogger sites, and videos where harassment information is accessible. Here are a few sites:

Visit the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to learn more about sexual harassment laws and your rights

Visit the https://www.who.int/initiatives/preventing-and-responding-to-sexual-exploitation-abuse-and-harassment to understand that harassment can transit into other things.

Visit https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/UN_system_policies/(FAO)Policy_on_the_prevention_of_harassment.pdf

to understand that there are policies created to protect you.

 Visit https://www.ilo.org/caribbean/information-resources/publications/WCMS_857753/lang–en/index.htm#:~:text=The%20Sexual%20Harassment%20(Protection%20and,in%20any%20other%20daily%20interactions to know the laws that protect you within Jamaica.

Expectation

In our Jamaican culture, we might not be able to remove “catcalling” but I think we can regenerate the thinking power of the population which would result in men valuing women and respecting them. The idealistic approach would be to remove music that tears down and degrade women and then, a drive in all schools to promote safer ways to communicate male versus female.

Additionally, Jamaica does not have enough support groups and facilities for victims of harassment. The implementation of a few facilities could assist in reducing the after-effects.

Limitations of this article

There was limited research conducted within Jamaica and other Caribbean countries, which made the literature few.

More articles showed up with “Tourism and Harassment”.

Cultural diversities showed how less of an importance harassment is especially with our women and children.