Sexual Harassment Workshop Report

Introduction

The sexual harassment workshop took place in a primary school in Akokponawa on February 7, 2004. The two group leaders, Paul and Francis, led approximately 15 school parents in discussion of the causes and the consequences of sexual harassment within the school environment. To be selected the participants had to fulfil two main criteria: I) be parents of students attending the primary school and ii) be fluent in spoken and written French. Partly as a result of the second criterion, only one participant was female, although two more women joined the workshop later in the proceedings.

Workshop proceedings

1. Introduction

After a brief personal introduction and explanation of the project by the two group leaders the participants were invited to spend 5 minutes surveying the school grounds. On return to the classroom, they were divided into 4 small groups and each participant gave their own short personal introduction (in the time it took for a match to extinguish!) to the entire group. Each group was then instructed to draw their own school map which, on completion, was displayed at the front of the room. A spokesperson from the first group described their map, followed by a general group discussion as to what features had been overlooked on this map. Two participants were then invited to the front of the class to produce a larger and more accurate map.

Over an hour was spent on this first part of the workshop, with much time lost in discussion of details irrelevant to the workshop’s aims, such as the correct positioning of compass directions on the map.

The group was then encouraged to identify danger zones around the school grounds, with particular attention drawn to areas where people could hide themselves. These areas, such as the toilets, a well, the road and the surrounding scrub, were marked in red on the map. The parents were then invited to think about what they could do in order to increase the safety of these areas. Their suggestions included constructing a fence around the entire school, encouraging a change in behaviour of students and employing a daytime security guard.

2. Discussing Appropriate Behaviours

Before filling out questionnaires, the group, as a whole, discussed which behaviours were considered appropriate in their community. The participants easily reached a general agreement on these behaviours. The participants then filled out the questionnaires (Document 1 – Quels sont les genres de comportement appropries?) within their small groups. There was confusion as to the wording of some questions, resulting in some groups initially circling ‘Never’ instead of ‘Always’ and vice versa in their responses. Each group then reported their responses to the larger group. There was generally little attempt to explain why one response was chosen over another.

3. Defining Sexual Harassment

The group leaders encouraged the participants to suggest definitions of sexual harassment. The group generally believed the term referred to a husband placing too many sexual demands on his wife. The group leaders extended this definition to include more general attempts to force a person to participate in sexual activities. Document 2 ‘Evaluer vos connaissances sur le harcelement sexuel’ was then distributed and filled out within the small groups. There was much discussion within the groups as to which response to choose. The debate became hated when the discussion moved to the whole group level, particularly in reference to questions 5 and 8.

The workshop presenters distributed the model answers to Document 2 and briefly went through them. The activity concluded with the distribution of Document 3 which presented a thorough definition of sexual harassment and which the group was encouraged to read at home.

4. Chere Tantie

Document 4, ‘Chere Tantie’, was distributed to the group and one participant read out the letter to the whole group. Each small group then listed possible courses of action which Chantal, the letter writer, could follow to improver her situation. These suggestions were compiled into one list for the whole classs and included: changing schools and/or informing various authorities of the teacher’s actions. The response written by Tantie to Chantal was distributed to the group and compared to the suggestions the group had produced, with the participants stating that Tantie had summarised their suggestions. The group was then led in a discussion of the questions found in the ‘Guide de l’Animateur’ with responses being recorded on paper.

Break: From 13:40 to 14:00 there was a break for lunch.

5. Creating a safe school environment

One participant read out the stories of the two schoolgirls, Bernadette and Victoire. Other participants were then asked to briefly summarise, orally, the stories. The participants then worked in their small groups to brainstorm some of the causes and the consequences of the events which occurred in the stories and similar events which they knew of in real-life. Their suggestions were transferred to a large chart, with links made between the causes and their consequences. The causes which the participants identified focussed heavily on the actions of the girls involved in the stories, with little attention payed to the role of the men concerned or other possible actors. There also appeared to be a misunderstanding of the stories, resulting in suggestions that the students were willing to give sexual favours to their teachers in return for money or improved school results. This may also have been because the participants were referring to their perception of real-life situations as well as the stories presented. Approximately one hour was spent on this activity, as opposed to the recommended 45 minutes, due to the lengthy group discussion of causes and consequences.

6. Benefiting from the elimination of sexual harassment

The group leaders encouraged each small group to fill out Document 5, ‘Un environnement scolarise plus securise et plus amical’, describing five ways in which their school would be different if sexual harassment were eliminated. As a whole, the group discussed their ideas and compiled them into one document. There was debate over some points, such as whether sexual harassment prevented girls from being sent to school at a young age.

This activity was completed in approximately 20 minutes.

7. Action Plan

Finally the group was encouraged to produce a plan of action, drawing inspiration from the day’s discussion. Offered the alternative of initially working in small groups or going straight to a whole group discussion, the group opted for the latter. The group was obviously tired after 6 hours of discussion, yet despite a slow uptake of the task initially, the group became very engaged in this particular activity. An awareness-raising campaign was immediately suggested and the whole group proceeded to fill in the various columns of the Action Plan table, from Document 7, together.

Approximately half an hour was spent on this task, with the time being insufficient for participants to make other suggestions of actions to undertake.

8. Advantages of a sexual harassment policy

Document 8 was distributed to the whole group and several participants took turns in reading out the document to the group. The idea of producing a school policy on sexual harassment had already been suggested by several participants earlier in the workshop. There was little discussion of the points raised in the document, but the participants were encouraged to re-read the document at home.

9. Conclusion

The group leaders concluded the workshop by encouraging the participants to start raising awareness of the causes and the consequences of sexual harassment within their community. The participants were thanked for giving up so much of their time, while they in turn thanked the group leaders. I briefly commented on the importance of fighting against sexual harassment. The participants did not give any suggestions of how the workshop could be improved.

Conclusion

The workshop was characterised by strong engagement in the activities undertaken and an appreciation of the importance of the issues discussed. The group leaders quickly established a comfortable environment where group members were generally eager to participate in group discussion. Various discussion techniques were employed, with participants moving between small and whole group discussions, oral and written question-response tasks and brainstorming activities. Due to strong engagement in the material, as well as some misunderstanding of the language and format of some of the documents and excessive time spent on activities of minimal importance to achieving the workshop’s aims, the workshop ran significantly overtime, starting at about 9:30 and continuing until 16:00. This was perhaps the most significant factor in reducing the effectiveness of the workshop, particularly in terms of the action plan produced by the group. Other issues/suggestions for future workshops include:

• Increase the number of women participants and ensure they are not distracted from concentrating in the workshop by other duties (eg. children, food preparation);

• Ensure each point raised in the documents is discussed thoroughly so that each participant has a good understanding of sexual harassment;

• Provide examples of how to respond to the questions in the questionnaires. For Document 1 it may also be useful if concrete examples of behaviour types are given initially, followed by the more abstract examples.