Harassment is harassment ! It can happen at a public place, within a family , with neighbours , with office too. But the difference is , frequency of general office harassments are very high and we need proof , we have to fight a lot spoiling our own peace of mind to react ! Any lady will be able to feel the instinct from a look / wicked smile / flirting from the criminal . Yes, they are criminals and our instinct can not be taken as a fact. Instead we might have to come across many forceful scenarios of working together officially. Do you know how difficult it is to tolerate such a thing ? I have heard from previous generation women also.. harassment never has an age… elderly successful leadership women have also had faced “such” looks during a speech / seminar. Uff ! We can’t really catch the guy and bash him on the spot telling ur look was bad ! Can we :/
Here are few tips for women , to help handle such scenarios and for a better peace of mind
- Look into eyes : do you remember when someone does a mistake and you catch them, they bend their head down. You know why? That’s because the strong looks make them guilty. So, never avoid eye contact, rather give the strong “Goddess Durga” look which will make them weak to face you.
- Show the difference: Let you be an extrovert / introvert / ambivert , be that “I don’t want to be nice to you” person . There is no wrong in being bad to such people.
- Ignoring will be tricky : in few cases I have seen the more we ignore the harder they try. Some people have no minds and no shame ! So better express your anger than ignoring.
- Never feel inferior to escalate : common situations of harassment will be from a senior person to a junior . So there is always a fear even though we have no reason to fear. Remember, that minute , that decision is going to make the difference, never fear to escalate.
- Keep your trustworthy colleague updated : common fear from women / If I tell my colleague, she will think ” why only you? You must have given the space” and throw judgements on women. Find your trustworthy friend at work updated about these , needed for emotional support and references.
- Be extremely professional : while the one with wrong intentions nag you indirectly , be extremely professional. Delegate the work to someone else where ever possible or communicate only on emails/ group calls. You not doing this might indicate a wrong signal.
- Do not carry the load in you : after all, the victim did nothing wrong and we do not have to take blame for other’a wrong intentions. Many cases I have heard women feeling so bad and sad, getting emotionally upset and the criminal will be happy and guilt free. C’mn ! Do not carry stress in your mind , be right and straight forward ! Don’t forget to forget the troubles.
I have written few blogs on similar lines earlier , we have movies like pink, short films , facebook groups to spread awareness and reduce harassments . Somehow we still don’t feel the situation getting better.while criminals continue being perverts , all we can do is be strong and bold !
Extrovert doesn’t mean Sextrovert
Don’t look at us there
The papanasam secret of my life
Hope the above tips were useful, feel free to share more tips from your end readers ..