Topic: Workplace Sexual Harassment
Country: Syria
Delegate Name: Anja Peters
School: Royal Oak High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Syria position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
Sexual harassment in the workplace is an infelicitous and monstrous issue that every country should be workings towards to remedy. Sexual harassment in the workplace is defined as “any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favour, verbal or physical conduct or gesture of a sexual nature, or any other behaviour of a sexual nature (including pornography, sexually-colored remarks) that has or that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offense or humiliation to another,” according to the UN. Worldwide, 75% of women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and 35% have experienced sexual and/or physical violence. Sexual harassment could create a hostile work environment and interrupt the productivity and quality of the work being done. Syria is no exception to these horrors, and we want to see a change.
Under article 45 of the Syrian constitution it states, “The state guarantees women all the opportunities that enable them to participate fully and effectively in political, social, cultural, and economic life. The state works to remove the restrictions that prevent women's development and their participation in building socialist Arab society.” Just before the war broke out in 2011, only 22% of the workforce were made up of women. Since then, women have taken on more of the roles traditionally set solely for the men. More women are making decisions and becoming financial contributors to their households. We want our women to be safe when they are in the workplace, because a safe workplace means our people are being taken care of number one, and number two they are then able to focus at their tasks at hand and fulfil those responsibilities without worrying about their safety.
Syria wishes to, as a first step, begin educating people in the workplace about sexual harassment and what that means, possibly by implementing educational programs to get the message heard. Not only does there need to be programs in place eduacating workers on what sexaul harassment is, but there also needs to be in place protocols on how to handle it as well. We also want to put into place quick and effective ways for women to report sexual harassment in the workplace, and encourage women to speak out against any harassment that may be happening/had happened to them. We believe these changes are crucial in order to help women feel safer and more valued in the workforce, especially since women are such an integral part of life itself- we should be working towards respecting them more than how society currently does.
