Lagos Govt begins campaign against harassment in workplaces

The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) says it has commenced its “Lagos Says No to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”, to proactively address sexual harassment in the workplace.

Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, the state Coordinator of DSVRT, said on Tuesday in Lagos that sexual harassment was a crime, adding that the state government reserved a right to intervene.

Vivour-Adeniyi said a survey was conducted on the impact of domestic violence on the workplace.

According to her, majority of the results indicated that victims cannot concentrate as a result of the issues they faced at home.

“Majority of women sampled also said they recorded a number of mistakes, felt tired at work due to sleep deprivation and generally unable to work well.’’

She, however, encouraged corporate organisations to put structures in place for reporting.

“Corporate organisations, therefore, need to be awakened to the reality that this and more can be hidden issues in workplace wellness and productivity,” Vivour-Adeniyi said.

She said that workers of some of the multinational companies were recently engaged in several related issues including sexual harassment, steps to take to report and the role of corporate organisations in ensuring safe spaces.

The state coordinator of DSVRT said the workers were also engaged on the impact of sexual harassment, some of which include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder.

Vivour-Adeniyi said that DSVRT engaged over 100 Human Resource Professionals and psychologists from various corporate organisations at a workshop organised by the Employee Assistance Professionals Association.

She said that the engagement was focussed on the impact of Domestic Violence on the Workplace.

“The participants were informed of what domestic violence is and the negative impact of domestic violence on survivors.

“Some of these include inability of victims to fully participate in the workforce, reduced productivity, frequent absenteeism, loss of jobs, potential harm to employees, co-workers and/or customers when violent abusers enter the workplace.

“This can be dangerous, as companies may be held liable if violence erupts in their premises,” the DSVRT coordinator said.

She said DSVRT could be reached on 0813-796-0048 or by dialling *6820#, adding that it was readily available to assist.