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Leadership and Sexual Harassment.
Opinion piece by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward. Published in the the Canberra Times, 31 March 2004
Sexual harassment, like bullying and other forms of personal power politics, is very hard to stop. Sure, the victim wants it to stop and is always grateful for assistance. Certainly, it embarrasses and sometimes distresses bystanders, but the harassers and bullies have no incentive to stop, other than the risk of getting caught. Getting them to give up something they like doing- or don't think is wrong- is the hard part.
Harassers and bullies are occasionally sociopaths but more often dominant personalities. In the jungle of the school yard they may be the leaders of the in-group; sharp tongued and sharp eyed, quick to pick their victim's fears and flaws and unscrupulous about attacking them. Often their sporting prowess, their maturity or their good looks win the admiration of their peers, who allow the bullying and harassing and may often support them. Interestingly, these pack leaders frequently choose to reject the authority of the school and of adults. You will not often find them on the Students Representative Council and they may drop out of school early.
After six months of walking into youth forums around Australia, organized by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, and talking to hundreds of young people about sexual harassment, it's not difficult to pick the three groups apart. You would be able to pick them too; the harassers are never in the front row; they loll with their heads tilted back, an expression of disdain on their faces, barely listening.
Parents will argue that bullying and harassing are part of young people sorting themselves into a pecking order. Sociologists might say it is part of a group rejecting outsiders or those who have broken the group's rules. This was certainly the view of many school girls I spoke to, who believed they had a perfect right to label another girl a "slut" if they believed she was, to taunt and ostracise her if they felt she had behaved badly. Even without evidence and often from jealousy.
The forums (called Youth Challenges) are based on school curricula and work by giving victims some coping mechanisms and appealing to by-standers. That means empowering the peer group to find the courage to tell the top boy, or girl, to "leave the kid alone". To persuade others that it isn't funny, or smart, to pick on a kid who is different, or weaker than they are.
But it is also important to appeal to the harassers to stop. We can tell them they're bullies, but I doubt it would work. We could also tell them the truth; they have leadership gifts that give them power over others. They can choose to use them for good or ill. Rarely does the world outside the school yard reward the bully with a starring role. On the other hand, those who use their powers for good are handsomely repaid.
That's what I tell them anyway.
Last updated 23 June 2004.
