Does your nonprofit have an effective strategy to reduce the risk of harassment from occurring in your workplace? Many organisations have a formal written policy stating that they desire greater diversity and inclusiveness, and will not tolerate acts of harassment.

As the #MeToo campaign has recently shown, sexual harassment, in particular, is more widespread than was previously known. Making its prevention part of an organisation’s formal policy does little to stop it from happening when organisations don’t follow through and take proactive steps to decrease the risk that it will occur.

What is #MeToo?

The #MeToo campaign was started in 1997 by a former camp counsellor turned blogger and social activist, Tarana Burke. Originally, it was a way to help survivors gain strength from knowing they are not alone so that they could begin to heal from their ordeals.

While the campaign has existed for many years, momentum reached a tipping point earlier in 2017, when millions of women began to come forward and share their stories of abuse, assault and sexual harassment with traditional news outlets, and social media.

Prior to the movement, many assumed that instances of sexual assault, abuse and other forms of harassment were rare, especially in the workplace. With so many survivors coming forward to share the details about the way they have been treated, it is now apparent that harassment is something that occurs all too frequently.

What Nonprofits Need to Know About Harassment

Regardless of the size of your organisation, there is a risk that harassment could occur at your nonprofit. Consider taking some of the following steps to reduce the chance that it happens in your workplace.

Training

Do you think that you know what harassment is? Does everyone else in your organisation know? While it’s obvious that physically touching someone without their consent is inappropriate, there are many actions that constitute harassment that doesn’t involve direct, physical contact.

At it’s most basic level, harassment is a way for someone to express hostility and power over their victim. This means that inappropriate remarks designed to insult, denigrate or deride someone, or some aspect of their person, or make a “joke” at someone’s expense, is also harassment.

One way to reduce the risk that harassment will occur in your organisation is to provide training to everyone, so that they can learn what is, and is not, acceptable behaviour, and how to recognise it when it occurs. This training should also cover what your team needs to do when harassment occurs, whether they are a victim, or happen to see or overhear it occurring.

To be meaningful, and have a direct impact on reducing harassment, training should be more than an annual event. Hold refresher seminars and meetings throughout the year to keep the issue at the top of everyone’s mind.

Confidential Reporting

It’s been estimated that as many as 85% of harassment victims have faced some form of retaliation when they have come forward to report the incident. Take steps to make everyone in your organisation feel safe and free to report these acts.

Create an anonymous whistleblower hotline or other program that allows victims and others to report such acts, while keeping their identities confidential. At least once a year, allow an independent third-party to send out surveys to everyone in your organisation to help uncover hidden harassment that may be occurring in your nonprofit. These questionnaires should explain what harassment is, and, all the responses should be anonymous to make respondents feel safe in providing honest feedback.

Transparency

When your director, board, or other staff member receives a report of harassment, it’s important that your organisation doesn’t sweep it under the rug. Reports of harassment should be taken very seriously and should always be investigated.

In addition to any internal investigation conducted by your nonprofit, your organisation should have a procedure in place to contact the police or other authorities for situations involving inappropriate physical contact so that an external investigation into the allegations can be conducted as well.

How Greater Diversity and Gender Balance Can Reduce Harassment

While many of the reports of harassment in the news of late have been acts committed by men against women, it’s important to note that anyone, male or female can be a victim of harassment, as well as a perpetrator. Harassment isn’t even confined to gender, as minorities, or anyone being perceived as “different” by most of their peers can become a target.

Many perpetrators of these acts tend to commit them when they can isolate their victim, and they feel “safe” and free from the risk of being reported. Takes steps to create greater diversity, inclusiveness and better gender balance in departments, roles, and within the organisation can make it more difficult for potential perpetrators to isolate their victims, and decrease the chance that harassment will occur in your nonprofit.

Minimising Financial Loss When Harassment Occurs

Finally, it’s important to realise that while we can take steps to reduce the chance that anyone in our organisation will ever be disrespected or potentially harmed by the behaviour of a colleague, it’s nearly impossible to eliminate this risk completely.

Acts of harassment can lead to lawsuits that are quite costly to any organisation. Take the time to periodically review your liability coverages and limits with your insurance provider to ensure that your organisation is protected financially should such an event occur.