Newsroom sexual harrasment: ‘Union plays to public gallery’

THE editor-in-chief of The Namibian, Tangeni Amupadhi, has criticised the way in which the Namibia Media Professionals Union (Nampu) has approached the alleged sexual abuse of reporters in newsrooms. He says the union’s acting secretary general, Jemima Beukes, has chosen to sensationalise the matter by playing to the public gallery, rather than dealing with the core issue.

Amupadhi was speaking on Desert Radio’s ‘The Conversation’ yesterday as part of a discussion panel.

“It is very unfortunate when generalised comments are made and the company is not approached by the union with the complaints or evidence in order to deliberate on the matter,” he said.

“We have had disciplinary measures taken against people for basic verbal abuse against junior staff. Sexual harassment is a straightforward dismissal matter, and if it comes up, we will deal with it,” he said.

The company is yet to receive reports of sexual abuse “and would love to tackle them”, he said.

Nampu on Sunday released a statement which, among others, said: “Shockingly, leading newspapers, journalists and media workers have been toiling without contracts for years. The absence of formal agreements hampers job security and employment rights.

“Then we have a mountain heap of sexual harassment in newsrooms, interns and junior reporters exploited with the promise of permanent employment.”

No newsroom was singled out, but New Era claimed in a report yesterday that The Namibian’s newsroom concerned the union.

Amupadhi said 10 days ago the company’s human resources department picked up on a rumour that somebody was harassed and went on to invite both the alleged perpetrator and alleged victim “to clear up the issue and deal with it appropriately”. “Our company policies are clear. Sexual harassment is a no-go. It is an immediate dismissible offence,” he said.

“It is very worrying when union leaders tell their members that there is nothing that can be done about this problem,” Amupadhi said.
Beukes maintained there is a rape culture in newsrooms in Namibia.

“People do not have any job security. Female journalists, especially, are facing explicit and implicit threats of dismissals,” she said.

INADEQUATE LAWS

Namibia’s Labour Act lacks the capacity and depth to sufficiently deal with matters related to sexual harassment in Namibia, National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) deputy president Phillip Munenguni, who was also part of the panel, said.

He said sexual exploitation in the Namibian workforce is not unique to newsrooms, but happens across the board.

This is exacerbated by the lack of safe places for victims to report their incidents without fear of victimisation or dismissal.

The Labour Act has not been amended in the past five years, “while employees are suffering”, he said.

The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation is reportedly yet to establish a desk that deals with sexual harassment.

Munenguni said policies become redundant as sexual harassment is often perpetrated by managers.
“Those at the helm of companies are the perpetrators of these crimes. Employees are not protected. Not even by the Labour Act.”

ILO INTERVENTION

Office of the Labour Commissioner chief policy analyst Sakaria Nandjigua said: “We [the ministry] have trained master trainers, who underwent training at the International Labour Organisation, and are now training agents on matters affecting the labour force, including sexual harassment.”