Unawareness and Unfamiliarity about the Issue ‘Sexual Harassment at the Workplace’: A Case of Sri Lankan Working Women

Abstract

Sexual harassment at the workplace is an issue that has gained a lot of awareness around the world during the last four decades. While the few studies that do exist in Sri Lanka have indicated a high prevalence of the problem in Sri Lankan workplaces (e.g. Adikaram, 2005, 2010; Wijayatilake and Zachariya, 2001), whether employees are actually aware of this issue and the concept of sexual harassment at workplaces in Sri Lanka still remains a mystery. Prior research clearly indicates that when people are aware of the issue, more behaviours would be considered as sexual harassment, than when they are unaware of the issue (Brewis, 2001; Pickerill, Jackson, and Newman, 2006). This identification of behavior as sexual harassment, in turn, will determine how people construct the meaning of the term and how they react to such behaviours.