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According to the United Nations Women, one of every three women will suffer physical and/or sexual abuse at the hands of a romantic or non-intimate partner throughout their lifetime. According to this source, women who have undergone this form of abuse in their lives have higher rates of depression and other life-altering disorders than those who have not.
To add on this, according to a report released by stop street harassment survey 81% of women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime. 77% of women had experienced verbal sexual harassment and 51% of the women had been sexually touched without their own permission. Around 41% stated they’d been sexually harassed online, and 27% said they’d been sexually assaulted. More Than 3 Out Of 4 Women Have Been Verbally Harassed.
The women harassment is always carried out in different places and from the same report by stop street harassment survey a huge number of women which is 66% says that they got sexually harassed at public places, 38% say that they get the sexual harassments at their workplaces and 35% get sexually harassed at their own residences.
Sexual Harassment Begins At An Early Age as depicted in the graph below:
Even so, not everybody is aware of the possible hazards that they can encounter in their everyday lives. Here are a few safety tips to make girls feel motivated and equipped for anything they might come across in their lives
Every Girls Should Know Those 13 Safety Tips
1 – Be Aware of Your Surroundings
It is better to have a schedule in motion before heading out, either individually or with a bunch of friends. Among the most important protection precautions to note is to remain aware of your environment, including who and what is in the direct proximity.
Making it a priority to be conscious of what is happening around you can make you become more mindful of your surroundings. Furthermore, as an added measure, inform those independent of your circle of your location and plans for the night.
2 – Use GPS Tracking to Your Advantage
Mobile phones are not only useful for taking pictures, texting, and posting updates, but they will also save lives. Most devices have an excellent alert function that enables users to send their position to someone on their phone contacts. This function is simple to use and can draw more attention to the individual whenever they are in a dangerous condition.
3 – Keep Yourself Prepared with Self Defense Tools
When it comes to choosing a tool to protect yourself, it is essential to select one that you are most familiar using. When heading out, things like pepper spray, a survival whistle, and a compact flashlight are handy to have on hand. Any of these methods is even small enough to be attached to a backpack or phone case for easy access!
4 – Take your distance from potential threat
If you’re out solo or with a bunch of girlfriends, if you should ever feel awkward or vulnerable because of someone’s behavior toward you, don’t be hesitant to place some space between yourself and the person. There is nothing impolite about defending yourself in a possibly dangerous scenario. Your instincts are there to warn you of potential dangers and its a bad idea to simply ignore them.
5 – Learn Self Defence techniques
Make self defense enjoyable by enrolling in a program that can teach you more about safety and protecting yourself. We never choose to see the worst-case scenario. However, when it comes to knowing how to defend oneself in a possibly risky environment, being adequately and emotionally prepared to tackle such situations is critical.
In conjunction to these few suggestions, I suggest conducting some analysis on the area you will be visiting. Learning about the dangers that you might face when jogging in the street, enjoying a festival, or working late in your office will enable you to devise a stronger strategy and bring the necessary resources to protect yourself.
6 – Don’t share too much information on social media
On online channels, try not to share too much information about yourself. Uploading your address, future plans, and other essential information on public platforms will make it simple for strangers to figure out how and when to get into your home.
According to PewResearch, Online sexual harassment is a big problem globally and 41% 0f Americans have experienced online harassment.
7- Inform anyone that you arrived home safely.
This will ensure that someone else is aware of your safety and can also take action if they feel something is wrong.
8-Take care of the trash.
Do not put packaging from pricey televisions or devices outside your house. Robbers can attack your residence as a result of this.
9-Make connections with the people that live close to you.
Knowing who is around you should help you recognize odd behaviour and create a group
10-Use the technology like smart alarms
Make use of innovations like Smart alarm systems surveillance cameras, and motion sensors will also help to protect the home and stop possible burglars.
11-Don’t put off car repairs.
Stoppages on the road will happen when you least anticipate it. Checking your oil daily, inspecting your tyres, and maintaining your battery charged are all small maintenance tasks that can help to save your car from stopping in the wrong spot, at the wrong moment.
12-Inform your friends and relatives.
Inform your friends or relatives about your plans and that you will be traveling alone. Seeing them updated along the way would allow you both sense of security.
13-Maintain your composure
If you suspect that you are being watched, try not to worry. If you’re in a more remote spot, keep going at a reasonable pace and make your way to a busier place.
Everyone has the ability to feel secure and empowered in all facets of their lives. It is particularly necessary for women to understand that they have the power to defend themselves.
Women’s Safety in the Workplace
With the increased presence of women in the business sector it is essential not to overlook the social component of safety in the workplace. The following are among the most often used recommendations for promoting the wellbeing of working women.
Urgent situation phone number should be prominently illustrated and accessible to all female workers. At least one appointed corporate officer should be accessible 24 hours a day to assist female workers in the event of an incident.
The workspace can have simple facilities such as independent, safe bathrooms located near employees’ workstations. Additionally, the workplace should have the appropriate medical services to meet the demands of female employees.
Additionally, the organization should guarantee that female workers operating night shifts have access to company transportation and contract cabs options from known businesses that conduct rigorous security checks on each worker.
Workers, human resource experts and those in leadership positions within an organization can work to establish and enforce a no-tolerance rule for sexual mistreatment. In certain nations, it is a company’s ethical duty to have a harassment-free work atmosphere.
An anti-sexual conduct policy can clearly define what comprises sexual misconduct in the organization, how human resources departments and employees can react to instances of sexual abuse, how a female employee should take legal action if gender discrimination happens, how the organization handles sexual harassment complaints, and why sexual harassment would not be tolerated at the workplace.
Such a guideline should be communicated in writing to all staff. Yearly employee training workshops may also be conducted to raise awareness about the issue.
Male workers also engage in gender inequality or coercion as a result of implicit prejudices. Training workshops may assist us in overcoming social roles and prejudices that often result in workplace abuse of women.
Owing to the societal perception correlated with sexual assault, female workers are less prone to investigate accidents. Many risk harassment from coworkers, bosses, or employees.
As a result, it is critical for those in management positions to allow their employees to disclose inappropriate conduct or employee sexual abuse within an existing complaint process. Separate awareness plans for administrators or superiors should be designed to teach them how to recognize the symptoms of sexual assault and that they can make a guaranteed commitment to avoid it.
Companies can implement a strong strategy for workplace misconduct with conviction. Strict enforcement against violators is the only deterrence.
Although employees should take precautions to avoid untoward accidents, the reality is that unpleasant occurrences do happen.
As a result, educating female workers in how to defend themselves in the lack of external assistance is almost as essential. Women workers may understand how to handle an unwanted circumstance or request assistance if they find themselves in one unexpectedly.
Why Workplaces Should Focus on Women’s Safety
Sexual discrimination is expressly banned in the standards of ethics of the majority of big multinational corporations. In past years, several sellers have received criticism from the media over alleged breaches of labor rights throughout their distribution network, particularly breaches in outsourced manufacturing facilities.
To escape unfavorable business consequences, firms have a clear desire to guarantee that their vendors work legally. As a result, businesses are being more hesitant to partner with manufacturers that do not adhere to strict requirements.
Sexual harassment in the workplace has major financial impacts on businesses. Resolving it will result in an improvement in profitability. Staff members, employers, and administrators who see or learn of abuse and sexual assault in the workplace are less effective than people who are not concerned.
Additionally, you may see a decline in turnover. Sexual abuse can be a significant cause when employees depart the workplace. Reinforcing confidence bonds between employers and employees results in improved employee satisfaction.
Furthermore, employee absenteeism would be reduced. When employees are fearful or anxious, they can miss work or come late in order to prevent any interaction with the offenders.
Retaining experienced and qualified personnel is simplified. Sexual abuse incidents, both undisclosed and documented, push professional employees to look for jobs somewhere else.
There are expense savings associated with professional representation. By reducing the amount of lawsuits, the demand for court agreements decreases. Unresolved issues can result in companies withdrawing their business and going to a competitor that provides better conditions.
Enhanced workplace protection plays a large role in the confidence of your women employees. Female workers who are promised a secure environment and are confident of enforcement in the case of a hazard to their welfare have a higher level of faith and satisfaction in their job, and are thus willing to concentrate on producing superior performance.
The Effects on Women’s Safety
It is important to raise employee consciousness about women’s protection and wellbeing. You can use certain strategies or suggestions to raise awareness. Workshops, informal community forums, and events will also help raise concerns of women’s workplace protection.
Wellness services are critical for the employees’ cognitive and emotional wellbeing. Awareness begins with the introduction of corporate policies and rules against sexual discrimination. As a result, without an awareness of the source of the problem, it is impossible to end sexual harassment against women.
Women’s workplace protection issues are inextricably linked to their simultaneous socioeconomic roles. Historically, males and females also had distinct roles in the domestic domain.
By more women joining the labor market, they would be able to work paying jobs while continuing to provide for their families and do domestic chores. When these two factors are seen combined, more women work more hours than males.
There is far more research available today than ever before on the kinds of workplace injuries and health issues that are faced by women, which are increasingly understood to be directly related to the types of jobs they do. Women are more likely to be involved in slides, walks, and crashes, as well as incidents involving crime.
The disparities in workplace injuries can necessitate distinct control and response strategies. For instance, the various modes of transportation and family duties could have an effect on their transportation incident history, which must be investigated.
The scope of a transportation accident will need to be changed to include injuries that arise when transporting kids to school prior to getting to work, which as per some reports remains primarily a female responsibility.
Anxiety problems and depression are becoming more prevalent in women. This casts doubt on the widespread belief that women’s employment is less emotionally and psychologically taxing.
The mix of institutional and external threats in the workplace, the connections among women’s compensated and unpaid jobs, including mixed danger experiences and less time independence, and the challenges in seeking a secure career, as well as their effect on female’s safety and health, should be discussed further. Work stress is becoming an increasingly prevalent issue among all staff, particularly women.
Numerous work conditions lead to female stress. These job conditions include high workload pressures, a lack of autonomy over tasks, task uncertainty and tension, job instability, weak relationships with colleagues and bosses, and narrow, routine, and tiresome work.
Additional stress factors for women in the workforce can include sexual assault and work-family balance problems. Job discomfort has been associated with heart failure, musculoskeletal conditions, exhaustion, and burnout.
Women are also prone to face various forms of sexism at work. This could be due to their ethnicity, age, racial background, impairment, or sexual identity, although migrant women also experience prejudice due to their ancestry or caste.
Young adults, girls with work responsibilities in resource-constrained nations, migrant women engaged in irregular work such as laundry and personal care, women working several occupations, and single mothers were listed as especially vulnerable categories. The condition of older women varies considerably by region.
At first sight, male employees often seem to be more vulnerable to unique threats than female employees. However, a closer examination of the data reveals that women can have a higher degree of exposure and are disproportionately influenced by numerous exposures, as shown in the hotel, restaurant, and hospitality, health care, and cleaning industries, as well as in the conventional agricultural, manufacturing, and transportation sectors.