Throughout Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the RALIANCE team has been reading about new ways to better support women and trauma survivors, especially in the workplace, where remote and hybrid work has led to troubling trends in online misconduct, harassment and abuse. Below are some of our most notable reads this month:
• We Need Trauma-Informed Workplaces (Harvard Business Review): Trauma and distress come from a variety of experiences, including domestic violence, sexual assault, racial bias, harassment and more. This type of collective trauma is particularly present at the workplace, where the lines between work and home life are blurred and employees lack support from leadership. This article in Harvard Business Review explains how workplaces can uplift and build trauma-informed organizations with cultures that understand – and know how to mitigate – the negative effects of trauma on employees.
• Ways Business Leaders Can Better Support Women in the Workplace (Forbes): Forbes Business Council members have compiled a list of 13 steps business leaders can take to combat workplace obstacles as organizations work to enact systemic culture change. The list covers prioritizing, investing and uplifting women in the workplace, consciously listening and paying attention to their needs, and checking personal biases towards others, among other recommendations.
• Some women shared the messages they get on Instagram. It’s not pretty. (The Washington Post): If there’s any doubt that women face significant harassment online, a new study put that uncertainty to rest. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) analyzed over 8,700 direct messages to five high-profile women on Instagram. Their findings highlight the social platform’s failure to address 90 percent of abuse reports and the fundamental struggles that high-profile women on the platform face when it comes to using online safety tools. Black women and women of color, LGBTQ people and other marginalized groups were even more likely to experience online abuse – the same is likely true in your own workplace as well.Â
We’ll continue to bring critical news updates your way here at the RALIANCE blog to make sure you’re in the know about issues that matter in the effort to lead culture change.
RALIANCE provides consulting, assessment, and employee development services to help build more equitable workplace cultures and create environments free from sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse. We stand ready to support your organization’s goals – contact us today at [email protected] to get started.