The risk of sexual harassment at work continues to increase as more women join the workforce. As is the case with all Asian countries the problems of sexual harassment in Sri Lanka is wrapped around taboos and confidentiality.

However as there has been growing awareness of the problem, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) reports an increase in the number of reported cases in recent years. Kamalini Wijathilake and Faizun Zackariya, in a study done for the International Labour Organisation (ILO), concluded that sexual harassment is prevalent, that awareness raising has become essential and creative ways of addressing the problem have been required.

A guideline which is a voluntary instrument for a code of conduct soon to be launched defines sexual harassment as behaviour that is "unwelcome, unsolicited, unacceptable, unreasonable and offensive to the recipient, of an overtly or covertly sexual nature" and lays down the responsibilities of the company in combating incidents of such offensive behaviour.

Surveys done in the Asia and Pacific regions indicate that a substantial percentage of victims are women and a small minority are men. Most vulnerable are young women, persons under precarious employment contracts, migrants, domestic workers and workers in sex-segregated or single sex dominated occupations and sectors. According to trade union reports, plantations and FTZ’s are especially exposed in Sri Lanka.

Perceptions on sexual harassment vary between, but especially within societies. Women often have different views than men, also depending on age and position in the job hierarchy. Common initial attitudes are that sexual harassment is ‘harmless flirting.’ A key characteristic of sexual harassment is that it is unwelcome and unwanted behaviour as determined by the victim. Sexual harassment is not about sex, it is about power," Director, ILO Sri Lanka, Claudia Coenjaerts said.

Apart from being a human rights issue, it is also a productivity issue. Victims suffer varying degrees of emotional stress and this affecats their work efficiency, the ILO said.