Sexual harassment is rife in workplaces, in public and in homes and it’s important for women to know that they should report these incidents instead of remaining quiet about it say the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre.

Center Coordinator Shamima Ali says they are currently working on an important case that has been on-going for some time where a woman who had reported being sexually harassed at work, ended up losing her job over the matter, with no proper reason as to why her contract was terminated.

“It’s difficult because there is a lot of protection for the perpetrator, it’s quite a prominent institution and there’s a lot of protection, and people are very reluctant to move, so this person is being sent from pillar to post. So we’ve got hold of it now and hopefully we can do something about it. There are things in process so I hope eventually this person will get justice.”

Ali says women should not be deterred to report such cases even if the perpetrator is in a prominent position in their workplace.

Adding that when a woman faces sexual harassment at work it affects her performance which in turn affects the outcome of her work and for some they lose their job over the situation which is unacceptable.

For the month of September, the center received two cases of sexual harassment.