Written by Kanwaljit Singh
Eight out of 10 women say they are regularly victims of sexism at work, according to the report of the High Council for Equality unveiled in January 2024. But people are speaking out and companies are mobilizing to fight against this scourge. Several Norman women agreed to testify about what they suffered at work.
Marie-Christine* lives in Normandy and for several years she has worked in an IT department. She tells us what she experienced in her business: “I was programming printers, it was summer and I was wearing a dress slightly open at the back. There was the assistant director who came down and I don’t know why, he came, he passed his hand between my shoulder blades and it went up to the nape of the neck I can assure you that it makes your blood run cold because you don’t know what to do.
And this is not the only thing that Marie-Christine has experienced in her business. Her voice is trembling at times but she continues speaking: “One day, I was out with colleagues. So of course, it was outside of work but it was still within a professional context, and one of them put his hand on my butt. That kind of behavior coming from a person with whom we work every day, it’s unbearable.”
This same colleague asked me to sleep with him while I was training him. It shocked me… I’m at work, I’m not here for that!
Marie-ChristineVictim of sexism at work
The woman, now 50 years old, works in a department where there are mainly men. Of the ten colleagues in this department, there are only two women to date: “I’ve already had colleagues who said to me, for example: ‘you look cute in a little skirt like that’, the same for lipstick, ‘that red is nice’. Once, twice.. “We no longer wear makeup, we pay attention to what we wear.”
And then there is this day, when Marie-Christine becomes a mother. She wants to spend 80% of her work time taking care of her child. His superior replied: “It’s annoying, you won’t be there one day a week. You’re team leader, that’s not going to be compatible.”
I still took my 80%, but I was no longer team leader.
Marie-ChristineVictim of sexism at work
She endures these acts with total indifference: “I would have told my colleagues, they would have laughed. Remarks like ‘you’re not funny’.”
Sexist situations that took place 15 years ago. But Marie-Christine remembers it as if it were yesterday: “It’s disturbing to think about it, it really does something to me.”
Women’s voices tend to be liberated today. In Caen, Sabrina Tanquerel is a professor of human resources at EM Normandie. For several months, she has been working on the subject of sexism at work and regularly conducts interviews with women of all ages who work in various sectors throughout France.
That day, she spoke with Noëmie Novak. The young woman confides to him what she experienced during an internship: “I had a colleague who, at first, made a lot of jokes. I told myself he was a bit handsome but as time went by, he became heavier. He complimented me on my clothes but to compliment my body”.
One day, the colleagues in the department she works in are all teleworking, and she finds herself alone with this man ten years older than her. He goes to get a banana and comes to see her:
And then he said to me: “There are two ways to eat a banana Noëmie, like a gentleman or like a slut. Do you want me to teach you how to eat a banana like a slut?”
Noemie NovakVictim of sexism at work
“I didn’t know what to do anymore. I didn’t know how far he could go. I was on training, I didn’t know who to talk to about it”Noëmie tells us.
Shocking comments that we hear less and less in the business world, according to Sabrina Tanquerel: “There is less of what we call hostile sexism because socially it is less tolerated and it is less acceptable. But there are new forms of sexism today, more subtle sexism. Ordinary sexism is all these little remarks, these little phrases that we will have on a daily basis which will always relegate women to certain functions or in certain roles but they will also be jokes that are a little heavy and which by dint of regularity will have a significant impact on women’s sense of skills and their feelings of self-confidence.”.
The specialist also tells us about benevolent sexism: “We could say that it is benevolent therefore it is positive. But no, it will be for example ‘Ah, Danielle, you can take the notes at this meeting, women, you are strong for that’ or paternalistic behavior on the part of her superior.
Many women, especially younger ones, dare to speak out and no longer let it happen. Noëmie ended up denouncing what she was going through. She waited until the end of the internship and spoke about it to her boss at the time.
We asked him if this famous colleague was sanctioned: “No, this colleague was not sanctioned. It was more of a verbal warning so that he avoids repeating this behavior. It’s true that for me in relation to the way I experienced it and the consequences that It may have had an impact on me and my professional experience, I think it’s quite light.”
Sanctions which are still far too rare in the professional world. However, 8 out of 10 women say they are regularly victims of sexist actions or comments during their career, according to the report from the High Council for Equality unveiled last January.
However, these behaviors have been included in the Labor Code since 2015 and are subject to the law: “It is both a civil and criminal obligation; an employer is responsible for the behavior of its employees and the legal entity, the employer, may be convicted criminally in addition to the civil conviction that we know before the industrial tribunal.” men He can therefore have a criminal conviction if he allowed an employee to suffer sexual harassment or sexist behavior. warns Maître Sarah Balluet, lawyer specializing in social law and partner at Act’Avocats. She adds :
The employer must be made aware of the fact that he may be held liable! If one of its employees experiences sexism… This concerns women and men, since sexist behavior can also affect men.
Sarah BalluetLawyer specializing in social law
So, some employers are mobilizing. Each year, structures with at least 50 employees must declare their professional equality index based on the pay gap for equal skills between men and women or even parity. Data that they must enter on the Egapro platform set up by the Ministry of Labor, Health and Solidarity.
With a score of 100 out of 100, the Norman company Concentrix + Webhelp Caen based in Colombelles, near Caen, in Calvados, is a good student. This remote customer relations specialist goes even further. In addition to its two referents “stop harassment” imposed by law, the company has created a charter against sexist and sexual violence at work.
And above all, it regularly carries out awareness-raising actions among its 900 employees such as poster campaigns: “The idea is to be able to free everyone’s voice because we are a lot of collaborators. There are veterans and people who have just arrived. Perhaps these new people are not necessarily at the forefront. aware that they can come and talk to us about it, whether within the human resources department or even with the nurse or the anti-harassment representatives.explains Caroline Viel, Human Resources manager at Concentrix + Webhelp Caen.
The company wants to avoid repeating mistakes that now belong to the past:
Employees experienced it but did not talk about it spontaneously. We learned it very late. These people didn’t know who to talk to
Lucille RenautHR Manager at Concentrix + Webhelp Caen
“We are in action, we are acting so that employees know that we have to talk about it, we do not accept that and above all we will support them”, adds Lucille Renaut, HR manager at Concentrix + Webhelp Caen.
Zero tolerance in the fight against this scourge is entirely part of the corporate culture. The site director takes particular care of this: “It is a societal obviousness, I think that today a company which remains aside from this social reality is a company which is “has been”. Equality is a fight which must be waged hand in hand. hand by men and women until we no longer ask ourselves these kinds of questions. One man, one woman is not the subject. The question is competence and doing it together.
In 15 years, Marie-Charlotte* recognizes that the fight against sexism at work is progressing: “I think that men are more careful about what they say, I feel it less heavy than before, that’s for sure. It’s not perfect obviously, but there are developments all the same.” There is still a long way to go.
*Marie-Christine is a pseudonym so that the victim can remain anonymous.
Find the regional survey magazine, Wednesday 1er May 2024, at 11 p.m., on France 3 and in replay, here.
K.Singh, T.Tavitian, C.Moschetti, G.Danré
