Concept Paper for

Eve of the Factory

Presented by

Dr. Laila Risgallah PhD

Founder and President

Not Guilty Inc.

The program title / Eve of the Factory
The name of the Implementing
Partner requesting funding / Dr. Laila Risgallah
Description of the program. /
  • Raising awareness of 600 factory men and women in 10 factories about harassment in the workplace
  • Group therapy for 600 factory men and women in 10 factories
  • Implementing a reporting strategy in the factory.

Role (Job title) / Executive Director of Not Guilty for Family Development
Address / 4 Abdel Rahman al Rafii street Heliopolis, Cairo / Egypt
Tel / + 202-262-11226
E-mail /
Website /
The planned start date of the program
and its duration / January 2018, the project duration is 10 months
The location of the programme area
(district / city / town / region). / 10 factories in the different areas in Egypt.
The overall budget of the programme
(local currency). / $144,873
The date that the proposal was
written (or date of latest revision) / October 12, 2017

Introduction:

“You can choose to look away, but you cannot say you didn’t know”.

Statistics tell us that one in four girls are sexually abused in Egypt, which means that in any crowd there are 25% of the women who have been abused (UN Women 2012). Only 10% of cases are reported due to the stigma connected with reporting. This is why Not Guilty team decided to empower the women to report and tackle harassment in the workplace. Not Guilty performed two pilot projects in two factories, one in Portsaid (Unicenter) sponsored by GIZ and another in Al Obour(Tiba Factory) also sponsored by GIZ.

Our findings included:

That the circle for reporting is not complete; that it has nothing with what a woman wears; that there are a few NGOs working on the subject; that harassment by touch is the most prevalent kind; that there are no ways to monitor the long term effect of harassment on women; that women need empowerment; that trying to raise awareness evokes a defense mechanism and faces rejection in any institution.
What surprised us was the lack of a strategy or a safe way for reporting harassment in the workplace; the negative reaction of the society in cases of reporting; that there is no way to prove harassment; that there are a few factories that do have an anti harassment strategy in place; that harassment does not affect turnover of workers greatly; and that there might be fake reporting for revenge purposes.

The Problem:
Sexual Violence and Employment

The effects of sexual violence can impact victims’ and survivors’ employment experiences in both the short- and long-term. Many sexual violence victims struggle on the job due to trauma; persistent fear; physical complications; need for time off for counseling, court dates, and health care services; depression and anxiety; and other hardships created by their victimization. Losing a job can compound the challenges of the healing process and increase feelings of blame, shame and isolation. It can also increase the risk for or sustain poverty. Sexual violence can interrupt a person’s education, which can decrease their earning and employment opportunities in the long run. Employers are not always equipped to address the effects of sexual violence in the workplace; many victims and survivors do not receive the time or healthcare they need to survive in the aftermath of sexual violence.

•Persons with a household income under $7,500 are more likely than the general population to be victims of sexual assault.1

•Adverse childhood experiences, including sexual abuse, can lead to poor job performance in adulthood.2

•Fifty percent (50%) of sexual assault victims lost their jobs or were forced to quit after rape.3

•Many victims risk losing their jobs when they take time off to cope with the psychological impact of sexual violence. The social stigma attached to rape and sexual assault may jeopardize victims’ employment opportunities. Advocates shared that when prospective employers ask victims “why did you leave your last job,” many are afraid to tell the truth: that it was because of rape.4

•Women and children who live in poverty are at extremely high risk of physical and sexual victimization by intimates. For thousands of women, a lack of economic resources has devastating consequences on their ability to alter their environments or to live in safety, particularly if they have dependent children.5

•Women who had experienced recent intimate partner violence [including sexual violence] had less than one-third the odds of maintaining work over time, i.e., for at least 30 hours per week for 6 months or more.6

• Surveys indicate that almost half of all working women have experienced some form of sexual harassment on the job. Sexual harassment can have a serious and negative impact on women's physical and emotional health, and the more severe the harassment, the more severe the reaction. The reactions frequently reported by women include anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, weight loss or gain, loss of appetite, and headaches. Researchers have also found that there is a link between sexual harassment and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).7

The Egyptian Labor Law does not tackle specifically the problem of violence and sexual harassment in the workplace whether physically or psychologically, verbally or sexually. Such violations in the workplace are governed by gradual disciplining and penalizing rules which are commensurate with the nature of the act. In case of a crime, the provisions of the Penal Code are to be applied as is the case with any sexual or physical assault.

Nor does the labor law include any specific procedures for reporting cases of sexual harassment in the workplace and women do not enjoy any protection in case their employers, colleagues, or supervisors wish to retaliate for having reported cases of sexual harassment on their part.

Description of the project:

  • This project is focused on raising awareness of the society and exposing the problem putting it under the limelight to encourage the public opinion to take a stand against this horrible problem.
  • Raising awareness of 600 factory men and women in 10 factories about harassment in the workplace
  • Group therapy for 600 factory men and women in 10 factories
  • Producing wrist bands with motivational messages
  • Creating a media buzz about harassment in the work place
  • Making a documentary about the factory girls in Egypt, focusing on the problems they face, the rights they don’t get and the different types of abuse they are prone to.

Goal.

  • Improve quality of life of the factory female workers regarding the potential threat of harassment, sexual abuse and improve their work conditions through an Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) intervention.
  • Raising awareness on sexual abuse through an integrated IEC Campaign.
  • To empower women to report cases of harassment in the workplace.
  • To produce anti harassment wrist bands with motivational messages
  • To have group therapy sessions where women can tell of harassment cases in the workplaces and get professional help.
  • To discuss with working women ways to decrease harassment in the workplace.
  • To make the workplace a safe place thus increasing productivity.
  • To encourage factory owners to achieve Safe Factory status.
  • To decrease turnover due to harassment in the workplace thus increasing stability and productivity.

Project details

  • 4sessions at each of the nine factories totaling to 60 visits total.
  • Each session 2 hours: one hour as a group and another hour as counseling groups.
  • Each group 30 max ( by age and gender )
  • We can go up to 10 session per day same location ( 30 person x 10 session = 300 person per day - twice per week to cover up 600 employees per week / twice per week) .
  • All sessions are in Arabic

Project Activities and Expected Results

Preparatory Phase:

First, 6 professionals with backgrounds in health and gender-based violence prevention will be recruited to become the Expert Facilitators. Recruited professionals will include counselors, doctors, social workers, GBV experts and others with previous training in sexual assault prevention. These experts will be instrumental in implementing the action as they will lead the prevention programs in factories and provide support and assistance to those in need so it is imperative that they are well vetted and trained before the beginning of the action.

Expected Result 1: Prevent Harassment in factories

1.1Implement the anti harassment awareness sessions

The expert Not Guilty facilitators will implement the comprehensive anti-harassment awareness sessions. 10 factories will be visited four times each with a total of 54 visits and around 600 factory employees reached.

This awareness session forms the central tenant of the proposed project. The material content, activities and pedagogy have been carefully developed to achieve real impact and behavioral changes among factory employees. Already implemented in 2 factories, The interactive sessions will focus on healthy boundaries, respect and acceptance of the other, recognizing abuse, harassment and bullying, aspects of consent, ways to stay safe and knowledge of ways to prevent and respond to incidents.

The sessions will be delivered in four 60-minute sessions, Each session will take place during the usual factory working times usually during their break, spread one week apart in order to provide “bite-sized” learning that is easily digestible and create time between each session for women and men to reflect on the learning and ensure repeated exposure to the information.

1.2Support facilitator led group therapy sessions:

Once the women and men finish the awareness session, they will be divided into groups of 8-10 to talk about their feelings, their experiences of harassment, what are the symptoms they have, the long term and short term consequences they suffered from. These are groups for women and men to feel totally safe and free to talk with professional facilitators who can later help them individually in case sexual abuse cases are discovered.

There are three main reasons for organizing these groups”.

Firstly, men and women will get the opportunity to develop their skill of speaking in a safe protected place.

Secondly, men and women will encourage each other.

Thirdly, The women will know the different routes of help available for them

-Conducting the survey

At the end of this stage, the Not Guilty team will conduct another survey among the women . Data received will be compared to those collected through the initial survey. In such way the Project team will be able to determine to what extent men and women embraced the values and skills promoted through the anti sexual abuse sessions and groups..

1.3 Ensure In-factory follow-up and support:

In each factory several structures and networks will be put into place to ensure all in factory activities are implemented smoothly and successfully and there is timely and appropriate response to any issues that arise. This is particularly important for a project of this nature as the support and participation of the factories and authorities must be assured for it to continue to grow and expand and become a part of a national movement. Based on the sensitive nature of many of the topics addressed, particularly related to sexual harassment, and the young age of many women working in factories, Not Guilty team team has had to develop mechanisms to respond quickly to any issues, whether it be providing assistance to a victim reporting an instance of harassment that has taken place, or responding quickly to a misunderstanding of the sessions or its intent by a staff member This activity is designed to organize and structure some of these existing mechanisms, in order to ensure that they are in place in all factories and remain a solid part of the project implementation and are sustained into future expansions.

One of the necessary structures that must be in place is a channel to gather feedback from participants and stakeholders. Therefore 2-3 workers in each factory will act as ambassadors of the program to provide feedback on a day-to-day level, help other workers in serving as a go-to resource for their colleagues in need of support.

In addition expert facilitators will also provide continuous support and resources for women who have been victims of harassment and violence. In previous iterations of the training in Tiba factory there have been three women out of ten who have come forward to tell the facilitators about experiences they have had of harassment, often that they have never been able to speak about before to family members or friends due to the associated shame and guilt. The sessions and groups allows them a safe place to learn they are not alone or guilty and the facilitators are often viewed by these women as the only “safe” adult they can report to. This opportunity to share is hugely important but it is only a first step and these victims of violence or harassment need access to resources, such as counseling, medical services, and conflict mediation and resolution services to help them heal and move on. This is particularly important as there are currently no formal mechanisms in the factories or society to deal with these cases and many in society are highly opposed to any sort of response and redress system making it a slow process of attitude and cultural shift before a formal system can be implemented.

In the meantime the expert facilitators will act as an informal network for women who are the victim of assault, harassment, or bullying, and provide them access to this system of support. All of the participating experts will come from different fields related to emotional and physical health of children and have expressed willingness to offer their services to victims identified through the program. Therefore, if a victim comes forward to tell her story or ask for help the facilitator or teacher will be able to respond, and where necessary refer the woman to others within the network who can offer the precise services needed by the victim.

1.3Two events six months apart

Two events with media and TV coverage inviting all women and factory owners who have participated in the trainings to create a community buzz encouraging other NGOs and community led organizations to support the project and propagate it.

Not Guilty has developed a reporting strategy for the factory as well as the harassment law written in simplified Arabic.

It has also developed a certificate for the factory as a safe factory for women once they follow the specified criteria to make this factory a safe place for women to work in.

The overall budget of the program= $144,837

References

  1. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005.
  2. Anda et al., 2004.
  3. Ellis, Atkeson, & Calhoun, 1993.
  4. Greco, 2006.
  5. Browne, Salomon, Bassuk, Dawson, & Huntingdon, 2004.
  6. Browne, Salomon, & Bassuk, 1999.
  7. National Women’s Law Center, 2007.
  8. Poverty and Sexual Violence: Building Prevention and Intervention Responses