“No one believed me.” These are the words of a woman who, after being sexually assaulted by her boss at work, faced not only suspicion from her colleagues but also the loss of her next job opportunity. Her experience is just one of many accounts from women who face sexual harassment in factories, workshops and private homes where they are employed. This field report examines how the fear of unemployment and social stigma, combined with inadequate legal protections and the absence of independent labour organisations, leaves women caught between enduring harassment, remaining silent and losing their livelihoods.
Workers, by virtue of their position as wage earners employed by others, are constantly exposed to serious physical and psychological risks. Even where trade unions closely monitor working conditions and workers’ grievances, employees are not immune to such dangers. The situation is far worse in a society where labour organisations face severe political repression and are prevented from intervening in many workplace problems. Workers in small, privately owned workshops are more vulnerable to various forms of exploitation than those employed in larger factories subject to labour regulations, while women face greater risks than men. Among these dangers, sexual harassment remains a persistent threat to women across different workplaces. This field report explores that problem.
The term “sexual harassment” first came into use in the 1970s. Before then, such behaviour was described using expressions such as “moral misconduct”, “obscene jokes” or “improper intentions”, terms that obscured the seriousness of sexual harassment and minimised the scale of the problem. Working women and girls, from secretaries to domestic workers, have long been subjected to sexual harassment, while speaking out has often meant losing their jobs or facing damage to their reputations. Sexual harassment is one form of workplace violence, part of a broader pattern that also includes unequal employment opportunities, gender-based pay disparities and barriers to career advancement. Such violence can take the form of verbal abuse and humiliation or escalate into sexual assault. Leila Asgari, a women’s rights activist, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA):
“Much of the violence committed against women in the workplace is sexual in nature. The International Labour Organization itself acknowledges that sexual violence against women at work is widespread. This is why the issue has been placed on the ILO’s agenda. Such violence has devastating consequences not only for the victim but also for the organisation and society as a whole. Those subjected to harassment may suffer serious damage to their mental health and be driven into isolation.”
(Quoted by Tabnak, “Women’s Untold Suffering from Sexual Violence in the Workplace”, 2018–2019.)
Asgari identifies three forms of workplace violence: sexual, emotional and physical. These can take the form of verbal harassment, text messages, emails, online communications and unwanted physical contact. Although no publicly accessible statistics on physical and sexual violence in the workplace have been made available, observations and personal accounts suggest that such violence is more prevalent in smaller workshops, where supervision and regulation are weaker. These environments also make it easier to conceal abuse. Many small workshops operate in basements, enclosed spaces or otherwise unsuitable premises. Yet women often have better chances of finding employment in these workshops than in larger, formally regulated factories. Sexual violence also occurs in larger workplaces, but the greater number of women workers and more open working environments can provide some protection against the particularly severe abuses that occur in small, isolated workshops. It is important to recognise that many women enter the workforce with limited education, few professional qualifications and urgent financial needs, all of which increase their vulnerability to sexual violence.
The lower a woman worker’s level of education and professional training, the greater her exposure to sexual violence and workplace exploitation. Because of their financial circumstances and lack of access to formal or informal workplace organisations, speaking out often means dismissal or being forced to accept even worse working conditions. This is precisely why trade unions capable of representing workers in small workplaces are essential. Although unions have not always fully defended women’s rights, even in countries where they are well established, collective support can reduce women’s fear of public humiliation or dismissal when they disclose sexual assault at work. As long as male workers refuse to join women in opposing sexual violence, treating it as exclusively a women’s issue, violence in the workplace will persist in different forms, affecting both women and men.
Taktam works at a factory outside the city, where she is responsible for overseeing incoming raw materials. She is educated and has worked at the factory for approximately ten years. She has social insurance coverage and, thanks to her qualifications, receives the same pay and benefits as her male colleagues. She explains that when a new manager arrived, she was required to visit his office every morning before starting work to deliver a list of expected shipments, and again at the end of the day to report on her work. Previously, she had only been called into the manager’s office when necessary. Gradually, she noticed that his demands were increasing. Sometimes he would insist that she sit down and have breakfast with him. If she said she was busy, he would become irritated and make the rest of her day miserable by finding fault with her work for no reason. She continues:
“He would also invite me to his office at lunchtime, and he always had something he wanted to talk about. I was married and in my late thirties. It wasn’t as though I couldn’t understand what he was after. I knew where all this was heading. So, before things got any worse, I filled out several job applications elsewhere. I can’t remember now whether I told him myself or whether he heard through a colleague that I was looking for another job, but his behaviour towards me changed. At first, he tried to coax me into telling him why I wanted to leave. When that didn’t work, he began threatening me and verbally harassing me. One day, as I was about to leave his office, he grabbed my wrist tightly, pushed me against the opposite wall and forcibly kissed me. I panicked and rushed out of the room. Afterwards, I realised that people had started whispering behind my back and spreading nasty rumours about me. That same day, he gave me a pay rise and sent the paperwork to the accounting department. By then, everyone was convinced that I was the one to blame, that I had cleverly won the boss over and used my charms to secure a pay rise. No one believed me. When I finally submitted my resignation, having been accepted for another job, he calmly told me that he would approve it.”
Taktam later discovered that her manager had used his connections at her prospective workplace to spread damaging allegations about her character, costing her the new position. She explains that anyone familiar with such workplaces knows how much they resemble small villages: although the businesses may appear separate, news and rumours travel quickly between them. “I left that place, but I couldn’t find another job suited to my qualifications. After a great deal of effort, I finally managed to have my unemployment benefits reinstated.”
The Taboo Surrounding Sexual Violence and the Absence of Legal Protection
Whenever sexual assault or harassment is raised, attention immediately turns to laws governing public morality. In a country where labour legislation provides no clear framework for preventing sexual violence in the workplace, those subjected to abuse who wish to pursue legal action must turn to other areas of criminal law, where sexual assault and rape are recognised as offences. There is no clear legal provision specifically addressing the different forms of sexual assault, while proving rape involves such complicated procedures that most survivors abandon the prospect of pursuing a case, assuming they are not themselves accused of wrongdoing.
When a woman experiences sexual violence or assault at work, unwritten social rules and conventions are often so powerful that speaking about the abuse becomes a problem in itself. Fear of public disgrace, suspicion that she is seeking sympathy or accusations that she is making false allegations all encourage women to conceal their experiences, particularly when the possibility of losing their jobs is added to the equation. The social taboo is so deeply entrenched that many women cannot even speak about the harassment they have experienced with colleagues or close friends. The absence of specific legislation addressing workplace sexual harassment in Iran makes such situations even more difficult to resolve.
Iran has no dedicated law on sexual harassment, particularly in the workplace. Under the Islamic Penal Code, those subjected to certain forms of sexual misconduct could file complaints under Article 637, which concerns illicit sexual relations and indecent conduct between people who are not married to one another. Under this provision, such conduct may be punished by up to 99 lashes. Because this is a discretionary rather than a fixed religious punishment, the penalty may be converted into a fine. Rape, meanwhile, is punishable by death under Iranian law. Yet the severity of the punishment and the legal definition of rape have, according to the report, meant that convictions have largely been confined to cases involving gang rape or organised sexual assault. Under Note 2 of Article 224 of the revised Islamic Penal Code:
“If a person engages in sexual intercourse with a woman who does not consent while she is unconscious, asleep or intoxicated, the act is considered equivalent to rape. The same ruling applies to sexual intercourse obtained through the deception or manipulation of an underage girl, or through the abduction, threatening or intimidation of a woman, even if such actions lead her to submit.”
(Source: Gender Justice website, “A Review of Laws Relating to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”.)
Even in countries such as India, where women face serious risks of sexual violence, legislation exists to prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace. In Iran, Article 4 of the “Employment Policies for Women in the Islamic Republic”, adopted in 1992–1993, addresses the conditions under which women should work. It states: “The conditions and social working environment of women must be organised in such a way as to provide opportunities for their spiritual, scientific and professional development, without causing harm to their religious beliefs, character, dignity or intellectual, psychological and physical health.” Yet neither this provision, which refers only in general terms to women’s physical and psychological well-being at work, nor any of the resolution’s other 13 articles establishes protective measures against workplace violence, including sexual violence. Consequently, when a woman is sexually harassed or assaulted at work, the absence of specific protections under labour law means she must rely on general criminal legislation. The law therefore makes no meaningful distinction between sexual harassment occurring in a workplace and harassment taking place on the street, at a party or elsewhere, despite the very different circumstances and power relations involved.
Zahra is a young woman who did not complete her schooling and now works as a caregiver for elderly people. She explains that an elderly man she was caring for had recently undergone major surgery and needed someone to handle household chores, cooking and everyday domestic tasks. As his health gradually improved, he proposed marriage to her.
“I was shocked. It was almost funny, really, but I put it down to his age and illness. I mentioned it to his son, who had hired me and visited his father every day. When he heard what had happened, he stared at me for a while without saying anything, his face completely expressionless. I felt embarrassed and regretted bringing it up. I had only wanted to help. I thought perhaps the family should do something about his father’s situation. I know now that I made a mistake, but his son’s reaction was humiliating. The next day, he returned with a white headscarf and a white apron. He told me that from then on I had to wear them while working, and that I should tie the headscarf like a traditional kerchief. I did as he asked. Gradually, I noticed that whenever he was at home and I was working, he would stand there watching me. It made me uncomfortable, and I told him so. But he grabbed me from behind and started groping me. When I shouted, hoping his father would hear, he said: ‘You’re a maid, after all. A maid must always be at the service of the man of the house.’”
Zahra says she eventually left the house in tears, pleading to be allowed to go. She was never able to collect the rest of her wages.
“I couldn’t even tell the old man’s daughters what had happened. They kept insisting that I return because their father had been happy with my work. Whatever I said would only have made things worse for me. And because the agency considered that I had abandoned a job before completing it, they stopped offering me the better assignments that became available.”
There are so many similar experiences among women employed to care for elderly or sick people that it would be impossible to recount them all here. Another woman, a mother of three who had left her children with her parents in a village in northern Iran and travelled to Tehran for work, describes a comparable experience:
“I was looking after a man’s sick wife. They had every comfort in their home, and both the husband and wife were very kind to me. Gradually, I began to feel that the man was becoming interested in me. We started a relationship. He promised that he would soon marry me. He was generous and always looked out for my children, but I felt uncomfortable. I was afraid that if I refused what he wanted, I might lose this good job and all the comforts that came with it. Eventually, his children found out and threw me out of the house. The man didn’t agree with what they were doing, but he did nothing to defend me against them. They accused me of trying to take advantage of their father and get hold of his property. I still think about his sick wife. She was a very kind woman. I never understood what I was supposed to do to get out of that situation while keeping my job and still doing what was morally right.”
This experience may not fall within conventional definitions of sexual assault or rape, since the relationship appeared, on the surface, to be consensual. Yet the woman’s limited education, financial dependence and lack of familiarity with the social circumstances she found herself in meant that she complied with the man’s wishes out of fear of losing her job, even concealing the relationship. Her experience illustrates the absence of legal protections capable of safeguarding women workers against the power exercised by their employers.
Interviews with women workers revealed that many had experienced at least one form of sexual harassment in the workplace. In some cases, they had not even recognised the behaviour as harassment. Such experiences included inappropriate and offensive comments about their physical appearance in front of others, sexually suggestive language intended to provoke or humiliate them, leering looks and sexual jokes. Most women endure these forms of harassment at work. It is often only when the behaviour escalates to unwanted touching, physical contact or propositions for sexual relations that they recognise it as abuse and find themselves facing a painful choice between keeping their jobs and leaving. Because they have no effective means of proving the harassment, women who experience sexual assault or rape often conceal what happened. Even those most determined to resist may ultimately settle for resigning from their jobs without ever revealing the abuse they endured.
In the absence of trade unions and protective legislation against workplace sexual harassment, the only remaining means of confronting this situation is to raise awareness. Women workers need to become familiar with the different forms of sexual violence that can occur at work and feel able to speak about the abuse they experience without fear, allowing society as a whole to begin discussing the problem openly. Once an issue ceases to be treated as a private matter and becomes part of public debate, an important step has been taken towards demanding legislative change through collective civic pressure. Only then, perhaps, can workers, particularly women, become more aware of their rights and take firmer steps towards confronting inequality.