UNDERSTANDING FOSTERS EMPATHY. EMPATHY FOSTERS CHANGE.
Preventing harassment requires that people understand themselves in order to understand others.
I started teaching about sexual harassment to adults and teens in Austin TX out of Planned Parenthood’s Education Department in 1994.
The thing about sexual harassment, and every other form of harassment, is that it’s born of social inequity. That’s not easy to teach, even to non-profit service organizations. But after, well, a long time in this field, I have developed practices and training that connects staff at every level, creates understanding of how we are all affected by inequality, and cultivates empathy. Which culminates in change.
Empathy is misunderstood. It relies more on logic than feelings. Intuitive empathy is rooted more in unconscious beliefs, such as stereotypes, while logical empathy is the result of slowing down to think, remember, and relate. Knowledge - and understanding - of others’ circumstances is the foundation for empathy.
And of course we use new media to facilitate enhanced understanding.
Hashtags aren’t enough.
It’s not enough to tell people what not to do; real prevention starts with understanding.
Prevention is a science, and our behavior-science-based learning and development programs help agencies and staff better understand the fundamentals of sexual, cultural, and other forms of harassment. This helps staff discover aspects of their own experiences, and how those experiences inform the ways they relate to others.
Understanding is the first step toward cultivating workplace culture.
Read more here about the importance of teaching the fundamentals of harassment to effect real change. That takes more than just do and don’t, EEOC guidelines and company policies.