Grievance procedures for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment at higher education institutions in South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of academic staff relating to the sufficiency of grievance procedures in dealing with complaints of sexual harassment at higher education institutions in South Africa. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 161 academic staff members at different higher education institutions. The Sexual Harassment Questionnaire was administered. The results show a positive correlation between confidence in the grievance procedure, the amount of attention that supervisors pay to grievances, regular feedback to employees regarding the progress of grievances, willingness of supervisors to take decisions, the amount of confidence in supervisors and the effectiveness of the procedure. The reluctance of management to deal with grievances unless they are reported via the grievance procedure was related to the perceived effectiveness of the procedure.