Collective Responsibility, Collective Action: Asia Town Hall

Asia Regional Town Hall on Prevention of and Response to Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment in Global Health

Co-sponsors: The Prajnya Trust, WGH India, WGH Bangladesh

Key Takeaways 

• Region-wide collaboration and partnership in tackling sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH), and the need to develop joint initiatives to change unequal gender norms.
• The importance of ensuring Zero Tolerance, and establishing transparent and accountable reporting and investigative mechanisms in every institution.
• The challenges of implementing laws and policies, following their successful establishment. 
• We must strengthen inter-organizations mechanisms to share resources.
• Having an overall and overarching SEAH safeguarding policy that addresses the needs of women, children and other vulnerable segments of the population.
• There are different layers to trafficking and sexual exploitation which makes it a complex situation, especially in a society where it is normalized and accepted
• A multi-sectoral approach should be carried out to challenge norms and address gender equality. 
• The importance of institutional accountability to ensure policies are put in place and implemented. 
• In countries like India, the relatively unregulated private sector should be accounted for when talking about SEAH reform 
• The importance of health rehabilitation that incorporates mental needs beyond physical health

About the event

On 29 November 2022, Women in Global Health hosted its 3rd Regional Town Hall on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) under the theme of “Collective Responsibility and Collective Action.” The event was co-sponsored by the Prajnya Trust, a Chennai-based NGO, and WGH chapters in Bangladesh and India. 

After organizing the CSO Global Town Hall in March 2022,  which highlighted the importance of holding regional conversations, WGH has been working to partner with key stakeholders in different regions to provide regional insights into the challenges and opportunities of ending  SEAH in global health.  The first regional town hall on East and Southern Africa took place on August 17, 2022. The second town hall took place on October 27, 2022, focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean. The last of this series of important regional conversations will be held on December 13, 2022 for the Francophone West Africa Region (registration link). During this town hall, WGH will release the PSEAH policy report, which includes the analysis and results of our #HealthToo campaign. 

The event was moderated by Ms. Anupama Srinivasan, Assistant Director of REACH, an India-based non-profit organization that has worked extensively to ensure gender-responsive TB programming. The event’s opening remarks were delivered by Ms. Ann Keeling, Senior Fellow at Women In Global Health. She started the meeting with a powerful message of action, highlighting the work WGH has been doing to eliminate SEAH in global health including its recent launch of the #HealthToo platform that is currently collecting  SEAH stories from women workers in the health sector. 

The event keynote remark was delivered by Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director WHO South East Asia. Dr. Singh highlighted the work WHO has been doing to tackle SEAH within the organization and beyond. As we commemorate the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, this year’s theme, “Unite, Activism to End Violence Against Women and Girls,” she invited everyone to reaffirm their commitment to eliminate all forms of GBV by 2030, in line with UN SDG 5. Her remarks were about understanding of the importance of region-wide collaboration and partnership in tackling SEAH, and the need to develop joint initiatives to change unequal gender norms.

The second high-level speaker was Ms. Anis Haroon, Member of the National Commission on Human Rights, Government of Pakistan, for the province of Sindh. Ms. Haroon started by highlighting the different types of SEAH and its extensive impact that should not be ignored. She encouraged everyone to speak up, tell the world and break the silence in exposing perpetrators. Ms Harron emphasized the importance of ensuring Zero Tolerance and establishing transparent and accountable reporting and investigative mechanisms in every institution. Her last remark reminded us that every Institution should have a mechanism to ensure there is a redline not to be crossed, and a responsibility to maintain the sanctity of the workplace and the sanity of the workers.

The Keynote speeches were followed by a panel of experts and leaders from diverse related backgrounds who are working tirelessly to prevent and respond to SEAH in the Asian region. 

•  Ms. Veenu Kakkar, Gender Expert, POSH Trainer, and PSEA consultant with UNICEF, addressed the question of the effect of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act in India (POSH) by drawing on her 20 years of experience. She highlighted the challenges of implementing laws and policies, following their successful establishment. She highlighted the significance for having an overall and overarching SEAH safeguarding policy that addresses the needs of women, children and other vulnerable segments of the population. Her main message was to remind us that it is everyone’s responsibility to work against SEAH, and that we all need to own this work. 
• Ms. Sigma Huda, President of the BNWLA and Founder & Secretary of the Institute for Law and Development (ILD), highlighted her 52 years of work experience, and mentioned the difficulty of women speaking up to break the silence in a society where some of the behaviors are culturally accepted. She mentioned the different layers of trafficking and sexual exploitation and the complexity of the situation within households and the family. She underscored the gravity of a multi-sectoral approach that should be carried out to challenge the norms and address gender equality. 
• Ms. Sangeeta Rege, Director of the Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), discussed the status of SEAH in the health sector in India. She compared the public sector to the private sector which is highly unregulated in the context of the existing policies and regulations. After highlighting the challenges of responding to SEAH in the community and institutions, she emphasized the importance of institutional accountability to ensure policies are put in place and implemented. 
• Mrs. Rizza Pamintuan, Administrative Aide IV at Philippine General Hospital-Women’s Desk, shared her experience of managing cases of SEAH in the hospital starting from first contact to providing medical treatment and provision of legal aid. She stressed the importance of a holistic approach in managing cases of SEAH beyond medical treatments. 
• Ms. Arfa Kamal, Communications Manager at HELP Foundation, advocated for a survivor-centered approach that centers the women’s needs and highlighted the importance of health rehabilitation that incorporates mental needs beyond physical health. Ms. Kamal also shared the organization’s experience in the provision of socio-economic rehabilitation that includes vocational training and support to set up businesses. 

The closing remarks were delivered by  Dr. Sabrina Rasheed,co-lead of WGH Bangladesh and public health nutritionist at the Universal Health Coverage Health System and Population Studies Division of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. Dr. Rasheed thanked the speakers and panelists and underscored the importance of similar conversations and actions across various stakeholders to end SEAH in global health.

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