Sexual Harassment: Story from Researcher from Africa

23 November 2022

I was a Junior Researcher in a health organization and loved what I did. I got along with my boss fine and found him to be a respectful gentleman. He has a wife and kids and is well respected. Then an opening for a senior role came up, and I asked him if I could apply. He told me to go ahead and I became one of two finalists for the position. During that time, his behavior towards me began to change. He began to give me compliments about my appearance and about my work, asking me to stay longer at the office with him, and looking at me inappropriately. 

One day, he told me jokingly that if I didn’t smile more and take care of him better he would find someone who would. The following week, he told me that I needed to accompany him for a night out in Nairobi. At this point, I said no. He replied, “How can we work together with this attitude of yours? It means you don’t want your promotion that much, which I can give you in five minutes.” I still said no. 

After a couple of days, he informed me that I didn’t qualify for the role and told me that I had performed poorly over the past couple of months.