AWARE'S recent report on sexual harassment in the workplace brought back a rush of memories. I was the subject of unwanted attention, one bordering on the obscene at my previous workplaces. When the topic was raised among my women friends, four had their own stories to share. Only one reported it to her superior while the rest shared their anguish with friends and some with family members.

Our experiences matched some of the findings in the report released by advocacy group Aware, that it remains a hidden problem that affects mostly those under 30. Of 500 people surveyed, over 54 per cent had experienced some form of sexual harassment at the workplace. What was interesting was that 52 men also were subject to sexual harassment at work. For both women and men, overwhelmingly, the harasser was from the opposite sex. But 3.3 per cent of women and 17.3 per cent of men said they were harassed by someone of the same sex.

A check with Singapore Telecommunications, the three local banks plus major financial institutions here found that all have policies in place which give staff the right to be free from harassment, sexual or otherwise, and not just in the workplace. Some of the policies go further, extending to external relationships such as with vendors and customers.

'The policy also states that harassment is unacceptable in the workplace itself or in any other work-related setting, including during business travel and at meetings or business related social events,' said Niki Kesoglou, Credit Suisse, director and regional head of diversity and inclusion, Asia Pacific.

These organisations also said they have mechanisms to handle harassment, and any report is given the highest priority. DBS Bank, United Overseas Bank and OCBC Bank said they have policies in place for staff to report such incidents directly to top management, without fear of reprisal. They added that such reports are treated in strictest confidence and handled with the utmost urgency.

The positive response from these big companies was expected, but what of others here?

Aware said that it had contacted 92 organisations in Singapore to ask about their policies concerning sexual harassment at work and only seven responded. Six of the seven were multinationals including Singapore Airlines and one is government agency, IE Singapore. At a forum organised by Aware to discuss the report, what came across is that sexual harassment in the workplace hardly gets an airing because there are no specific laws to deal with it and because of the indifferent attitudes of senior management, who are usually mainly men.

Lawyer Halijah Mohamad explained that it is very difficult to bring up charges when under the law as it stands, sexual harassment is not recognised as a distinct legal wrong. In Asia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and the Philippines have passed sexual harassment laws.

Companies here may not want to wait until the government acts. They could find it in their interest to have policies against sexual harassment in place and make them known to all staff. As Singapore companies widen their reach regionally and internationally, misbehaviour by staff could be costly.

Infosys, India's second largest computer services company in 2003 paid US$3 million in an out-of-court settlement in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company's former board member Phaneesh Murthy, who was based in the United States. In 2006, Toyota faced a US$190 million lawsuit from employee Sayaka Kobayashi who accused the carmaker's top executive in North America of sexually harassing her while other Toyota executives failed to act on her complaints.

Companies with enlightened workplace practices will also find it easier to attract talented young people, which is critical in Singapore's labour-tight environment.