Where alcohol flows freely, sexually inappropriate behaviour lurks. A risk for the hospitality sector, as research from Rutgers Insights centre on sexuality shows that alcohol and drug use is linked to experiencing sexually inappropriate behaviour. According to FNV hospitality, the problem is underestimated and therefore advocates for a reporting point: "Everyone knows that the behaviour currently happening in hospitality is not always okay and at the very least pushes boundaries."
"Every evening something could happen, from a comment to a slap on your bum to more intense things like squeezing your breasts," Brechje Bevers tells AT5. She worked from age 19 to 23 in a pub in Amsterdam and experienced all sorts of things there. Since the broadcast of BOOS about The Voice of Holland, there has been much attention on sexually inappropriate behaviour and questions have flooded into the Centre for Sexual Violence. "We received six times as many questions," says Vera Schüller, network coordinator of the CSG.
Edwin Vlek from FNV hospitality is concerned about the behaviour in the hospitality industry: "It's an unspoken subject. Unwanted behaviour and sexual harassment are not always recognised and acknowledged." From FNV hospitality, he wants to start a reporting point: "To make it as accessible as possible for employees who experience this to report it."
"At first, I laughed it off"
Brechje confirms that this happens more often: "Colleagues experienced it too." She regularly faced sexually charged comments, but sometimes it went further. Like when she was tidying glasses at the bar: "I asked a guy if I could Card, and he turned around and squeezed my breasts." Initially, she laughed it off, but later in the evening, she felt uncomfortable. "I realised I had almost never felt so cornered."
Reporting is difficult
There is currently no reporting point for reporting sexually inappropriate behaviour. However, various organisations offer help and advice. Bevers could have reported it to her manager: "But then I ultimately felt 'What would he do with it?'."
Within the hospitality business, employees can turn to managers or the occupational health doctor. "It's not literally in the contract, but the employer is obliged to inform an employee upon hiring about which occupational health service they are with and which company doctor is available," says Paul Schoormans, policy advisor of Koninklijke hospitality Nederland.
"Tap on the bum"
However, Vlek thinks more is needed because, according to him, there is often a power dynamic, making reporting more difficult; he sees it as a cultural problem in the sector. Last year, FNV hospitality received dozens of reports from employees who experienced sexually inappropriate behaviour: "It ranges from 'oh you have a nice bum' to 'you look good' to a tap on the bum." According to Vlek, both men and women reported to FNV hospitality.
However, Paul Schoormans from Koninklijke hospitality Nederland sees little in such a reporting point. "We are not eager, because again the question is what exactly that contributes and what it prevents." Former hospitality worker Bevers sees another solution: "I would be more in favour of a mandatory confidant within hospitality, who must then report it."
"The biggest problem is the culture and the fear that currently exists on the work floor to report anything at all," says Vlek. By starting a reporting point with FNV hospitality, he hopes to contribute to awareness and prevent inappropriate behaviour: "Every little bit helps."
Source: AT5