‘When he turns his back to me, I give him the finger’: sexual violations in work environments and women’s world-making capacities

ABSTRACT

In this article, we draw on 604 anonymous MeToo testimonies published in Iceland by women in different work sectors. Our main analytical focus is on women’s embodied experiences of sexual violations in the workplace, with an aim to explore how they tackle those violations. We use reflexive thematic analysis, and our first theme demonstrates how the women’s world and world-making capacities are perceived as shrinking as a result of harassment. This affects both their bodies and minds to the extent that they doubt their own judgment and grasp of reality. The violent acts become part of their psyche and leave them trapped in time and place. The second theme, workaround tactics for protecting their world-making capacities, describes how women seize opportunities to flag their agency even when they cannot change patriarchal strategies. The testimonies show how common and widespread women’s experiences of sexual violations are and thus call for a changed world order where men’s entitlement to women’s bodies and time in the work environment is removed.

KEYWORDS:

• MeToo
• sexual violations
• work relations
• tactics
• world-making capacities

Acknowledgments

Authors names are arranged in alphabetical order. We use multiple ‘first’ authors practice in this study. Both authors have contributed equally to the ideas of the paper, design of the study, data collection and analysis, writings, and the discussion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir

Dr. Gyða Margrét Pétursdóttir is a Professor of Gender Studies in the Faculty of Political Science, University of Iceland. Her main areas of expertise are femininities, masculinities, gender relations, gender-based violence, work cultures, higher education, and family responsibility. She is a member of the board of Stígamót, Education and Counseling Center for Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Violence.

Annadis Greta Rúdólfsdóttir

Dr. Annadís Greta Rúdólfsdóttir is an Associate Professor in Research Methodology in the Faculty of Education and Diversity, University of Iceland. She specializes in qualitative research methods. In her research she has focused on constructions of gender, youth, motherhood, and young feminist movements.