Kingston, 3 March 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has said the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and the University of the West Indies Open Campus on Sexual Harassment Training and Research is an important effort on the part of the Ministry “to give full life to the anti-Sexual Harassment legislation.”

Minister Grange was giving the main address at the signing ceremony for the MOU held at the Regional Headquarters of the UWI on February 28.

It is being implemented through the Ministry’s Bureau of Gender Affairs and the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute (HSLSI) of the UWIOC.

The HSLSI will provide special training through the BGA in such areas as sexual harassment, workplace bullying, emotional intelligence, labour laws, grievance handling and good industrial relations practice.

The BGA will be invited to coordinate the general training programmes conducted by the HSLSI and to ensure participants attendance at forums and lectures.

Minister Grange said: “The main focus of the training will be on prevention. In that regard, we must create the vision of a new Jamaica where respect, tolerance, dignity, and a high self-esteem are seen as the norm for workplace behaviours.
She said the training was important as the Government put in place the legal framework to regulate workplaces to create an environment that is free from sexual harassment. An environment that is governed by comprehensive sexual harassment policies and would ensure immediate and appropriate action to deal with the allegations of sexual harassment when they arise.

“I am confident that this MOU has provided the pathway for us to take a more comprehensive look at what we are facing as a country, and develop our own solutions to overcome the problems,” the Minister said.

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