It's time to stop sweeping the issue under the carpet.

When Michelle: turned up for her first day at work, she never expected her job scope as a communications executive to include fending off her boss. The 27- year-old had to deal with his harassment from day one. "He put his hand on my lower back when we entered the lift and stood very close," she recalls. Soon, he was making lewd comments about her frontal assets, exclaiming they were "massive" and attempting to guess her bra size. His bold remarks quickly escalated to clear sexual advances. "He started asking me out and later on, to even sleep with him," she says disgustedly, sharing only a fraction of what her superior did.

She is not alone, 54.4 per cent of the 500 respondents had experienced sexual harassment - defined as any form of verbal, visual or physical attention that is unwanted and unwelcomed by the recipient. Out of the 215 of the 272 harassed, the majority were aged 30 and below. Moreover, 34 per cent of these women also admitted to being repeatedly harassed.

These statistics connote that sexual harassment in the workplace is more prevalent than we think - and something, be it re-evaluating or establishing company policies on sexual harassment or empowering more victims to come forward, has to be done. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Suffering in silence

Since the release of Aware's findings, only four women have sought the association's help to seek redress. Many women still choose to suffer in silence.

The shame of having to admit her situation to her co-workers prevented Michelle from taking action against her boss. She believes these matters can never be handled with complete discretion, and that people will talk behind her back. If she reported the case, she would he exposing herself to the judgment of others. She couldn't deal with that.

Fortunately, the harassment has "died down". Her unmarried boss and in his mid-30s stopped after six months. Michelle thinks he just gave up when he didn't make headway with her. Encounters with him are now "very mild" and he occasionally "playfully" tries to throw balls of paper at her breasts from his cubicle. Despite this, Michelle remains with the company and doesn't intend to report his behaviour.

Breaking the silence, the smarter option?

Stephanie, 24, decided that she couldn't deal with being harassed any longer. She went straight to her Human Resource director after she had to chase away a married senior staff member who turned up at her home one night to look for a document that she didn't even have. This incident took place after two months of his suggestive SMSes. Unwanted remarks about her butt and seemingly harmless offers of a ride home from work.

The result she was advised to drop her case as he (the perpetrator) was up for a promotion. They said he didn't need all this trouble. So the director offered her a transfer instead. "It was unfair! I loved my job and chucking me in another office wasn't a solution to the inherent problem!" She demanded an apology from the senior officer who was harassing her, which came in the form of an ambiguously worded e-mail. "It read something like, `If I have offended you in any way, I am deeply apologetic, but I maintain that it was not my intention." Stephanie wasn't satisfied with the outcome but had to force herself to move on, especially since she wanted to retain her job. The culprit got his promotion, and his wife remains clueless about the incident.

Similarly, Jasmine, in her 30 found the courage to take action against her harasser when she found out that she wasn't his only victim. A female colleague told her that their boss tried to grab and kiss her when they were alone in his car on the way to meet clients. Jasmine faced the same harassment - he tried to hug and kiss her while they were on a flight during a business trip. The women reported him to management but unfortunately, as more than a year had lapsed since Jasmine's experiences, she could only act as witness to her colleague's complaint. "Seemingly sympathetic and supportive" was how she described her company's reaction when they reported the case. "They suspended him, but a few months later, he was re-hired as a consultant," sighs Jasmine.

Although they never worked together again, bumping into him at the office occasionally was just too much for her. Eventually, Jasmine resigned. "I've found a new job and I just want to move on," she says. "It's very sad that there were no policies against sexual harassment in place. I'm worried for the women working there." She believes that if her company had a sexual harassment policy, the case would have been handled better.

What Women Want

Such sentiments are not unique to Jasmine. Many women prefer a job with workplace sexual harassment a policy. Cindy, 31, who works in marketing, says: "Sexual harassment comes in many disguises, and power in the workplace contorts them. With a policy in place, at least clear boundaries are set." "It doesn't matter even if you're the most junior worker. What's important is that having a policy in place safeguards you from being sexually harassed."

However, some said it didn't matter to them if the company had a policy against sexual harassment, giving reasons such as "I know how to protect myself" it is tip to the victim to decide just what constitutes sexual harassment and how to deal with the issue. "What's perceived as sexual harassment may not actually be such. For example, a pat on the back may he construed as a friendly gesture by one person but harassment by another."

Having a policy doesn't mean it is actually enforced but the lack of it doesn't mean that the company condones sexual harassment either. We only know how seriously a company treats sexual harassment when something's reported.

What employers have to say?

Some employers' belief that all its employees are entitled to a safe work environment prompted management to set up the company's code of conduct which includes a policy that covers sexual harassment. All forms of harassment, including sexual harassment, are considered serious forms of misconduct and disciplinary action which may include termination or dismissal.

Workplace Sexual Harassment policy was created as part of "ongoing efforts to create a friendly and safe workplace".

Employees are encouraged to inform their respective supervisors when inappropriate behaviour, including sexual harassment, takes place. So that company will take all reports of harassment seriously and will investigate all allegations of misconduct.

Here are what to do if you are on workplace sexual harassment.

1. Tell the harasser to stop his actions, making it clear that the acts are unwelcomed and unwanted.

2. If the harassment continues after you've made a clear request for it to stop, ensure that you keep a written record of all incidents of harassment in detail, including words, gestures, actions, time and place, and witnesses (if any).

3. Make a written report to the human resource department or the management of your company, supported by your written record of the details.

4. Request for an investigation, appropriate disciplinary action and preventive practices.

5. If the harassment involved physical contact or threatening, abusive or insulting words or gestures, make a police report.

6. If the police will not investigate, you may take out a private summons against the harasser. Consult a lawyer or legal clinic to understand the proper procedures and consequences