Dear Editor: Baldeosingh knocks Amar’s “#MeToo sales pitch” on workplace sexual harassment

“Clearly, Mr Amar believes there is a significant customer base for the [MeToo] hashtag, since at the launch on Tuesday he stated that sexual violence and harassment are prevalent in T&T.

“In fact, the available data says otherwise, since a 2017 IADB-funded National Women’s Health Survey found that ‘Sexual harassment (at work, on the job, public transport, and virtual spaces) was experienced by 13 percent of women’.”

The following Letter to the Editor on businessman Robert Amar’s launch of a local #MeToo movement was submitted to Wired868 by Kevin Baldeosingh of Freeport:

Businessman Robert Amar’s record shows that he is unusual in corporate T&T in his willingness to invest in innovative ventures, ranging from a locally manufactured vehicle to dancehall artistes. Unfortunately, the record also shows that Amar’s reading of the market has rarely rewarded such initiatives.

It will be interesting to see how his latest venture, which involves marketing through the #MeToo movement, will pay dividends.

Clearly, Mr Amar believes there is a significant customer base for the hashtag, since at the launch on Tuesday he stated that sexual violence and harassment are prevalent in T&T. In fact, the available data says otherwise, since a 2017 IADB-funded National Women’s Health Survey found that “Sexual harassment (at work, on the job, public transport, and virtual spaces) was experienced by 13 percent of women.”

If this is extrapolated to the national population, this totals just over 60,000 out of 463,000 women. In terms of workplace harassment, however, the report found that 2.1 percent of women had been asked to perform sexual acts in order to get or keep their jobs, while 0.4 percent had been asked for sex acts in order to pass a job exam. This works out to over 9,000 women in the first category and just over 1,800 in the second

Is this a sufficient customer base for Amar’s venture to turn a profit? Time will tell.