The Liberia Agricultural Company (LAC) has expanded its efforts to prevent sexual harassment and abuse beyond its workplaces, taking awareness activities into company camps, schools and surrounding communities across its concession.
The initiative, being implemented through the SPEAK UP Project with funding from LAC and implementation support from BridgePath International, is targeting 83 LAC camps and 43 surrounding communities, with more than 4,000 residents, workers and students expected to benefit.
The campaign comes amid growing emphasis on the need for stronger community-level awareness of sexual harassment, accessible reporting channels and protection for people who come forward with complaints.
On Monday, August 31, LAC management renewed its call for community participation as activities under the project entered a broader implementation phase.
The program is using focus group discussions, town hall meetings and person-to-person awareness sessions to engage workers, students, families and residents on sexual harassment and abuse.
The sessions are intended to help participants understand what constitutes sexual harassment, recognize inappropriate conduct and identify mechanisms for reporting concerns and seeking support.
A major part of the initiative is the training of community focal persons who will serve as contact points for individuals seeking information, reporting concerns or accessing available support services.
The project also covers safeguarding, prevention education and efforts to strengthen reporting mechanisms within communities around the company’s concession.
LAC General Manager Naveen Madan and members of the management team have backed the campaign, emphasizing prevention and the need for safer environments for workers, students, families and surrounding communities.
The company has also been building on gender committees established over the past two years to address gender-related concerns and strengthen follow-up on sexual harassment issues.
However, the broader reach of the campaign also puts attention on whether awareness efforts can translate into effective action when allegations are made.
For residents and workers to report harassment, they must not only know where to report but also have confidence that complaints will be handled confidentially, fairly and without retaliation.
BridgePath International’s work under the SPEAK UP Project includes awareness raising, prevention education, training community focal persons, safeguarding and survivor-sensitive support.
With the campaign now reaching dozens of camps, schools and communities, its impact will depend largely on whether people become more willing and able to report incidents and whether established mechanisms respond effectively to those complaints.
The initiative represents a shift from addressing sexual harassment solely through workplace policies toward engaging the wider communities in which LAC workers and their families live.
