I know you don’t mean any harm by it and it’s just your way of being friendly, but it makes me and a bunch of other people we work with really uncomfortable. You don’t need to run your hand across my shoulders or waist when you first come in for the day, you don’t need to grab my wrist to get my attention, and you don’t need to give my arm a squeeze when you leave. I know it’s probably a cultural thing and I’ve been called a racist for bringing it up, but I don’t like people being in my personal space or having people other than close family or friends touch me. I’ve had bad, BAD experiences in the past and given all the talk about unwanted touching and consent and so on over the past couple years I would’ve figured it would be common knowledge that randomly touching people and getting in their space is a huge no-no. Please just stop.
—Is it so weird to not want people touching you?
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2019.
WTF! Why would you be called racist for voicing a concern that has nothing to do with culture?!
Yeeeah, using the “it’s just the culture” argument to justify things that make people uncomfortable is not cool. OB, if you don’t want someone touching you, regardless of their skin colour/home country/wtf-ever, you are the one in the right and you have every right to tell them to fuck off. If that offends them, too fucking bad; it’s your personal space and they shouldn’t be getting in it without your permission.
You need to tell this person directly that their touching is unwanted. It is never OK to touch someone without their permission, especially in a workplace.
If they persist after you have communicated your objection, this is called sexual harassment and there are avenues to deal with this.
Speak up.
Good luck
Fuck putting up with that crap. He should be told directly: ‘Hands Off.’ and, if he doesn’t comply, take it to HR or Human Rights Commission. This is NOT OK for Mr. Grabby to do, no matter what his culture. Someone has to say something, ffs, not suffer in silence. Women need to become warriors and fight for their personal space.
She speaks up and she gets fired. Been there, tried that. Find a new job is my best advice. #JustSayin