Bullying

People are often hesitant to make a complaint, why? 

When we talk about bullying, its always easy to tell others to make a complaint and to speak up, however, in reality, there are a plethora of reasons and factors that prevent this. These include but aren't limited to :

• Fear of retaliation : This idea refers to how, the victims fear that by filing a complaint, it will only motivate the bullies to do even more harm to the victim
  
• The idea that nothing will change : This refers to how victims think, nothing will change even after making a complaint due to the lack of faith the victims have towards the establishment.
  
• Lack of support : The lack of emotional or physical support from the environment/workplace can make it hard for victims to come forward
  
• Work culture/Social norms : In some societies and workplaces, victims are convinced that such acts of bullying is the normal, in such environments, it can be difficult to even convince yourself that its a problem.

Is it possible for people who file complaints to be victimized beyond the original incident? How could this happen?

The short answer is YES, victims can sometimes be subject to even more bullying after filing the incident, this can happen because of a variety of reasons, some of which are similar to the reasons mentioned prior such as :

• Retaliation : The bullies can see the complaint as even more of a reason to bully the victim.
• Lack of confidentiality : if the environment does not handle confidentiality in a strict sense, the victim's details may leak, which may lead to the next point.
• Career changes : In the worst case scenario, the leak of details can lead to the victim's reputation being ruined.  

How can organizations and managers ensure their work culture can encourage victims to speak up? 

• Have clear and strict company guidelines : the first step in preventing bullying is to create clear rules to discourage bullying, and ensure that victims are promoted and encouraged to speak up
  
• Monitor the workplace and enforce the guidelines : guidelines is useless unless monitored and enforced, keep a constant lookout for signs of bullying, and when such acts are identified, act accordingly and immediately before it gets worse.
  
• Ensure confidentiality : lastly, ensure that when a complaint is filed, the confidentiality of the victim is secured, otherwise their career may be affected.