That all this had occurred within a United Nations agency made things doubly awkward. As the world's guardian of human rights, the U.N. cannot be faulted when it comes to generating words, meetings, and institutions dealing with women's issues. It is not difficult to imagine how things might be done better. U.N. employees need instruction on what the policy against harassment implies for office interactions. There have to be visible procedures for resolving complaints, both formally and informally.
Women have to be helped to believe there is nothing shameful in using such procedures.
And senior management must be held accountable for making the system work. The mystery is why UNDP in Islamabad had not implemented such measures long before December 1997. UNDP in Islamabad is now free of the man who carried out the acts of harassment, but it is also free of the women who would most have appreciated his departure. I asked one of the eleven what women in UNDP would do if they had problems now. I don't think many people have the courage to face constant harassment.