Cheragh academy, public education for the workplace without sexual harassment

Sexual harassment continues to be a taboo topic in Iran. Women and men are afraid to talk about it because they fear being accused of being sexually inappropriate and violating Zana, an Islamic law that punishes unlawful sexual intercourse. Most importantly, there is not a single law in Iran that protects workers from sexual harassment in the workplace. Even when they are willing to speak out against their abusers and face social justice in their communities, Iranian women literally have nowhere to go.

Cheragh Academy wants to make sexual harassment a safe topic of conversation in Iran. First and foremost, it provides free online courses to people who have been, or may one day be victims of sexual harassment. All the courses are free and participants receive a certificate of completion upon finishing a course. The certificate is issued by Cheragh Academy and Project WHEN, a nonprofit organization focused on research and implementable solutions related to workplace harassment, including sexual and physical harassment.

Cheragh Academy also creates educational content and materials and publishes them on their website as stories. Over one hundred stories written by experts in the field have already been published. Finally, Cheragh Academy uses social media to encourage Iranians to talk about this taboo topic, to inspire and pressure employers to create safe workplaces free from harassment and to encourage politicians to create new laws that protect workers and especially women.

In less than one year after its launch, Cheragh Academy has seen over 26,000 unique website visitors, over 600 course participants and over 16,000 engaged followers on social media.