It’s 9:00pm on a Friday night at a Kigali uptown bar. Patrons slowly stream in for the customary Friday night out to usher in the weekend. A team of attendants is just beginning work, ushering in clients with pleasantries, showing them to their seats, serving them and refilling their glasses.

Noticeable is that out of the close to ten attendants, nine are females and the only gentleman doesn’t walk past the counter where he operates from as a supervisor. For the ladies, despite the chilly evening, they are dressed to impress. Skirts just above the knee or tight pants, and short-sleeved shirts with a button or two popped.

A keen observer would notice that in between looking at their drinks, the television set on the wall and their mates at the table, guests (especially males) are occasionally glancing at the ladies attending to them. There are no rewards for guessing what is going on in their minds.

This kind of scenario brings to mind concerns during a recent meeting organised by the Private Sector Federation, and Chamber of Tourism in partnership with Gender Monitoring Office to chart ways of enhancing gender equality in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Despite the growth of the sector in recent years in terms of quality, professionalism and input into the economy, there are emerging concerns of sexual abuse experienced by females working in the sector.

A documentary aired at the meeting revealed challenges experienced by females in the hospitality sector that included sexual harassment, ranging from unwelcome verbal remarks to inappropriate touching by clients.

An Investigation by Women Today revealed that the situation is more common in bars, with late night workers constituting the largest number of victims.

Yvonne Nirere works as a waitress in one of the bars in Kigali; she says that working as a service provider in a bar is one of the most trying jobs.

Nirere says that the fact that one has to work till the wee hours of the morning is challenging enough, but then there’s the issue of serving customers who are disrespectful.

Not that it happens all the time, but sometimes when some clients get drunk, they tend to lose control and in the end, do unspeakable things which are demeaning, Nirere says.

"When some clients get drunk, they want to touch your body,but you have to deal with them in a polite way or else you could lose your job. I can’t say that I have ever encountered an extremely trying experience because my work place has security measures in place, but still the touching humiliates us.

"For some customers, if you decline their requests they attack you verbally and call you all sorts of names which is embarrassing,” Nirere says.

She adds that she understands that this kind of behaviour comes with the territory, but she wishes people would understand that they deserve some dignity too. 

"They should exercise self-control instead of waiting to be limited or punished by the law,” Nirere says.

According to the Rwanda National Police spokesperson Celestin Twahirwa, cases of sexual assault are rarely reported to the Police.

"We receive cases of sexual assault but this happens on a rare basis, that’s why there are campaigns that are being carried out so that more awareness is created and we hope that after that, people will have the courage to come out to report such cases,” Twahirwa says.

The campaigns are done in line with the fight against gender-based violence (GBV); different stakeholders are involved in the fight; for instance the Gender Monitoring Office, Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion, and Police, among others. 

Innocent Mugabo (not real name), a hotel owner, says that among his employees, no ‘serious issue’ has ever been reported regarding sexual assault and that the minor incidences that happened were dealt with amicably.

"Of course there are some instances where misunderstandings arise between a patron and a waitress, but this mostly happens when the former is drunk, and we always find a way of dealing with that,” Mugabo says.

He explains that if a serious situation is reported, they deal with it accordingly because they have security. But otherwise, cases that arise are normally misunderstandings over bills and other service related issues.

Mugabo recommends that there should be sensitisation of people to know acts of sexual assault, however minor, and the fact that they are punishable by the law. 

Belise Kariza, Chief Tourism Officer at Rwanda Development Board, points out that different stakeholders are working together to prevent more cases of sexual assault from arising.

"The first step we are taking is creating awareness because sexual harassment is a matter that should be taken seriously.Right now the cases we have are not that many and they have been handled amicably,” Kariza says.

Kariza adds that measures to help victims are being put in place so that the issue is curbed before it gets too serious. "It’s not a big issue right now, that’s why there’s need to create awareness earlier rather than deal with the problem after it becomes bigger.”

Most people prefer their drinks, whether in a local bar or a swanky hotel, served by ladies. They are warm, have nice smiles and are likely to ask how our day was. However, rarely do we pay attention to the occupational hazards they are exposed to. Rarely do we know that there are individuals who prey over them while they are at work. If they are to keep pouring drinks, asking how our day was and building the service sector in the process, then we should address issues that could hold back their productivity and taint the image of the sector.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw