Cultural mores have come to the fore in the ongoing case of sexual harassment against Eastern Cape Judge President Selby Mbenenge, with his advocate arguing that they needed to be considered when evaluating amorous advances.
In response to testimony from Dr Lisa Vetten, a leading authority on gender violence, Adv Muzi Sikhakhane argued that “pleading” and “persistence” were part of courtship rituals in some cultures. Dr Vetten had said that continuing advances constituted harassment.
Adv Sikhakhane responded: “I’m saying when you are not aware of particular cultural notions, you can miss, in language, a discussion between two people of a particular culture if your interpretation comes from a position of ignorance of their cultural exchange.”
It would be possible, he said, for someone with a particular cultural orientation to assume that all behaviour was universal. It would be “inaccurate” to evaluate behaviour through an alien cultural lens.
Dr Vetten shot back that while this may be the case in personal interactions, it did not apply to the workplace, where such behaviour was inappropriate.