114% Potential ROI as ABSA CIB Builds Awareness, Confidence and Allyship Around Sexual Harassment.
increase in participants’ understanding of the ‘grey areas’ in sexual harassment.
+34%
increase in belief in personal power to interrupt sexual harassment in the workplace.
+16%
114%
potential ROI calculated for the pilot, based on conservative assumptions around the cost of prevented sexual harassment cases calculated using our Sexual Harassment Cost Calculator which measures the cost of harassment on workplace and team cultures.
Run to the Monster Building The Skills To Change Culture
Increase in participants’ understanding of the ‘grey areas’ in sexual harassment, the strongest shift in the dataset.
+34%
Increase in comfort discussing workplace boundaries in a normal, low-stakes way, supporting more open day-to-day dialogue.
+17%
Increase in belief in personal power to interrupt harassment and bullying in the workplace.
+16%
Programme retention from beginning to end, showing strong sustained engagement across the pilot.
+73%
Case Study Details
The Line is a 5-episode programme designed to foster greater awareness and action around sexual harassment, harassment and bullying in the workplace. ABSA CIB ran a group of approximately 200 employees through the programme. Sessions were structured as 60-minute facilitated experiences, where participants watched the content together and then engaged in guided discussion with a Run to the Monster facilitator. Participants were also invited to complete both pre- and post-programme surveys to measure change.
Key Insights
The Line appears to have made a meaningful contribution to both awareness and practical confidence within ABSA CIB. The programme drove measurable shifts in how participants understood harassment, how comfortable they felt discussing boundaries, and how empowered they felt to challenge or interrupt harmful behaviour.
The strongest gains were in understanding grey-area harassment, interpersonal action and allyship, while the broader findings also suggest early movement towards more open workplace discourse.
Four Key Insight Blocks
1. A major shift in understanding the ‘grey areas’
+34%
Participants showed a +34% increase in understanding what is meant by the ‘grey areas’ of sexual harassment, making this the strongest movement in the dataset.
Our programme helped clarify an area of conduct that is often misunderstood or overlooked, giving participants a more nuanced understanding of inappropriate workplace behaviour.
2. Greater comfort with boundaries and everyday conversations
+17%
23.6% to 12.2%
increase in comfort discussing workplace boundaries in a normal, low-stakes way.
Negative responses dropped from 23.6% to 12.2%, suggesting a meaningful reduction in discomfort around these conversations.
Our programme did not only build knowledge. It appears to have helped normalise everyday conversations about boundaries, which is a critical part of building psychological safety and a more open team culture.
3. Stronger personal agency and confidence to intervene
+16%
The programme delivered a +16.1% increase in participants believing they have the power to interrupt harassment.
+16%
As well as a +15.8% increase in confidence to challenge behaviour that crosses their own line.
+12%
Confidence in challenging behaviour crossing someone else’s line also increased by +12%.
Participants left feeling more able to act, not just more aware. This points to a meaningful shift from passive recognition towards personal agency and early bystander confidence.
4. Strong engagement, with visible momentum for scale
73%
10 / 11
61%
The programme achieved 73% retention from beginning to end.
Across the impact data, 10 out of 11 questions showed positive change and 6 questions showed double-digit improvements.
of participants noticed a positive change in workplace discourse, such as increased conversation or openness around harassment topics.
Participants engaged with the programme, experienced measurable shifts, and began to notice change in workplace conversation and openness.
Estimated ROI
Using conservative assumptions, the pilot produced a potential 114% ROI. The calculation assumed that in the Week 5 participant group of 162 people, 113 were women, and used an even more conservative estimate that 5 women in that group could experience sexual harassment in the next 12 months. Based on a low-end estimated cost of R305,000 per case, the possible cost saving was calculated at R1,500,000, against the programme cost.
Learn More About The Line
The Line
Sexual Harassment
Our specialised sexual harassment programme shifts behaviour by taking training beyond legal compliance and toward genuine culture change. By focusing on boundaries, respect, and intervention, we help organisations draw a clear line that protects every employee’s dignity and safety.
