Sexual Harassment at Workplace in India

Sexual Harassment at Workplace

The Ministry of Women and Child Development states the number of cases of sexual harassment in the workplace registered in India increased from 54% from 371 cases in 2014 to 570 in 2017. With improved access to education and employment, many Indian women are entering the country's workforce today. Many working women face sexual harassment at the workplace on a daily basis. It is crucial therefore that as a country, we strive to eliminate work-place sexual harassment since women have the right to work in safe and secure environment. It is the responsibility of every employer to ensure the safety of women in a work environment and improve their participation. This will contribute to the realization of their right to gender equality and result in economic empowerment and inclusive growth and benefit the nation as a whole.

Sexual harassment results in violation of the fundamental rights of a woman to equality as per Articles 14 and 15 and her right to live with dignity as mentioned under Article 21 of the Constitution, the Government of India enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The Act is an extension of the Vishaka Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 1997. The Supreme Court of India, for the first time in the Vishaka Guidelines, acknowledged Sexual Harassment at the workplace as a human rights violation. Further, the Act also reflects the commitment of the Government to the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on July 09, 1993. This new legislation makes every effort to be a user friendly tool in the hands of employers and employees, to create a safe and secure workplace for all women. 

Still sexual harassment is as often as possible ignored in India, even in the age of the "MeToo" movement which saw survivors share their accounts and prompted the destruction of various open figures around the world, in governmental issues, business, media outlets, and beyond.

One must have the option to feel ready to have a sense of security and agreeable in the work environment. Badgering of any representative comprising of any unwelcome explicitly decided conduct, regardless of whether legitimately, in a roundabout way, by any male/female responsible for the administration or a male/female co-worker either separately or in relationship with different people to abuse the sexuality of co-worker to pester him/her in a way which forestalls or weakens his/her full use of full advantages, offices or openings or whatever other conduct which is commonly viewed as injurious. In connection to the working environment, a woman of any age whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment by anyone.

The organizations expects to receive zero resilience frames of mind against any sort of Sexual Harassment or segregation brought about by any representative during their residency, towards some other individual being a worker of Company, Client, Vendor and Contractor in Company premises or somewhere else in India or abroad . 

We have seen there is certain increase of cases, in an IT company which gives maximum opportunity to women workers.

SHe-Box

One of the good initiatives taken by the Ministry of Women & Child Development department is the it has launched Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) - http://www.shebox.nic.in/ - an effort of GoI to provide a single window access to every woman, irrespective of her work status, whether working in organised or unorganised, private or public sector, to facilitate the registration of complaint related to sexual harassment. Any woman facing sexual harassment at workplace can register their complaint through this portal. Once a complaint is submitted to the ‘SHe-Box’, it will be directly sent to the concerned authority having jurisdiction to take action into the matter.

The major challenges which we observe that even the internal complain committees that are set up both in government and private sectors do not have the teeth to act on complaints of sexual harassment. Members of such committees are not aware of the law and are afraid of taking any action against seniors. This was one of the reasons few people coming forward to lodge complaints. There is no government mechanism to make it compulsory for the staff of corporate sector to undergo any training on sexual harassment to make them aware of their rights by government officials.

The risk of viciousness and harassment in the work environment adds to a shortage of female interest in the work power in India, at impressive expense to the economy and to India's socio economic development. Without tending to both sexual harassment and violence and the issues which take into account it to multiply all through the nation, India will keep on observing its socio-economic improvement kept down – and the wellbeing and welfare of its women compromised.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace