Rethinking The Challenge of Women’s Safety at Workplace: Sexual Harassment

The Authors of this blog are Ms. Aakansha Katiyar, 1st-year student, and Ms. Nidhi Sri, third-year student, both pursuing B.A.LL.B (Hons.) from Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida.



                                           

In the workplace, sexual harassment can be described as unwelcome sexual advances or the use of lewd language or lewd acts against a person. The topic of workplace sexual harassment may be perpetrated against men, but it is more of a gender problem that tends to be more serious for women than men. Some of the offenders sexually assault their colleagues not only for the sake of sexual pleasure but also to intimidate the victim and experience dominance. In the workplace, sexual harassment of women seems to be one way for men as an attempt to establish their dominance over women by belligerent behavior. This piece of work focuses and brings the spotlight on the ways through which the incidents of sexual harassment of women can be dealt with.

When # MeToo was set to release as a forest fire, the issue of sexual assault in the workplace gained significant attention. After that, the incidence of sexual assault and sexual misconduct became clearer. For all the attention that these cases of sexual assault received, it represented that this is more about sexual violence against women besides just sexual behavior. Sexual abuse cannot be done in a single manner, but in different ways, it can take place. McDonald defines sexual assault as a 'sledgehammer' type as a single famous act of sexual abuse, it is less obvious as it applies to the 'dripping tap' form, which is just a single case of ordinary daily instances^[1].

There are plausible explanations of why sexual assault incidents do occur. Some of the most important reasons for this are tradition and beliefs, and also the disparity between men and women’s strength and status in our society as a whole.

In India, the way men and women are brought up greatly affects their actions within an organization. Women are still lacking self-confidence due to the way they were socialized and are conditioned to suffer in silence. Whereas men are raised with macho ideals that find females to be a mere toy to play with and these principles are easily taken into the workplace. Such patriarchal views build an environment that allows men to have the freedom of workplace sexual harassment while women remain vulnerable. Women are vulnerable to sexual assault because they lose authority more often, and often work in unsafe positions. Women frequently surrender to their fate because of the fear factor, rather than lift their voice against sexual assault. Nonetheless, this is not the case in any circumstance; there are more and more people in the workplace, schools, and churches being victims of sexual assault. It is shocking to know that people are out there using their power to sexually assault individuals and take advantage of another person's vulnerability. This is usually a teacher bullying a student when it occurs at school. The person with authority in the workplace atmosphere is usually the one who abused the employee. In general, women are the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

Sexual abuse and work-related violence has serious implications for women and their employers. Women who are targets will experience a variety of negative impacts, including physical and mental health problems, work interruptions, and lower earnings. Furthermore, sexual harassment can hinder or prevent women from moving into higher-paying jobs, which can lead to the on-going gender wage gap. It may also intersect with other forms of discrimination and harassment based on gender discrimination based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

Because of this new movement, many personal stories of rage and shame, hidden under years of silence, appeared to mainstream media.The last few years have seen a tidal wave of sexual allegations and complaints against men in professionally influential roles around the globe, and it seems that this flood has now finally reached Indian shores.

Indian Rights Act: Women in Workplace Sexual Harassment (Prevention, Prohibition and Redress) Act, 2013: Root of Vishaka Guidelines:

In 1997 judgment, the Supreme Court set out the Vishaka guidelines which are legally binding, defined sexual harassment and placed three main criteria on the institutions, namely prohibition, prevention, and redress.

Physical contact and advances, sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, A demand or request for sexual favors, Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature. This Act lays down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry and the action to be taken.This requires each employer to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of 10 or more employees at each office or branch. It stipulates the protocols and describes various types of sexual assault.A woman of any age, whether employed or not, can be "alleged to have been subjected to some act of sexual assault," meaning that all women working or visiting some workplace, in any capacity, are covered under the Act. ^[2]

Conclusion

The setting up of complaints committee and anti-sexual harassment policy are strong ways to sexual harassment-free workplaces but effective training programs are also important to train both the male and the female workers in order to make them aware of the sexual harassment and methods to prevent it and procedures to deal with it, in case it happens.These training workshops will educate them that such incidents are just not acceptable and should be treated with great seriousness if it unfortunately happens. This is the best way to make the employees understand it and the policies made to curb such offenses. It will encourage women especially, to come out and report about the incident without any hesitation and stop being a silent sufferer all the time.

It is very clear that various guidelines, Acts, and policies are not at all sufficient to make a workplace free from sexual harassment. This issue of sexual harassment needs something more than just these guidelines and policies. The issue needs understanding, sensitivity, and commitment to not let it happen by all the members of the institution and especially the senior authorities. Only the commitment and action taken by these senior officials against sexual harassment can prevent sexual harassment at the workplace and make it safe and friendly for all the staff members working there. Also, the mentality of the people should be changed in order to prevent women from prey to sexual harassment and sexual assaults.

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[1] Greenfield L. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice; 1997. Sex offenses and offenders. [Google Scholar]

[2] Anubhavi Yadav;"Sexual harassment at workplace: Need to strengthen the Vishaka guidelines",Oct 20,
2019,22:41 ISTThe Supreme accessed on 24th april (https://m.timesofindia.com/city/gurgaon/Administration-
for-strict-implementation-of-Vishaka-Guidelines/articleshow/26654202.cms)