Workplace is basically a location where a person works, performs his or her duties and tries to give their best to get good results and to improve themselves as human beings.
So a workplace needs to be a safe and secure place for the employees to work. But if it gets unsafe and not fit for performing the duties then it’s obviously a red sign. And in India work is worship and therefore is considered next to God. So it needs to be a place where a person is secured and is free in performing their duties.
But that’s not the case in the Contemporary times. As the cases of harassment against women at the workplace are the perfect evidence of it.
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Women are the ones which are most affected by sexual harassment at workplace. They have to face harassment at the workplace by their male employees which makes the place more unsafe for them to work.
Indian female wrestlers – woman harassment case
One of the heated news in the present media is related to Sexual harassment only. And that news of which we all are well aware is about the Indian female wrestlers who are protesting against chief of Wrestling federation of India Brij Bhushan who has been alleged of sexually harassing six female wrestlers.
The wrestlers are protesting against the ill treatment and very popular wrestlers of our country whose names are not at all new to us like Sakshi Malik (Rio Olympics bronze medalist), Vinesh Phogat (Gold medalist at Commonwealth and Asian games) and Bajrang Punia (Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist) have come in support of the female wrestlers. These athletes have made us proud at the international level and at the global stage and now they are being ill treated and are being beaten up by the police officials for protesting. And since January this protest is going on but no positive sign can be seen. Although the accused Brij Bhushan was stripped of all the duties but then also the new WFI chief Sanjay Singh who was backed by Brij Bhushan was made the chief. At least they need to be heard by the Government officials and respected for their work rather than just getting beaten at roads which is very shameful and full of disgust.
And after this what happened is not good news to hear as Our exceptional and honorable wrestlers Sakshi Amlik and Vinesh Phogat announced their retirement from the sport. The players which have so much potential and the ability to bring honors to our country have to suffer like this because of sexual harassment. And Bajrang Punia also returned his Padma shri in the support of the female wrestlers. And all this is not at all good news for our country.
Therefore, Workplace should be a place where every person should have the right to equality as mentioned in Article 15 of our constitution, they need to have the right to freedom to work and have equal opportunities in public and private institutions which is mentioned in the Article 19 of our constitution and most importantly the Right to life and liberty which is mentioned in Article 21 of our constitution. As we know that women face discrimination everywhere (social , political and economic spheres).
What is sexual harassment?
The term Sexual harassment at workplace is a bit vague term and has different meanings and definitions at international and national levels. But in a general sense it is considered as an unwelcomed , sexual behavior or any unwelcome sexual conduct and is not just about sex. It is more subjective in nature.
In India there was a case in the year 1992 of Bhanwari Devi which paved the way for a law of sexual harassment at workplace and led to the implementation of an Act called The Sexual harassment of women at workplace(prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act 2013 which superseded the Vishaka Guidelines.
So let’s understand it in a bit detail to get the whole picture about it so that we can be an aware citizen of this country.
The Sexual harassment of women at workplace(prevention, prohibition and redressal) Act 2013
This act is also known as The POSH act which came into effect in 2013 when the government thought that it was a necessity to have such a law for women safety after the Nirbhaya case about which we are all well aware.
But this act has more story to it which we’ll understand in the coming paragraphs.
The cases of sexual harassment at workplace have been prevalent everywhere. But it took a serious turn in our country after The Vishaka vs state of Rajasthan (1997). In this case a woman named Bhanwari Devi, who was part of the project of Rajasthan’s government on women development project.
I’m the year 1992 she was working for the campaign of the Rajasthan government against child marriage or underage marriage.
But there was a case of undercarriage of a girl in the village so Bhanwari Devi raised her voice against it and made efforts to stop the marriage but all her efforts were vain as she was not able to do anything even though the police officials went to the accused family’s house but it didn’t reap any benefit. And in retribution the five male members of that family gang raped Bhanwari Devi.
Even the police officials were not at all supportive and tried to delay the filing of FIR and the medical checkup was also postponed in that matter.
But Bhanwari Devi didn’t lose hope and filed a case but the accused family was saved by the help of the local MLA Dhanraj Meena.
Even after all this she gathered the courage and various women organizations supported her and filed a PIL against the accused in the Supreme Court.
And the Supreme Court gave some guidelines which were known as the Vishaka Guidelines as it was the name of the organization that filed the PIL. And the present POSH act is based on these guidelines.
The Supreme Court explained and gave the definition of sexual harassment at workplace an the following way..
So sexual harassment basically includes any one or more behavior( whether directly or indirectly )-
- Physical Contact or advances
- Demand for sexual favors
- Showing pornography
- Use of sexually verbal words
Then the Supreme Court gave some guidelines that needed to be followed to prevent such kind of harassment .
But before that we need to understand the areas or organizations which would be considered as Workplace.
And these are:-
- Any organizations, department which is established, controlled wholly or partially by the Government or local authority
- Any private organization or sector privately-owned
- Hospitals and clinics
- Any sports Organization or stadium
- Domestic work related places
So these are some examples of a workplace.
Now let’s talk about the actions which need to taken when a case related to sexual harassment at workplace takes place.
Firstly, when the workplace has 10 or more than 10 employees in an organization then there is a need for an internal committee to be set up and one half members for the committee should be women . The presiding officer of the committee should be a woman employed at a senior level.
And at least two members in the committee should be from an organization that works for the cause of women. And at least 2 members of that organization or company in which the victim has faced harassment.
Proper facilities and resources need to be provided to the committee so that they can function properly and provide justice to the victim. The women should be given help to file an FIR under the new criminal procedures and could also file an online FIR for the same if they are not comfortable in going physically to the police station.
A local committee needs to be formed at district levels for the people who face such acts in domestic work or any other workplace which is unorganized and would have a nodal officer to whom one can file her complaint.
And it needs to be ensured that there should be a safe working environment at the workplace. Workshops need to be organized and awareness camps should be conducted to spread awareness and empower women and educate them so that they are able to use their rights effectively.
In all these ways the safety of women can be ensured in a workplace. But the loopholes need to be addressed like if the environment at the workplace is insensitive and not responsible then this act would be a mere piece of paper and nothing more.
The women themselves should be vigilant and careful in their outlook and should fight the socio, cultural, political and economic barriers which come their way. Because women need to stand for their rights, they need to be confident in themselves and therefore should raise their voice against the wrong. And the male counterparts should also be supportive and helpful as that would help in smooth transition of things.
And most of all the social conditioning plays a major role in reducing such cases of sexual assault and harassment. We need to build a society which respects each gender and considers them equal rather than seeing them as two different beings as it leads to disparity and differential treatment and therefore leads to issues like sexual harassment, violence, and many more.
FAQ- Sexual harassment of women at workplace
What is considered sexual harassment at workplace?
Sexual harassment at workplace is basically the physical or verbal behavior that is inappropriate and sexual in nature.
What needs to be done to prevent sexual harassment at workplace?
We should be physically and mentally aware about our surroundings and should know our legal rights.
