What is Sexual Harassment at Workplace?

Women in India has been victim of discrimination from considerable period, after the Vedic period women has been continuously suffering this discrimination in every class like in religion, education, race and profession and as our Constitution provides that every one is equal in before the law and must be equally provided by the law^[1] and there should no discrimination on the basis of gender, caste, religion and race^[2], but even after these provisions women has to face a very big challenge that is sexual harassment at work place.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace:

Any act which or behaviour (whether directly or by implication) namely, physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, making sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature^[3] these acts can be defined as sexual harassment at work place and often this offence is faced by the women in the work place.

Due to this harassment women do not feel safe in the workplace and it violates the fundamental right of the women which is given under Article 19(1)(g) of the Indian Constitution^[4] that is freedom to practice profession, employment, occupation, trade and business.

The EEOC^[5] has defined sexual harassment in its guidelines as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

· Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, or

· Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or

 · Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Guideline to Prevent Sexual Harassment at Workplace:

To prevent sexual harassment of women at work place Supreme Court has passed guidelines in a lank mark case named as Vaisakha v. State of Rajasthan^[6]  in this case 16-year women was victim of sexual harassment at workplace this case basically addresses the gender-based discrimination in India and some guideline were provided to protect women from this kind of discrimination.

The government of India specifically Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE) has played an important role to prevent the sexual harassment at workplace and to provide women equal access to equitable treatment and opportunity in employment and to do that it transfers this responsibility to Tripartite Inter-ministerial Task Force on Gender Equality at the Workplace in its second meeting on 15 March 2012.

In response labour commissioner and Internal Complaint Committee on the prevention and redress of sexual harassment at the workplace were developed based on the Vaisakha Guidelines with ILO support. Upon the enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013^[7]

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013:

A guideline was passed with the object of providing women equal access and opportunity to women and to prevent society from Sexual harassment at workplace^[8] and to do that legislature passed a law with the intent to provide equal opportunity to women to get employed and to work as equal as men.

The legislative progress of the Act was a long process where the Bill was first introduced by women and child development minister Krishna Tirath in 2007 and approved by the Union Cabinet in January 2010. It was tabled in the Lok Sabha in December 2010 and referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resources Development. The committee’s report was published on 30 November 2011^[9]. In May 2012, the Union Cabinet approved an amendment to include domestic workers. The amended Bill was finally passed by the Lok Sabha on 3 September 2012. The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Indian Parliament) on 26 February 2013. It received the assent of the President of India and was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section-1, dated 23 April 2013 as Act No. 14 of 2013^[10].

As there is no mechanism to calculate that there must be at least a remotely amount of sexual harassment to complain anyone can complain regarding the matter as per Supreme Court if any woman feels that she has been facing the sexual harassment at work place she has right to complain and no committee cannot disregard on the basis of the amount of sexual harassment faced by the women^[11].

So, women have right to calm for their equality and no one can determine the amount of harassment which she has to suffer even slightest harassment regarding sexual harassment but the sexual harassment at workplace will not be tolerated when it comes to the protection of women.

Case Studies on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace:

India has a huge history of sex discrimination, but occupation was not behind in anyway funny thing is even the education system, which is supposed to be providing the next generation the qualification and education.

For the protection of women in these cases their identity remains undeclared as and remains within the books so that the women can keep her life straight and get her life without being defamed and does not affect her professional life as well.

As Supreme Court held in a case that cases of sexual harassment at work place is a very sensitive case in nature, it is not just the matter of humiliation it also includes the health and safety problems and if a woman has filed a complaint regarding this matter the preventing measures must be taken as soon as it seems that there is the existence of the risk of sexual offences at work place^[12].

Conclusion:

As India is a country where women must be treated with respect along with equal protection and equal opportunities as the men in the society and we cannot deny that women are not getting both neither equal treatment or nor equal opportunity and one of the biggest reasons is the Sexual Harassment at the work place.

The well known and lank mark of the sexual harassment at workplace is Vaisakha V. State of Rajasthan^[13] in this case 16-year women were harassed at work place and Supreme Court Declared some guidelines for the presentation of the women from the sexual harassment at workplace and on 26 February 2013 legislature passed a bill called “The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013”.

The guidelines which were passed in the case of Vaisakha V. State of Rajasthan they all were covered by the legislature on the law calling The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

[1] Article 14 of the India Constitution.
[2] Article 15 of India Constitution.
[3] Section 2(n) of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
[4] Vaisakha v. State of Rajasthan (1997). SCC
[5] Source link.
[6] AIR SC. 1997
[7] ILO.org
[8] Preamble of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
[9] The Telegraph (Calcutta) (18 April 2012). “Watch what you say“. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
[10] Source Link.
[11]Sri Subrata Kumar Choudhury vs State Bank of India & Ors on 3 September, 2008.
[12] Apparel Export promotion Council V. A.K Chopra, (1991) 1 SCC 739.
[13] AIR 1997 SCC.