Say No to Sexual Harassment

“Arthik tangi ki wajah se hamein ghar ghar ja kar kaam karna pada. APne bachchon ko bhook se rote hue nahi dekha jata tha. Mere pati majdorr hai aur unhe bahut baar kaam nahi milta, isliye maine kaam pe jana shuru kiya. Par ek baar aisa shoshan dekha ki kaam pe jana chod diya. Laga ki izzat se zyada kuch nahi, bhookhe marna hi behtar hai. Aur koi saath dene wala bhi nahi,” (My financial conditions forced me to work as a domestic labour, I could not see my children starving and dying of hunger. My husband works on a construction site and many a times he does not get any work. But, while working as a domestic worker I had to face sexual harassment and that pushed me back to stay back at home as there was no one to support me), with these words Malti (name changed) broke into tears.

Bismitha Das was dumbstruck didn’t know what to do when the CEO of her company asked her, “Are you ‘physically fit’? I want to know how fit you are?” An Office Assistant in a reputed company, Bismitha could easily gauge the intentions of her boss. She tried to raise her voice and reported the matter to the General Manager of the Company, who paid no heed to this issue. But this did not deter her spirit. Bismitha, with the help of the local NGO, lodged a case against the derogatory remark of her CEO and still awaiting the judgement. But she had to pay for her courage and could not continue to work in same environment.

Both of them shared their bitter experiences with the participants of at the Regional Consultations on Sexual Harassment at Workplace held in Lucknow, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar.

Oxfam India in collaboration with Lawyer’s Collective conducted three consultations on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace with the explicit aim of getting feedback on the functioning of the complaints committees and generate opinions from Civil Society Organizations and victims of Sexual harassment about the bill before it is tabled in the parliament. The consultations focused on-

• forms of sexual harassment across public and private sector, formal and informal sectors,
• access to complaints committees, their composition, procedures followed, outcomes, appeals process and consequences to women complainants

Recommendations emerging from the above, which could feed into the new ‘Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Bill’, tabled in December 2010 by the Government and currently pending with the parliamentary standing committee, were also discussed.

Sexual Harassment at Workplace may be described as any “unwelcome sexually determined behaviour such as physical contact, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography or any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.”[1] Whether or not a particular action or behaviour constitutes sexual harassment is determined by the impact on the recipient, and is not dependent upon the intention of the perpetrator.

The Vishakha Guidelines given by the Supreme Court in 1997 mandated all workplaces to form internal complaints committees to address the issue of Sexual Harassment at Workplace. In the last 13 years many workplaces introduced such committees and a few of the committees have been quite active.

In December 2010, the government introduced the new ‘Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Bill’ in an attempt to bring in a law on ‘Sexual Harassment at Workplace’. While a law on this subject is important, this bill has many flaws, primarily because it did not take any civil society inputs on the draft bill.  Chief among the gaps are that it excludes domestic workers from its purview, includes a penalty clause for ‘false’ complaints and does not prescribe a robust mechanism to address complaints.

The Mumbai consultation on Sexual Harassment of women at workplace was organized in collaboration with the University of Mumbai and was well represented by various sections of the civil society, members of complaints committees- from corporate sector, public sector and the government, scholars, academics, advocates and legal experts. 

The strongest considered department, Police, across the country is considered a doubly male work environment due to the fact that less than 5% of the staff is women as ‘masculinities’ among men is often encouraged. Women had experienced forms of harassment such as- having to witness men getting massaged, men undressing and dressing in front of women staff, sharing workplaces with drunk colleagues especially at night and being asked by seniors to come to their place at odd hours to do menial work. In addition they are discouraged from voicing these complaints.

Similarly in the educational institutions students also face similar challenges, especially the Ph.D students. They find it difficult to ward off the advances of their guides, as the entire 4 to 5 years of their work is dependent on certification from their guides. When complaints are made by staff, things often get complicated due to interference from trade union leaders who back male staff without looking into the merits of the case.

Anagha Sarpotdar, a member of complaints committees in several corporate houses reported that most corporate houses and multinationals have not instituted committees to handle cases against sexual harassment citing the fact that Vishakha guidelines are not passed as a law yet.

Advocate Albertina Almeida spoke from the lawyer’s perspective based on her experiences with being part of complaints committees. She reported that procedures of inquiry are not well defined in the Vishakha guidelines and this should be done in the new bill.

For a more detailed report on the Mumbai consultation, click here:

The Lucknow consultation covered a wide range of issues falling in the range of sexual harassment at workplace. Perspective on draft Bill on ‘Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Bill, 2010 (December 7, 2010) was also discussed. Madhu Garg (AIDWA), Mamta (Humsafar) and Geeta (Domestic Workers Union) discussed different nature of sexual harassment that is faced by women at workplace through several cases they intervened in. Prof. Roop Rekha Verma a renowned social activist and chair of the session emphasized on the need of addressing the issue of sexual harassment at workplace separately and not combining it with gender discrimination. She explained that gender discrimination is very comprehensive issue and sexual harassment is a part of it and this is why both need to be dealt and addressed separately. For a more detailed report on the Lucknow consultation, click here.

“There is a lack of awareness of the guidelines set by the Supreme Court as part of the judgement on the Vishakha case both in government and private sectors.” said  Dr. Malini Bhattacharya, former member of the National Women’s Commission and former Chairperson of the Women’s Commission, West Bengal. She also added that the present form of the draft bill will fail to address the concerns of many women in the unorganized and private sector. Dr. Bhattacharya is one of the many prominent panel members present in the consultations. For a more detailed report on the Bhubaneswar consultation, click here.

 Contributed by: Rashmi Kala, Bipasha Majumder and B Divya Syam Sudheer