Rashmi Saksena
The suicide note left behind by young Geetika Sharma, air-hostess turned business executive of a company owned by Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, and an appeal by women advocates to the Supreme Court tell a common tale albeit in different texts. While Geetika’s farewell note makes tragic reading, the action by women advocates is a determined spirited move to address the malaise of sexual harassment at the workplace.
The allegations in Geetika’s suicide note (Kanda has resigned claiming he is innocent) read familiar. Many young beautiful girls, reaching out for success, have talked of a direct and indirect demand for sexual favours by male superiors in return for a job, promotions and wealth. They have simply got trapped in a web, allowing themselves to become victims because they could not say NO at the right time. This could have happened either because they did not know their rights as women in a workplace, or that they opted to play along because they felt there was no other way out. The consequences that follow such unsound decisions are well known.
The women lawyers on the other hand decided to demand their right to gender equality. They sought intervention in an appeal filed by an advocate challenging his conviction on contempt of court charges for allegedly behaving indecently and assaulting a lady colleague in a courtroom. The advocates appealed to the Supreme Court to examine implementation of the guidelines it laid down 15 years ago to protect women against sexual harassment at the workplace. It is indeed ironic that in this case the workplace is the court premises itself!
As of now, the country only has the Supreme Court guidelines, known as the ‘Vishaka’ guidelines, to go by when it comes to complaints by women of sexual harassment at the workplace. Civil and penal laws in the country do not provide adequate and specific protection to victims of sexual harassment at offices, factories, hospitals, universities and other places of work. All that is done is invoke section 509 of Indian Penal code, which is meant to deal with insult to the modesty of a woman or intrusion of her privacy through utterances, sounds, gestures and exhibiting objects. Under this Section, punishment is imprisonment for one year and or fine for the harasser.
Looking at the magnitude of the problem, there is a crying need to urgently put in place legislation that will make workplaces safe for women. Various studies have revealed that nearly 40-60 percent of workingwomen have faced sexual harassment of some form at place of work. In fact, it is so common that that it is often dismissed by the victim as well as the perpetrator as normal and amounting to only an occupational hazard. Lewd remarks, suggestive conversation, coarse jokes and even persistent unwelcome invitation to go out are taken as part of a workingwoman’s life. Even when sexual harassment moves on to unwelcome physical contact like touching, brushing and grabbing it is not viewed as a serious problem as it mostly remains hidden.
Yet, sexual harassment is, in reality, an extension of violence against women. It is a violation of her fundamental rights given to her by the Constitution and it is gender-based discrimination. Sadly, the victim and the harasser forget, or don’t care in the case of the latter, that infringement of the fundamental rights of a woman are enforceable under Article 32 of the Constitution and can therefore attract legal action. Why does this happen? As far as the woman goes, there is a feeling that if she complains all she will get is ridicule and questions will be raised on her intent and behaviour. As far as men go, they feel they can get away with it.
The Supreme Court first recognized sexual harassment as human rights violation and laid down guidelines in 1977 to prevent it in workplaces following the Bhanwari Devi case. Bhanwari, a village level social worker in Rajasthan, was gang raped by the Thakurs of the village, where she prevented a child marriage. Bhanwari fought it out refusing to be ashamed of what had happened to her. Her co-workers filed a petition in the SC under ‘Vishaka’ and the apex court recognized sexual harassment at the workplace as a violation of a woman’s right and set out guidelines. But, in reality, there is no serious adherence to them. In government offices, the guidelines are followed to some extent, but they remain unheard and unused in the corporate world, private business organizations including media offices. According to the guidelines, every organization must adopt a sexual harassment policy, which prohibits such harassment and provides effective grievance procedure through a complaints committee. Workingwomen have often said that in most cases there are no such committees and if they do exist they are not effective because the members on it are employees who do not dare take a stand against the management. The result is that complaints are few, if any at all, which is misleading in itself. An absence of complaints does not mean that there is no sexual harassment of women employees.
To combat sexual harassment at the workplace, it is imperative that women, employers as well as male workers understand what constitutes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment at a workplace is of two distinct types: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. The first means seeking sexual favours in exchange for work benefits and refusal is met with retaliatory action like dismissal or demotion. The other means creating a hostile work environment by making sexist remarks, displaying pornography and making unwelcome physical contact.
While the Union Cabinet has given a nod (May, 2012) to the Protection of Women From Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Bill and the proposed legislation reaffirms the SC guidelines, it will not be effective unless women themselves recognize sexual harassment at their workplace and stop treating it as a routine occupational hazard. Women have to set their own boundaries and say an emphatic NO when put in an uncomfortable situation.
They will have to draw on their inner strength to fight the harasser all the way whatever the cost. Let us not forget that sexual harassment is nothing short of exhibiting male power over women and reminding them of their vulnerability. But this does not take away from the imperative need to quickly turn the Bill into law. It should have been done yesterday. (IPA)
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