Gender Harassment at Workplace

Author-Simran Dixit

In this article, Simran Dixit presents her views on the issue of gender harassment at workplace.

As mentioned in the Australian Human Rights Commission, sexual harassment is an unwelcomed sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other unwelcomed conduct of a sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated where a reasonable person would anticipate that reaction in a circumstance. Some examples of sexual harassment may include unwelcomed touch, staring or leering, suggestive comments or jokes, explicit emails, messages and physical contact along with intrusive questions and innuendoes about a person’s private life or body.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is a legislative act in India that was passed by the Lok Sabha in 2012 which aims to protect women from sexual harassment at their places of work. The law was made with the objective of providing a safe and secure environment for women to work within, an environment where a woman can exhibit her expertise without worrying for her well being. In spite of such laws it is a well known fact that sexual harassment in workplaces still prevails. Despite being in a state of pandemic where we are locked inside our homes feeling depressed and lonely, people have reported cases of sexual harassment at online platforms.

In a recent survey that I conducted on sexual harassment at workplace, 36.4% of the respondents believed that an individual is responsible for inappropriate sexual advances, whereas 27.2% stated that they were unsure if an individual is responsible or not. Within the last two years various instances of sexual harassment at workplace has caught the attention of the media which might direct people into thinking that this is a result of modernisation and westernization, a result of women wearing short clothes, going out to parties, smoking or drinking, making guy friends and what not. But the fact is that the term "Sexual Harassment" was termed in the year 1975 which indicates that it is a practice continuing from the old times. Did the women in the old times wear western clothes? Did they go out to late night parties smoking and drinking? Even today women and minors are harassed working in farms in the most backward villages where there are no signs of modernisation. How will people blame the minors getting harassed working tirelessly on the roads selling diyas and agarbattis (incense stick)? How will people blame the women working at the construction sites carrying loads of bricks for getting harassed? How will people blame the 5 year old girl who came with her mother to her workplace for getting harassed? The reality is that a predator will predate no matter the circumstance. It doesn't matter if someone is wearing a saree or a skirt, one who tends to exploit will exploit come what may. Sexual harassment at workplaces is not limited to women; even men are subjected to exploitation which no one talks about. Researchers believe that 1 in every six men has been a victim of sexual harassment which was concluded after a long term study. In fact, most of the men are sexually harassed in their early years, before entering the work life. So why don't we talk about it? Disturbing enough, there is no law to protect our men from harassment and rape. There is no law or rule to shield our men from harassment at home, in public or at work. Is it because we believe men are not exploited in the first place? Most of the men don't share their stories and trauma fearing the toxic masculinity existing in the society, due to the fear of being labelled as the "not manly" and the fear of losing their manliness in the eyes of the people. Another sickening offence against men includes false allegations. There are numerous cases where men have been subjected to wilful falsehood. These untruthful accusations are usually made by women seeking revenge which can absolutely destroy a man. These false hearted accusations can cost a man his job, his family, his hard earned respect, his dignity and his mental peace. The torment that a false sexual harassment claim can cause a person is unmatched. Even if the man is not found guilty and has no proofs supporting the unfaithful claim, his character will forever be questioned till his last breath. He will never be able to wash off the dirt that his name got dragged through. Both men and women are exposed to sexual harassment at workplace. The difference between female and male victims exists, but is not very significant. But if both men and women are victims then who is the predator? How do we judge a predator? The survey I conducted revealed that 40% of the people judge a person's tendency to harass by their social status. If the minor working at the farm was harassed by another fellow farmer, the young boy sitting in his father’s shop was harassed by their regular customer and the hardworking woman at the office working to support her old parents was harassed by her boss and colleagues then whose social status is considered as predatory? How does a person's social status instil an exploitative nature in a person? The only thing making a person predacious is his/her own greed, conscience, mentality and intellect. Nothing but the person is to be blamed for the monster he or she has turned out to become. In order for the harasser to understand the depths of their crimes, the victims need to revolt and report the exploitation. Almost 40% of the people don't report such heinous crimes due to several reasons. 20% of the people feared that no one would believe them if they speak up while others feared victim blaming. They feared they would be blamed for what was being oppressed on them. A majority of the people which included both victims and common people believed that reporting a case for sexual harassment at workplace might cost a person his/her job. This is one of the major reasons for victims not rebelling against their oppressors. It is a shame that even with a working population of 402 million we are unable to protect our breadwinners. We need to constitute laws to protect our men from sexual harassment as well as shield them from untruthful accusations. We need a lot of amendments in the existing laws for sexual harassment against women to make our laws barbarous. There is an immense requirement for companies to build strict rules to provide a healthy environment for their employees. We need to spread awareness on the issues faced by victims in order for them to be addressed and corrected which may help manage the issues of victim blaming. There is a need to spread awareness which may aid people in recognising predatory behaviour and help them rectify it within themselves. We need special training programs that will help victims overcome their past traumas and will help other people revolt oppressors in possible future predatory interactions. We need to bring a change in ourselves and our mindset so as to make a happy and lively environment. We must do so for ourselves as well as for all the upcoming generations to lead the country in a better light.

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