ABSTRACT
Workplace harassment and safety challenges faced by women have significantly increased over the past decades. Harassment means the unwanted comments passed based on religion , caste ,sex etc. In this paper the researcher has highlighted some of the important case laws of workplace harassment, what are the challenges faced by women in their workplace and steps to be taken if such a situation arises, legal provisions available , what are the criticisms faced by the people coming forward to file such an issue. The research method followed is the doctrine research. The major findings of the study is that the majority of the women are afraid to come forward and file a complaint and are always in a fear of something happening so they are always cautious wherever they go and majorly they are afraid to go out alone during night.
KEYWORDS:Harassment, Safety, Complaint, Committee, Workplace, Gender discrimination.
INTRODUCTION
Workplace harassment basically means the unwanted comments passed by colleagues based on the caste, sex, age, religion, race, colour, disability. It also includes jokes, intimidation, teasing them etc1. Over the years workplace harassment has increased. There have been many issues that have been highlighted in everyday life. Women are facing many harassment not only in workplace but also in their day to day life such as domestic violence, dowry related torture etc. There has been an significant increase in dowry death cases over the past decade and recently there is a case which is being of great importance is the Kolkata Case i.e, the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case. In this case, a Dr has been raped and murdered in a hospital where she was working. After a long tiring day, she was having food with her friends, and after that, she took a nap and the next morning, the news came out that she was dead. The place which she thought that was safe and she took a nap without having a fear of anything. Womens who are always careful while travelling alone or at any time of the day because they are having a constant fear that anything could happen to them. From this
1Usagov,https://www.usa.gov/job-discrimination-harassment#:~:text=Workplace%20harassment%20is%20unwe lcome%20conduct,Name%20calling ( last visited 6 Dec 2023)
incident it’s clear that even after the implementation of legislation’s such as The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace(PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) Act 2013 in short we call it as POSH Act still harassment are faced by women in their workplace, the place where a women considered it as a safe place. The landmark case of workplace harassment which led to the enactment of the POSH Act was the “Vishakha vs. State of Rajasthan” .
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research method used here is the doctrine research and the major data was collected from the secondary sources such as articles, blogs, research papers etc. These sources helped me to have a further understanding about workplace harassment and safety challenges faced by women. Some of the major findings from these sources are that women don’t feel safe after a certain time i.e, night to go out freely, or to travel alone during night , they have to always beware that something can happen to them and they are always moving around in fear and also they always prefer some one or they go in a pair to places. The safest country for women as of 2023 is Denmark.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The problems faced by women in workplace are different for different categories of people but the common issue faced by them are workplace stress, unfair treatment, discrimination.But the major among is the stereotypic behaviour, safety concerns, ego clashes with colleges etc2. In this study it was found that gender discrimination was more compared to sexual harassment and many of them are aware about workplace harassment act 2010 and the major finding says that the respondents are in a situation of sexual harassment they don’t know what to do and it also emphasises the fact that due to fear they don’t report the cases 3. One in every two women face harassment either at their workplace or during their education and this has many bad effects on our mental health and well-being.4
2 Kumari V , Problems and challenges faced by urban working women in India(Doctoral dissertation).3 Aman, T., Asif, S., Qazi, A. and Aziz, S., 2016. Perception of sexual harassment at workplace, knowledge of working women towards workplace harassment act 2010. Khyber Journal of Medical Sciences (KJMS), 9(2), pp.230-236.
4 Fitzgerald, L.F., 1993. Sexual harassment: Violence against women in the workplace. American Psychologist, 48(10), p.1070.
CHALLENGE FACED BY WOMEN
The following are some of the challenges faced by women in their life in their workplace. 1. Gender bias: Men and women are not treated equally in the workplace because the wages of men and women differ. Furthermore, when male employee works better than their usual capacity the management will praise him whereas when a female employee does good they won’t even acknowledge them. Both the employees irrespective of the work they are given should be praised equally.
2. Health and hygiene: The most important part which should be given a great importance is the restroom facility. In every workplace there should be proper restroom facilities and period necessary facilities. As it’s the most important thing for a woman to have as sometimes in some places there won’t be even properly cleaned restrooms and due to un hygiene they will hesitate to use that in order to avoid such a situation proper sanitation should be there.
3. Sexual harassment: Women are more likely to experience sexual harassment or harassment from their co workers, which will have long-term effects on their mental health and it also affects their careers sometimes. Harassment basically means any comments which are mostly welcomed by the other person. Harassments can be both physical as well as mental also. So if someone goes through harassment it has a very bad effect on their mental health which might lead them not to focus on the work and crossing their deadlines to submit it.
4. Unfair compensation: Even if both women and men are given the same opportunity or works sometimes they are paid less than the men’s and usually women employees are assigned with less task than an male employee as it’s believed that they are not that much capable and hence sometimes they are restricted from using their full potentials and which leads to have a less pay compared to male employee.
5. Work-life balance: Women are often blamed for maintaining a work-life balance since they are often accused of failing to properly care for their families but they are the people who actually balance their life properly and sometimes they do fail as they will also be tired of the working hours and then coming back home taking care of everything.
6. Maternity and family leave: A lot of companies do not provide maternity leave appropriately, or they give it for a short period of time, and occasionally they only give it for the first pregnancy which sometimes lead to them quitting their jobs and
some of them after this period will think twice to go to a new job and sometimes they don’t even apply for a job.
CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN EMPLOYEE IN HOSPITALS The major challenges faced by the women in the hospitals are that there are no proper restrooms and no proper resting area for the residents, nurses. This in fact has a huge impact on women mental health because they will be always in a fear that where will they rest , is it safe for them to rest there after the latest incident i.e, Kolkata doctor rape and murder case.In this case a Dr has been raped and murdered in a hospital where she was working. After a long tiring day, she was having food with her friends, and after that, she took a nap in the seminar hall and the next morning, the news came out that she was dead. It’s clear from the fact that there were no resting rooms in the hospital. After the long tiring shifts of the residents in the hospital at least they should be provided with proper room separately for boys and girls and also it’s to be highlighted that in government hospitals there are less arrangements provided for the residents in case of resting room and restrooms. The bathrooms of the hospital are in such a condition that they don’t even feel like using that. Most of them prefer to go to hostels and use them . It is also to be noted that during night time the street lights won’t be on in the way to the hostel and it sometimes causes fear for the students staying in the hostel near to the hospital. These are the main challenges faced by women residents in a hospital.
THINGS TO BE DONE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS
If any person undergoes any such harassments in their workplace the following are the few thing they must do:
● They should firstly warn that person
● They should inform the committee which is set up especially for this in the workplace ● If the committee doesn’t take proper action then they should directly mention their discomfort to their manager. If he is the one then they should directly inform the police station or file a complaint under POSH Act.
Every person should have the courage to come forward and take action against these kinds of people so that they will have a fear instead of them giving us constant fear and no women should do anything against their wish even if they are being blackmailed to do something. They just need to have the courage to go file a complaint or just dial the women’s helpline number and the authority will definitely reach you.
CHALLENGES FACED BY WOMEN EVEN IF THEY COME FORWARD Even if anyone courageously comes forward, the challenges faced by them are huge. The first and most important challenges is breaking the social stigma because if they disclose their identity or comes forward people will start talking behind their back it may be of many reasons some may criticize her whereas some may support her or even some people will talk bad about their family members.If they complaint to headplace ,the authority will be the first one to criticise and ignore them. This is the main reason why most of them are hesitant to come forward. Many people will blame them first for going there and will say you are the reason why this happened.Even in the twenty-first century, there is a persistent belief among people that women are subservient to men and should not be allowed to speak up. People will criticize women who raise their voices to protest injustices against society. The females are always the first to criticize her, which makes me really sad. This should be broken by supporting them by coming forward and should always wait for justice rather than spreading fake facts or facts which are not officially shared. Even if the public shows support by sharing it through social media, make sure that they share only the contents which are true because sometimes these fake facts can mislead the whole case and should always remember the fact that they should not share the actual name and pictures of the victims through social media. In our nation, where women are not secure A woman’s greatest adversary is always another woman. Women are taught how to interact with adults, especially their husbands, since they are young. However, no one teaches their son how to conduct with their daughters and wives, which is why injustice against women persists in our nation.They are not allowed to speak or travel on their own, nor are they allowed to dress the way they like. India is known as “Bharat Matha,” as a woman. A poet once remarked that a woman is like a diamond, and the men in her immediate vicinity have a duty to safeguard her purity. However, they attempted to stomp the woman’s head to the ground, forgot what the poet had spoken, and showed no regard for her.
Why should women experience any of this? Has anyone given that any thought? First, because men’s education isn’t ideal. The second factor is the environment in which they were reared. If the boys grow up in an environment where women are respected, they will likewise respect women. However, if women are consistently stomped, they will also treat women in that manner. Not only is the home important, but society also must be. The women’s willingness to speak up about the injustices they witnessed will never be questioned. However, if they spoke out against the injustice that had occurred before them, not only would they face questions but criticism from her parents as well.
LEGAL PROVISION
Sexual harassment and punishment for it is dealt under Section 354A.5In this section if any man who’d commits the offence of sexual demand, showing pronography, physical touches will be punished with rigorous imprisonment upto to three years or fine or both and he will be punished with one year imprisonment or fine or both if he makes sexually coloured remarks. These are cognisance and bailable offences and can be tried under magistrate court. “The following are the amendments made after Nirbaya case 2013.
● Section 354A6– Sexual harassment and punishment
● Section 354B7– Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe ● Section 354C8– Voyeurism i.e, capturing or watching a women without her consent ● Section 354D9– Stalking i.e, knowing a woman’s day to day activity without her consent. She has clearly mentioned not to follow her.”10
LANDMARK CASE LAWS
The first and most important landmark case in workplace harassment is the ““Vishakha vs. State of Rajasthan11” in this case the Supreme Court held that sexual harassment at the workplace violates right to equality, and right to life and liberty of a movement, and they also enacted the POSH Act.
● Poornima Advani vs. Union of India12in this case the court held that all the government should ensure that all the companies’ workplace should have an internal complaint committee which addresses the complaint of harassment and this case also held that POSH Act also applies to government organisations.
● Kamaljeet Kaur vs. Punjab and Sind Bank13In this case, the court held that all the employers should ensure that companies have set up an internal complaint committee and also should ensure that they are working properly and if not they can be charged against negligence.
5Indian Penal Code 1860 § 354A, No. 45, Acts of Parliament , 1949(India).
6Indian Penal Code 1860 § 354A, No. 45, Acts of Parliament , 1949(India).
7Indian Penal Code 1860 § 354B, No. 45, Acts of Parliament , 1949(India).
8Indian Penal Code 1860 § 354C, No. 45, Acts of Parliament , 1949(India).
9Indian Penal Code 1860 § 354D, No. 45, Acts of Parliament , 1949(India).
10 Ishwar Singh , Medhansh Mishra, Study on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace in India, Vol 2, International Journal Of Legal Science and Innovation, 230, 236 (2020)
11 Vishakha vs. State of Rajasthan AIR 1997 SUPREME COURT 3011
12 Poornima Advani vs. Union of India (2023) 6 SCC 756
13 Kamaljeet Kaur vs. Punjab and Sind Bank 19962 CLT 714
● Apparel Export Promotion Council vs. A.K Chopra14In this case, the court held that there should be steps to prevent the harassment that is happening in the workplace.
● Sanchayani Sharma vs. National Insurance Company Ltd15in this case court that sexual harassment can also be verbal and non-verbal.
● Anjali Bharadwaj vs. Union of India16in this case court held that every government company should set up an internal complaint committee so that any complain regarding sexual harassment can be filed under this cell.” 17
WOMEN SAFETY IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
According to the article of the blogler 18the safest country for the women is Denmark and its index score is .932 and next comes Switzerland (.928) , then Sweden(.926) and then comes Finland (.924) because in these countries they give priority to equality and women’s safety mostly and these countries are recorded with less number of gender based violence and there are many laws and regulation for the protection of the women and their is a great representation of women even in the politics. In Denmark many of the ministers in parliament are women and the participation of women in the business field is huge compared with other countries whereas in Switzerland International Cooperation one of its objectives is that there should be gender equality and all the rights for the women and girls should be properly given. In Sweden everyone can live freely without any fear of violence and there is equal representation for men and women in all aspects.
SUGGESTION
From this research it’s clear that even after enactment of the legislation there has been still many number of case reported for the workplace harassment, sexual harassment, so it is clear that there should be strengthened rules and regulations , and even if a rule or an act has been enacted , they should always be a committed or an authority which check whether these rules are being implemented properly, all the guideline are followed, and the other suggestion which I would like to give is that, before an organisation begin, they should have a proper
14 Apparel Export Promotion Council vs. A.K Chopra (1999) 1 SCT 642
15 Sanchayani Sharma vs. National Insurance Company Ltd 2022 SCC OnLine Del 1945 16 Anjali Bharadwaj vs. Union of India WPC 436 of 2018
17Women safety wing, Telangana police ,https://womensafetywing.telangana.gov.in/sahas/key-judgements/#:~:text=Vishakha%20vs.,right%20to%20life %20and%20liberty.
18 The blogler,https://www.theblogler.com/safest-countries-for-women/, 19 July 2024
schedule , CCTV cameras, emergency alerts in every room, biometrics. They should ensure that all there things are setup in a company before it starts functioning so that women feel safe to work in that organisation.There should be proper travel arrangements for the woman for their safety ,every organisation should have a proper time schedule for every person of the company working there especially for woman, they have to give prior importance so that their safety is at most important and in case, if anything happens such as any kind of harassment to the staff working their they should feel free to complain in their organisation and the complaint cell or committee should be set up in every organisation as it has been mentioned in some of the cases . If possible try to place a system like a projector screen in the bus stops and railway station like when a women is alone or anyone they have a option of talking to a person on the screen so that they won’t have a fear to stay there alone and a person will be assisting or having a chat with them till they get their transports and also there should be a checking or pit stops as such a guard or police officer every five to ten kilometre distance such that even if something happens they can have the access to help.
CONCLUSION
The cases of harassment faced by women are increasing day by day. As a new case arises the fear in the life of women is increasing and parents are worried about letting their daughter study in other countries or states and are even thinking twice if they ask them permission to let them go out anywhere. Even if there are laws such as Sexual Harassment of Women at Harassment of Women at Workplace(PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) Act 201319, there should be a proper committee setup such that they can ensure that the laws are being followed and in every organisation there is a committee setted so that the employees can raise a complaint if they felt any kind of issue such as harassment but they should ensure that the details of these complainants are confidential and should not be disclosed. It is also to be noted that harassment does not happen to women alone, sometimes it is faced by men and transgender’s of the society also. So in order reduced all those these should be considered i.e, there should be CCTV cameras setted and they should check at regular intervals whether that is working or not and especially women and transgender’s should be taught self defence because even in case if something happen they should be in such a position that they can escape from there and save themselves and ensure that the attackers is still in pain and behind the bars by later procedures.
19 Harassment of Women at Workplace(PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) Act 2013, No.14, Acts of Parliament,2013 (India)
Name of the Author:- Varsha Shankar
College Name :-*Saveetha School of Law