A Study On Sexual Harassment Of Women At Workplace In India With Special Reference To Protection Of Women From Sexual Harassment Act
This consequently causes problems such as loss of job, dignity, social status and sometimes loss of life. The present study mainly focus on the POSH Act 2013 enacted has any impact in the country among the employees. The objectives of the research is to know the effectiveness of the steps taken by government, the effectiveness of POSH Act and to know about the action taken by companies on report of sexual harassment.
The origin of the term has been taken from the Bhanwari Devi case and In the case of Vishaka and Ors. v/s Union of India 1997 provided the basic definitions of sexual harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines in the judgment is also mentioned in the current study.
The data for the present study was collected from both primary and secondary sources analysis were done by using the empirical study research method and tool used are of chi-square and graphical representation.The results from this research indicates that in India sexual harassment is still prevalent in the workplace and recommends some of the preventive measures to minimize the incidence of sexual harassment at work place.
Introduction
Sexual behaviour is the unwanted demonstrations or conduct specifically, actual contact and advances, an interest or solicitation for sexual favors, offering physically shaded comments, showing porn, some other unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal lead of sexual nature.Before the presentation of the POSH Law, there was no legal cure that straightforwardly tended to work environment lewd behavior with the exception of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
The main segments under the Indian Penal Code that could be utilized for inappropriate behavior are under:
- Segment 354 (Outraging the humility of a women ) and
- Segment 509 (Insulting the humility of a women).
According to Section 2(o) of the POSH Act, 'work environment' incorporates any
spot visited by the representative emerging out of or over the span of business,
including transportation gave by the business to the inspiration of driving to
and from the work environment.
Sexual harassment at the workplace is widespread. Women all around the world
have faced instances of sexual harassment, calling for a strong law to curb
these acts. In India, the framework for the Sexual Harassment at Workplace law
was laid down in the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court in Vishaka v. State
of Rajasthan (1997).
In 1992, Bhanwari Devi, a Dalit woman who was a social worker employed with the
Rural Development Programme of the Government of Rajasthan was gang raped. This
highlighted the extents of sexual harassment incidents in Indias workplaces.
It struck a chord with the nation and revealed the hazards working women face in
the workplace. The Supreme Court framed guidelines and issued directions to the
Union of India for a law to combat workplace sexual harassment.
The main
intention of these guidelines was to provide a platform for redressal and
grievance mechanisms against workplace sexual harassment. It was these
guidelines that motivated the formation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH). The Act is
very important as it discusses the various instances of sexual harassment and
how a woman can complain against this kind of behaviour.
International conventions to protect women against violence had been in place
for a long while. The Vishaka Guidelines drew from them in the following ways:
- General Recommendation 19 to the Convention on Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW): India, which is involved with this show,
has taken from it parts of equity of ladies in the work environment, orientation
explicit savagery, and unwanted physically resolved conduct and embraced them
into the POSH Act.
- Global Labor Convention on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention (No. C111): India confirmed this archive on 3 June, 1960. Through this Convention, India has a commitment to deny and forestall any orientation based separation in the work environment.
Impact of the POSH Law-The effect of the law is three-fold:
- Prevention of a hostile work environment
- Understanding Unwelcome behaviour
- Quid Pro Quo Harassment
The POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) regulation appeared to keep women
from falling into the clutches of sexual harrasment at their working environment
and furthermore to guarantee appropriate redressal of their compliants. It
assists with achieving a sexually unbiased workplace. This policy is relevant to
every one of the individuals from the organization, for example, managers and
including the people who are utilized on customary,on a day to day wage premise,
and so on. The policy also stretches out even to the individuals who are not
representatives of the organization like clients, guests, assistants,
provisional laborers, suppliers etc.
As per the law in India, harassment violates the womens fundamental right of
gender equality and life with dignity under article 14 and article 21
respectively. The provisions which are mentioned in IPC, provides protection
against womens sexual harassments such as in IPC:Â
- Section 294 deals with obscene acts and songs at public place.
- Section 354 deals with assault or criminal force against women.
- Section 376 deals with rape.
- Section 510 deals with uttering words or making gestures which outrage a woman's modesty.
There is one more demonstration passed by a lawmaking body for safeguarding
women specifically, Indecent Representation of Women Act (1997). This act has
not been utilized in instances of inappropriate sexual harassment cases but
rather there are certain provisions in this act which can be utilized in 2 ways:
If an individual harasses another by showing books, photographs,painting,
films,etc. containing obscene portrayal of women than he will be liable with
minimum of 2yrs imprisonment.
Section 7 of this act punishes organizations of
if there's indecent representation of women like showing pornography. The
harassed women can also go to civil courts for tortuous activities like mental pain,physical harassment , loss of pay in employment of the victim etc..
There are many reasons for causes of sexual harassment but most vital one is the
cultural and values system and therefore the relative power and status of the
men and women in our society. One of the primary reason that harassment goes on
is because on organisation so as to safeguard its image don't take into
complaints and disciplinary procedures to deal with sexual harrasment.
As
indicated by the review directed by Pink Ladder, a vocation upgrade environment
for women experts found that 56% women believe sexual harassment at the
workplace has increased over the years, and 53% women are subject to sexual
comments, gestures, jokes at the workplace. In Australia under section 106 of
the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) employers may be vicariously liable if an
employee commits sexual harassment, and the employer did not take all reasonable
steps to stop the employee from doing these acts.
Objectives:
- To know about the experience of people at workplace sexual harassment
- To know about the preventive measures taken by companies
- To know the main causes of sexual harassment in workplace
- To know about the action taken by companies on report of sexual harassment
- To know the effectiveness of POSH Act
Review Of Literature:
(J.A.Richmsn 1999) This study hypothesized that interpersonal workplace
stressors involving sexual harassment and generalized workplace abuse are highly
prevalent and significantly linked with mental health outcomes including
symptomatic distress, the use and abuse of alcohol, and other drug use.Sexual
harassment is recognized as the discrimination on the grounds of sex and, thus,
are contrary to the principle of equal treatment between men and women.
The data
show high rates of harassment and abuse. Among faculty, females were subjected
to higher rates; among clerical and service workers, males were subjected to
higher rates. Male and female clerical and service workers experienced higher
levels of particularly severe mistreatment. Generalized abuse was more prevalent
than harassment for all groups.
Both harassment and abuse were significantly
linked to most mental health outcomes for men and women.Interpersonally abusive
workplace dynamics constitute a significant public health problem that merits
increased intervention and prevention strategies.(Schneider, K. T., Swan, S
1997) the article, based on the private-sector sample, was presented at the
Ninth Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology, Nashville, Tennessee, April 1994. This research was supported in
part by a Shannon Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.
We thank
the sexual harassment research group at the University of Illinois for their
ongoing intellectual stimulation and practical support, and we would
particularly like to thank Charles Hulin and Fritz Drasgow for providing very
helpful comments on a draft of this article.Sexual harassment is considered as a
form of illegal discrimination as well as a type of psychological and sexual
abuse.Fitzgerald, L. F. (1997) In this article, an empirical test of a recently
proposed conceptual model is described. According to the model, organizational
climate for sexual harassment and job gender context are critical antecedents of
sexual harassment; harassment, in turn, influences work-related variables (e.g.,
job satisfaction); psychological states (e.g., anxiety and depression); and
physical health.
Sexual harassment of women in organizational settings has
recently become a topic of interest to researchers and the general public alike.
(T.Bhattacharyya 2010) . Globally, sexual harassment is a burgeoning issue,
which has been witnessed everywhere. Gripping the gravity of its significance,
the present study sets forth to explore the reasons of sexual harassment in
organizational settings.
Each organization and or each community has its own
socio-cultural agenda whereby the terms and conditions show what are often
considered as sexual harassment.Results:
From the extensive literature review,
it is revealed that there are five dominant reasons for the widespread sexual
harassment, namely inadequate governmental laws and organizational policies, perceptions and attitudes, male dominance, power differentials
and organization structure and cultural influence.(Arvey, R. D 1995)
Problems and issues associated with using survey methodologies to develop
estimates of the prevalence of sexual harassment are summarized. Problems with
respect to the definition of sexual harassment in survey research, response
sets, the use of retrospective self-report measures, sample selection bias,
validity and reliability, and generalizability are addressed.
Recommendations
are offered in terms of conducting such survey research in future efforts to
assess sexual harassment, as well as establishing relationships between reports
of sexual harassment and other relevant variables.For instance, in Lebanon, any
word or expression of a speech from an opposite sex that is aggressively said is
not yet considered as sexual harassment.Cavanaugh, M. A. (1995) This study
examined experiences of sexual harassment and assault among 1,037 female
undergraduate and graduate students, with a particular focus on educational
outcomes. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed significant negative
effects of harassment and assault on perceptions of academic climate.
We also
investigated the extent and effects of double victimization (i.e., experiences
of both harassment and assault), as well as the relationships among sexual
harassment types, incidence rates, and frequencies. Issues of sexual orientation
and race/ethnicity are explored throughout the article, with membership in
different groups affecting victimization incidence rates as well as harassment labeling.
(Hulin, C. L., Fitzgerald, L. F., & Drasgow, F. (1996) this chapter
examines the hypothesis that an organization's climate for sexual harassment is
a critical antecedent to sexually harassing behavior and may be a direct
contributor to negative outcomes beyond the personal experiences of sexual
harassment / describe scale development of the Organizational Tolerance for
Sexual Harassment Inventory (OTSHI), which measures the extent to which
respondents perceive that sexually harassing behavior will be associated with
negative consequences in their organization Hostile Work Environment sexual
harassment occurs when organizational members are faced with an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive work environment because of their sex.(Gutek, B. A. , &
Morasch, B. (1982) contend that sexual harassment is not a problem in one
country.
It is a global issue. For instance, the European Commission found that
30 to 50 percent of female employees in European Union countries had experienced
sexual harassment. Moreover, harassment cases are filed against employers in
countries such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexicoâ€Â. In Egypt, 83
percent of Egyptian women and 98 percent of foreign women have been sexually
harassed, but only 2 percent have reported it.(Thomas, 2013).
The emphasis of this research paper is to set up a preventive measure and fair
procedure to develop a better and reliable organisational culture in educational
institutions, free from issues of sexual harassment and exploitation. In doing
so this paper will look at the recent developments in the arena of sexual
harassment, the mandatory legal requirements for implementing policy that act as
deterrent to and safeguard victim of sexual harassment at schools, colleges and
universities.
The paper highlights the imperatives that are vital for rendering executable and
implementable policies, procedures and remedies. (H.O.Agarwal 2008). The current
research paper tries to highlight the causes that tend to spontaneous increase
in sexual harassment cases from different time perspectives. There has been a
steady increase in the rate of women employment in the organized sector in
wide-ranging spheres and in many folds with the advent of rapid
industrialization, modernization, economic development and globalization.
But it has led to many evil practices such as physical and mental harassment,
gender discrimination and more specifically sexual harassment at work
place.(S.C.Srivasrava 2004) Sexual harassment is superfluous annoyance of sexual
requirements within the context of relationship of unequal power which includes
physical contact, demand for sexual favours, showing coloured remarks and
pornography even verbal and non verbal conduct of sexual nature.
The trigger to the development of the law on sexual harassment in India was in
the case of Vishaka v. the State of Rajasthan. Sexual Harassment of Women At
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 aims to provide
protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace throughout India and
to prevent and redress complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected
therewith.(G.S.Venumadhava, M.Tejashwini 2015).
In this paper, the origin of
sexual harassment has been taken from the case of Bhanwari Devi together with
some parts of the theVishaka judgment, which resulted in the enactment of THE
SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION, AND REDRESSAL)
ACT, 2013. This paper discusses the reason behind sexual harassment of women,
and the movement, which took the world by storm by this issue.
Finally, the current paper recommends that the need of this era is to look
closely over this issue and provide for better preventive measures that could
better access the situation.Sexual harassment is such a cruel offence that every
women have experienced it at some point of instance ,may be either in office or
on their way to work.(S. Ram 2003).
Sexual Harassment of Women explores the influence of sexual harassment in
academia on the career advancement of women in the scientific, technical, and
medical workforce. This report reviews the research on the extent to which women
in the fields of science, engineering, and medicine are victimized by sexual
harassment and examines the existing information on the extent to which sexual
harassment in academia negatively impacts the recruitment, retention, and
advancement of women pursuing scientific, engineering, technical, and medical
careers. (S.G.Baugh 1997).
The present study on the Nature, Incidence, Extent and Impact of Sexual
Harassment of Women at Work Place in the State of Maharashtra was undertaken in
the backdrop of the increasing number of reports relating to the cases of sexual
harassment of women in government and private offices and in other
establishments and institutions. Fresh graduates from universities are the most
vulnerable targets at the workplace. 'Fresh women graduates join different
private sector companies as trainees.
These women become the easy targets of their immediate superiors who promise a
salary hike or a permanent job.(L.I.Gerdes 1999). Sexual harassment in
professional fields can hinder economic development globally. The epidemic of
sexual harassment within the law profession has created a hidden barrier,
predominantly for females.
This study seeks to examine the effect of Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act 2013 (In.) (SHWWPPRA)
among the legal professionals in India to determine whether sexual harassment
affects the profession and whether sexual harassment is gender-biased. Empirical
and descriptive research methods were adopted by administering questionnaires to
three hundred and forty-seven (347) legal professionals.
(Susan Fineran, Rebecca M. Bolen (2016).The purpose of this study was to use a
feminist theoretical framework to test competing models in respect of the
direction of the relationships between dimensions of peer sexual harassment
victimization and dimensions of depressive symptoms. There was weaker evidence
of repeated experience of sexual harassment among boys. Depressive symptoms were
stable over time in both genders. Sexual name-calling was the dimension that had
the strongest associations to all dimensions of depressive symptoms irrespective
of gender.
A recent survey has revealed that almost 17 percent of women workers in India
face sexual harassment at their work place, with incidence rates being high in
both organized and unorganized sectors (P.Chaudhuri 2008).Implementation of the
Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at the workplace - the Vishaka
guidelines - remains limited. As this study conducted in several workplaces in
West Bengal reveals, complaints committees have not been constituted in most
organisations and many are yet to amend their service rules as directed by the
guidelines.
Further, it says that 26% of women, belonging to the unorganized sector, are the
sole breadwinners of their families and therefore economic vulnerability leads
to 'fear of losing the job' (J.I.Kalyar 2015).The research study has clearly
revealed that sexual harassment has been and is still a work place problem in
retails in Vellore city. The failure of recognizing the sexual harassment is a
human rights issue that must be addressed.
By addressing such issues within the organization would create equality and the
workers may enjoy job satisfaction. Sexual harassment is one of the major social
problems of all establishments in recent years. Sexual harassment is present in
various forms such as physical, verbal, non verbal and visual sexual harassment.
In a study conducted in Vellore 100 women workers of different retail sectors
were studied in order to bring out the hidden difculties in being a working
woman especially that of sexual harassment.
Methodology:
The research method followed here is empirical research. A total of 200 samples
have been taken out of which is taken through convenient sampling. The sample
frame taken by the researcher is through online survey link mode. The
independent variable taken here gender, occupation and education qualification.
The dependent variables are reasons for experience of work place sexual
harassment, prevention taken by companies and action taken by government and
companies.The statistical tool used by the researcher is graphical
representation.
Analysis:
Figure:1
Legend: The figure 1 represents the opinions of sample population regarding do you think now a days women are experience sexual harassment in workplace.
Figure:2
Legend: The figure 2 represents the opinions of people and compared with the occupation regarding do you think now a days women are experience sexual harassment in workplace.
Figure:3
Legend: The figure 3 represents the opinions of sample of people regarding awareness program provided by the companies to prevent sexual harassment in workplace.
Figure:4
Legend: The figure 4 represents the opinions of sample with the comparison of gender on people regarding awareness program provided by the companies to prevent sexual harassment in workplace.
Figure:5
Legend: The figure 5 represents the opinions of sample of people regarding the main cause for sexual harassment in workplace.
Figure:6