Sexual harassment and SC guidelines.
India has always been a male dominating society; women’s have to go through
many problems and pain like dowry death, eve teasing, sexual harassment and rape. Here all this problems showcase the power of man to dominate, where the victim is the - ‘women’.
Sexual harassment and rape are two sides of the same coin. But many people extenuate sexual harassment to rape, just because the victims are not physically harmed. Whereas in rape-victim is ravished like an animal for the fulfillment of desire and lust of another man.
But is it true that harassment does not torture women physically or mentally much? No its not. Sexual harassment is a form of violence against women. It is a form of assault, which can manifest itself in terms of physical and psychological acts. Physically, the recipient may be the victim of pinching, grabbing, hugging, patting, leering, brushing against and forms of touching. Psychological harassment can occur through the proposal of physical intimacy by requesting dates and sexual favors, or by making lewd and indecent remarks which embarrass the recipient .Both, rape and sexual harassment have the same object- to undermine the integrity of the victim, physically as well as mentally.
Most of the times sexual harassment have a hidden intention of sexual intercourse. But it also depends on each individual case and circumstances, because it may well be the case that the woman may also be at fault by giving false signals to man.
Constitution of India,Article.21, which guarantees the right to life and liberty to men and women both alike- but whether it is really imperative to take a decisive step towards extirpating this evil and make the contemporary and future society a safe haven for women. No it does not.
Understanding the need for laying down some guidelines and norms for Sexual Harassment at the Workplace, the Supreme Court has laid down the necessary guidelines and norms in, Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, for the protection of the fundamental rights of women, violated, as a result of Sexual Harassment at Work.
The Court has emphasised that the guidelines and norms being laid down that these should be treated as law under Art 141 of the Constitution. These guidelines are in accordance with the recommendations and conventions of various international organisations like the ILO and the European Communities Commission. Taking their recommendations into considerations, the Supreme Court has laid down the following guidelines:
Preventive steps: The employers should take appropriate steps to prevent sexual harassment. These include:
(a) Express prohibition of sexual harassment at the workplace should be notified, published and circulated in appropriate ways.
(b) The rules/regulations of government and public bodies relating to conduct and discipline should include rules/regulations prohibiting sexual harassment and provide for appropriate penalties in such rules against the offender.
(c) Appropriate work conditions should be provided in respect of work, leisure, health and hygiene to further ensure that there is no hostile environment towards women at workplaces and no woman employee should have some reasonable grounds to believe
that she is disadvantaged in
connection with her employment.
Criminal Proceedings:
Where such conduct amounts to a specific offence under the Indian Penal Code or under any other law, the employer shall initiate appropriate action in accordance with law by making a complaint with the appropriate authority.
In order to ensure that the victims are not discriminated against, while dealing with complaints of sexual harassment, the victims should have the option to seek transfer of the perpetrator or their own transfer.
Disciplinary action:
Where such conduct amounts to misconduct in employment as defined by the relevant service rules, disciplinary action should be initiated by the employer in accordance with these rules.
ComplaintMechanism and committee:
Whether or not such conduct constitutes an offence under law or a breach of the service rules, a complaint mechanism should be created in the organisation for redress of the complaint made by the victim. A complaint mechanism should provide for a Complaints Committee. The Complaints Committee should be headed by a woman and not less than half of its members should be women. Further, to prevent the possibility of any undue influence from senior levels, the Committee should involve a third party, either NGO or any other body familiar with the issue of sexual harassment.
Workers initiative and Awareness:
Awareness of the rights of female employees in this regard should be created in particular by prominently notifying the guidelines. Employees should be allowed to raise issues of sexual harassment in workers meetings and other appropriate forums.
Third party harassment:
Where sexual harassment occurs as a result of an act or omission by any third party or outsider, the employer and person in charge will take all steps necessary and reasonable to assist the affected person in terms of support and preventive action.
In this case, the Supreme Court set out guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace and declared the guidelines as constituting the law of the land, until further action was taken by the legislature. Even today; there is no specific legislation as such to deal with sexual harassment. Hence, the Vishaka Guidelines provide legal recourse for working women who face sexual harassment
(Article has views of the author and guidelines given by Supreme Court on Sexual Harassment.)