harassment, humiliation and intimidation of a sexual nature.Employers should accept and implement the Code of Practice in the spirit of discharging theircorporate and social responsibility to prevent and eradicate sexual harassment in the workplace. Aworkplace free from sexual harassment is a condition of work which employees of either genderare entitled to expect. Social justice demands a fair treatment of all employees and due respect fortheir human dignity and the existence of sexual harassment is a denial of a fundamental principleof social justice.Employees and their trade unions have a clear role to play in helping to create a climate at workwhich is free from sexual harassment. Employees can do much to discourage sexual harassmentby making it clear that they regard such behaviour unwelcome and unacceptable.Trade unions should co-operate with employees in carrying out promotional and educationalprogrammes for the employees and in the implementation of in-house mechanism to prevent anderadicate sexual harassment in the workplace. The inclusion of specific clauses on sexualharassment in collective agreements as a means of dealing with the problem jointly between theemployers and the trade unions has become a common practice in the industrialized countries.Such practice should be encouraged in this country.
AIM
1.
The aim of this Code of Practice is to provide guidelines to employers on the establishment of in-house mechanisms at the enterprise level to prevent and eradicate sexual harassment in theworkplace.
RATIONALE
2.
Sexual harassment problem arises out of general workplace relationships involving personalbehaviour of people within the enterprise. Therefore, the most effective way of dealing with theproblem is to tackle it at workplace itself so that it can be confronted on the spot and nipped in thebud.
3.
The best approach to combat sexual harassment in the workplace is through the establishment of preventive and redress mechanism at the enterprise level. A decision has been made that thisapproach will form the basis of our national policy and practice in dealing with sexual harassment inthe workplace.
MEANING OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT
4.
For the purpose of this Code, sexual harassment means:Any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature having the effect of verbal, non-verbal, visual, psychologicalor physical harassment:
that might, on reasonable grounds, be perceived by the recipient as placing a condition of a sexualnature on her/his employment; or that might, on reasonable grounds, be perceived by the recipient as an offence or humiliation, or athreat to his/her well-being, but has no direct link to her/his employment.
5.
Based on the definition in article 4 above, sexual harassment may be divided into two categories,namely sexual coercion and sexual annoyance.
sexual coercion is sexual harassment that results in some direct consequence to the victim'semployment. An example of sexual harassment of this coercive kind is where a superior, who hasthe power over salary and promotion, attempts to coercive kind is where a superior, who has thepower over salary and promotion, attempts to coerce a subordinate to grant sexual favours. If thesubordinate accedes to the superior's sexual solicitation, job benefits will follow. Conversely, if the
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