Introduction

“You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women.” –
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
Sexual harassment of women is a global phenomenon prevalent both in
developed as well as in developing countries. Cutting across religion, culture,
race, caste, class and geographical boundaries it has spread like virus in the
society. It, being offensive to human dignity, human rights and gender equality,
has emerged as a fundamental crisis the world over.
Due to industrialisation, globalisation, development in various fields, role of
women is changing rapidly in India. Today, women in India are showing
progress in almost all the fields such as education, economics, politics, media,
art, space and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. As the role
of women has shifted from household work to commercial world, offences
against women are also increased day by day. In spite of rising incidences of
sexual harassment, their reporting is almost nil as women fear loss of personal
& professional reputation and livelihood owing to the social stigma.
A positive work environment free of harassment is not only required by law,
but also good for business in terms of employee morale, productivity and long-
term success. In legal terms, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual
conduct on the job that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working
environment. The laws prohibiting sexual harassment are gender blind.
However, the vast majority of cases involve women workers who have been
harassed by male coworkers or supervisors.
The main object of this legal survey is to explore the velocity of sexual
harassment faced by women employees and the scope of the law and the
authority to reduce or even prohibit such inhuman activities which blunts the
pride of a woman.

Scope of the Study

Research Problem
Objective of the Study

Hypothesis

Research Methodology

Period of Study

Limitations of the Study

Chapterisation
 Chapter 1 – Sexual Harassment

Since time immemorial women have been subjected to discrimination on the

basis of their gender and have been suppressed, stereotyped and oppressed.
All these suppressions have resulted in the rising of feminist groups and
development of the feminism era. Fight against Sexual Harassment at work
place has been started by the forces of feminist movement and was coined in
1970s.
In any workforce there will be a range of attitudes about what conduct is
considered to be offensive, humiliating, intimidating, hostile, or degrading.
What one worker – or even a majority of workers – might see as harmless fun
or ‘banter’, another may find unacceptable. A worker complaining about
conduct may be considered by others to be overly sensitive or prudish.
However, it is important to understand that conduct can amount to harassment
or sexual harassment even if that is not how it was intended. This chapter will
shed light on what exactly sexual harassment means, its historical background
and its effects.

Historical Background
Since the 1980s, sexual harassment in the workplace has been a serious
problem in India. The Forum for the Elimination of Oppression of Women
spearheaded an initiative to ban workplace sexual harassment in the 1980s.
Reports from non-governmental organizations indicate that 70% of those
affected are female and most of the cases remained unreported. However, this
did not deter the female activists and social workers from battling sexual
harassment in the workplace and bringing every incidence to light. Through
protests and demonstrations, the Goan NGO Women's Voice effectively turned
public opinion against the Chief Minister, who was accused of misleading his
secretary, and ultimately forced him to resign.
In 1990, after another incident of this kind, the same organization representing
the wounded girl filed a PIL to broaden the language of the existing legislation
against rape.
In 1992, Bhanwari Devi, a rural trade agent was working for the state of
Rajasthan to assist end child marriage before this law was passed. As a result of
her efforts, the marriage of an infant girl in a village was spared. Some of the
locals became angry at her, and some of the men in that village gang raped her.
Not only this, the police officers instead of helping her tried almost everything
to not lodge the FIR in the case which resulted in a delayed investigation. The
medical examination was also not conducted on time. It was delayed for 52
hours. Moreover, the doctor did not mention anything about the commission
of rape in the report but rather mentioned the age of the victim. Consequently,
the accused were acquitted by the trial court as there were not sufficient
pieces of evidence on record to convict them. However, the high court
convicted the accused men of assault whose punishment is much less than the
crime of rape. The judgement gave rise to anger among the masses which led
to a series of protests and demands for equality and justice. Subsequently, a
writ petition was filed before the Supreme Court by a women's rights group
called Vishaka which focused on enforcement of basic human rights and
fundamental rights of female employees at a workplace under articles 14, 15,
19 & 21 of the constitution of India.
As a result, in 1997, a three-judge bench of India's highest court docket issued
a landmark verdict on the topic of sexual harassment known as the Vishaka
judgment, which must be followed by all organizations when dealing with
prevention and resolution. This is the first ruling of its type to explicitly
condemn and define sexual harassment against female employees. Women
who experienced sexual harassment on the job before the 1997 judgement
may only report the incident to authorities under the applicable sections of the
Indian Penal Code. Other organizations, foundations, institutions, and staff
members shirk responsibility when it comes to the security of their female
employees. The National Commission for Women developed a Code of Conduct
for the Workplace in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2010 in response to
commitments and concerns from numerous groups.
Preventing Sexual Harassment of Women at Work
In 2007, the then-Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath
introduced the bill. Following its approval by the Union Cabinet in January
2010, the bill was introduced to the Lok Sabha in December of the same year.
In November 2011, a report from a parliamentary committee was released and
used as a statement regarding the legislation. The Cabinet made internal
changes to the law in May of 2012, after it had been debated for a few months.
The Bill, as revised, was passed by the Lok Sabha in September 2012, and the
Rajya Sabha announced its final decision on the issue in February 2013. Sexual
Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and
Redressal) Act was signed into law by the President in April 2013 and went into
effect on December 9, 2013.
The Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition,
and Redressal) Act, 2013 carries forward and expands upon the spirit of the
Vishakha Guidelines. Including female customers, clients, and domestic
workers in the definition of "aggrieved woman" broadens its applicability
beyond just those in traditionally "women's" occupations. As a result, the term
"office" can now refer to any setting where work is performed, not just the
conventional workplace. It details what needs to be done if an internal
grievance committee (ICC) is not formed and mandates the production of an
audit record of the total number of complaints and action taken at the end of
the year. The agency is responsible for a variety of education and training
initiatives related to the ICC Act, such as orientation programs for ICC
contributors and ongoing workshops and focus programs. Companies can be
penalized up to Rs50,000 for not having a representative at an ICC or for
breaking any other rule. If the criminal has been caught breaking the law
before, you get double the satisfaction. If the company has been convicted of
an Act violation before, the penalties will be doubled and the license may be
revoked or not renewed for a third violation. A Metropolitan Magistrate or a
Judicial Magistrate of the main elegance must preside over the trial of any
offense punishable under the Act. All of this has given working women in
government and private sectors a sense of security against sexual harassment
and assault.

Meaning of Sexual Harassment

Section 2(n) of the 2013 Act defines sexual harassment. It includes any one or
more of the following:
Uninvited physical contact and advances
Making demand for sexual favours
Making sexually covered remarks
Showing pornography
Any other unwelcome behaviour whether it's physical, verbal or non-verbal.

Types of Sexual Harassment

There are several types of sexual harassment which are necessary to be
evaluated in order to understand the gravity of this menace and for
understanding the spheres where this harassment is prevalent.

3.4.1 Oral Sexual Behaviour:

It means and includes such oral sexual behaviour like comments of a sexual
nature about shape, size, size, weight, nasty comments, rude and vulgar jokes;
or saying something publicly which is disrespectful and insulting to women. It
also includes Graphic sexual descriptions i.e., talks of a sexual nature;
Telephone calls with a sexual tone; Joke around and use names like Darling,
Honey, Sweet Heart, etc.
3.4.2 Non-verbal behaviour and gestures
Gestures are movements of the body, head, hands, hands, fingers, face, and
eyes that are expressions of an idea, opinion, touch, or emotion. Sexual
harassment can occur in following ways:
▪ Licking of the lips or of teeth. ▪ Giving smutty looks or calling with lewd tones.
▪ Showing pornographic written wanton material either in form of letters or
emails or notes or invitations.
3.4.3 Visual Harassment
This includes showing of pornography, nude posters, photographs and
cartoons, sexually explicit images to the victim at work place.
3.4.4 Physical Harassment
This includes actual physical efforts to kiss, hug, pat, squeeze the breasts and
cheeks, and other physical efforts.
3.4.5 Psychological Harassment
This includes asking for a day job and holding it for excessive hours, and staring
at your face, breasts, neck, eyes, and other parts of the body; Frequent
unwanted invitations to dinners, drinks and movies, proposals for physical
intimacy with subtle gestures that can make open requests for dates or sexual
activity, sexual favours, erotic clothing and suggestive saris, costumes, dressing
and adopting suggestive hairstyles, Lipstick, etc
3.4.6 Quid pro quo harassment
In quid pro quo harassment, the employer provides job benefits to promote or
increase or move to a particular location, etc. The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines quid pro quo harassment as unwanted
sexual development, sexual favour, and other verbal or physical acts soliciting
conduct of a sexual nature, when
a. Submission to such conduct is made expressly or implicitly on the condition
of private employment or
b. The submission or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the
basis for employment decisions affecting that person.
3.4.7 Hostile Environment Harassment
In such harassment, the complainant is subject to a nervous or abusive work
environment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines such
harassment as ignorant of sexual advances, requests for sexual Favors, and
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. When such conduct is
intended or intended to interfere with someone's job performance or to
intimidate, it creates a hostile or aggressive work environment

Factors Responsible for Sexual Harassment

There are various factors which aggravate instances of sexual harassment cases
in the workplace.
1. Role of Media vis-à-vis obscene projection of women
2. Pornographic content on Internet
3. Non- Reporting of Cases
4. Fear of office gossip and mistrust
5. Fear of losing job
6. Difficulty in proving Crime
 7. Non-support of office management and lack of response
8. Inadequate legal sanctions and insufficient law enforcement agencies

Effects of sexual harassment

In almost all instances, the impact of improper behaviour on a person is very
severe. It affects a person's capacity to work, causes anxiety, discontent, anger,
and a variety of other pressure-related feelings, and a person lives in a constant
state of pressure. The unlucky victim also feels humiliated, guilty
(transgression), pressured, agitated, or discouraged, and they lose faith in their
co-representatives. They need to stay away from work for the most part. They
also suffer from the negative consequences of bodily side effects. Their social
interactions also get effected because of their physical health deterioration as
they suffer from bad medical conditions. Many people believe that the effect of
obscene behaviour is limited to the person, however this is not true. It has a
significant impact on the organisation. The whole environment of the
workplace becomes unpleasant and unsuitable for working relationships, and
the collaborators and partners are also adversely affected. It leads to reduced
profitability, lower efficacy, and a loss of trust in the workplace.