Sexual Harrasment

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual
overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for
sexual favors. Sexual harassment can be physical and verbal.Sexual harassment includes a
range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur
in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, or religious
institutions. Harassers or victims can be of any gender.

In modern legal contexts, sexual harassment is illegal. Laws surrounding sexual harassment
generally do not prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or minor isolated incidents—that
is due to the fact that they do not impose a “general civility code”. In the workplace,
harassment may be considered illegal when it is frequent or severe, thereby creating a hostile
or offensive work environment, or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such
as the victim’s demotion, firing or quitting). The legal and social understanding of sexual
harassment, however, varies by culture.
Sexual harassment by an employer is a form of illegal employment discrimination. For many
businesses or organizations, preventing sexual harassment and defending employees from
sexual harassment charges have become key goals of legal decision-making.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances. The harasser can identify with any
gender and have any relationship to the victim, including being a direct manager, indirect
supervisor, coworker, teacher, peer, or colleague.

Some forms of sexual harassment include:

 Making conditions of employment or advancement dependent on sexual favors, either

explicitly or implicitly.
 Physical acts of sexual assault.
 Requests for sexual favors.
 Verbal harassment of a sexual nature, including jokes referring to sexual acts or sexual
orientation.
 Unwanted touching or physical contact.
 Unwelcome sexual advances.
 Discussing sexual relations/stories/fantasies at work, school, or in other inappropriate
places.
 Feeling pressured to engage with someone sexually.
 Exposing oneself or performing sexual acts on oneself.
 Unwanted sexually explicit photos, emails, or text messages.
Discuss Bhanwari Devi Case filed by Vishaka in Vishaka and others v.
State of Rajasthan (Bhanwari Devi Case)
The case is of the year 1997, were a petition was filed in Supreme Court by group of Women
called ‘Vishaka’ Regarding Sexual Harassment with one of their member of group named
Bhanwari Devi, at work place. It was been heard by a bench of chief justice J.S. Verma,
Justice Sujata Manohar and justice B.N. Kirpal. The case is an one of the landmark
judgement in India, as it states the guidelines for sexual harassment at work place. Before
1997, there were no formal guidelines, which dealt with sexual harassment at work place.

Background:
In India, before 1997, there were no formal guidelines for how an incident involving sexual
harassment at workplace should be dealt by an employer. Women experiencing sexual
harassment at workplace had to lodge a complaint under Section 354 of the Indian Penal
Code that deals with the ‘criminal assault of women to outrage women’s modesty’ and
Section 509 that punishes an individual or individuals for using a ‘word, gesture or act
intended to insult the modesty of a woman’. These sections left the interpretation of
‘outraging women’s modesty’ to the discretion of the police officer.
During the 1990s, Rajasthan state government employee Bhanwari Devi who tried to prevent
child marriage as part of her duties as a worker of the Women Development Programme was
raped by the landlords of the gujjar community. The feudal patriarchs who were enraged by
her (in their words: “a lowly woman from a poor and potter community”) ‘guts’ decided to
teach her a lesson and raped her repeatedly.[clarification needed] The rape survivor did not
get justice from Rajasthan High Court and the rapists were allowed to go free. This inspired
several women’s groups and non-governmental organizations to file a petition in the Supreme
Court under the collective platform of Vishaka.
This case brought to the attention of the Supreme Court of India, “the absence of domestic
law occupying the field, to formulate effective measures to check the evil of sexual
harassment of working women at all work places.”
The Vishaka Guidelines
The entirety of the guidelines are far too detailed and descriptive to find a full
mention here but the guidelines (heavily summarised) are as follows:

Measures for Prevention – The employer is required through official

notifications, circulars, notices and express instruction to prohibit acts that come
under the definition of sexual harassment under the provisions of the guidelines
and Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Proceedings in case of Misconduct – If the actions committed fall under the

purview of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the employer is required to take
prosecutorial action against the accused by informing the relevant authorities.

Redressal Mechanism – An organization must have a redressal mechanism to

address the complaints. This must be irrespective of the fact whether the act
constitutes an offense under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, or any other law as
such.

Redressal Committee – Such a redressal mechanism or more precisely such a

complaint committee must have women as more than half of its members and
its head must be a woman. The committee must comprise a counseling facility.
It is also acceptable to collaborate with NGOs or any such organizations which
are well aware of such issues. A report must be sent to the government annually
on the development of the issues being dealt with by the committee.
Major Provisions of POSH ACT 2013
The POSH Act is a legislation enacted by the Government of India in 2013 to
address the issue of sexual harassment faced by women in the workplace.
The Act aims to create a safe and conducive work environment for women and
provide protection against sexual harassment.
The POSH Act defines sexual harassment to include unwelcome acts such as
physical contact and sexual advances, a demand or request for sexual favours,
making sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other
unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.
Background: The Supreme Court in a landmark judgment in the Vishakha and
others v State of Rajasthan 1997 case gave ‘Vishakha guidelines’.
These guidelines formed the basis for the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The SC also drew its strength from several provisions of the Constitution
including Article 15 (against discrimination on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, and place of birth), also drawing from relevant International
Conventions and norms such as the General Recommendations of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), which India ratified in 1993.
Key Provisions:
Prevention and Prohibition: The Act places a legal obligation on employers to
prevent and prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace.
Internal Complaints Committee (ICC): Employers are required to constitute an
ICC at each workplace with 10 or more employees to receive and address
complaints of sexual harassment.
The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts for gathering
evidence.
Duties of Employers: Employers must undertake awareness programs, provide a
safe working environment, and display information about the POSH Act at the
workplace.
Complaint Mechanism: The Act lays down a procedure for filing complaints,
conducting inquiries, and providing a fair opportunity to the parties involved.
Penalties: Non-compliance with the Act’s provisions can result in penalties,
including fines and cancellation of business licenses.

Discuss all other Supreme Court/High Court Judgments concerning Sexual

Harassment at Work
Judgement:

In 1997, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment laying down guidelines to be
followed by establishments in dealing with complaints about sexual harassment. “Vishaka
Guidelines” were stipulated by the Supreme Court of India, in Vishaka and others v State of
Rajasthan case in 1997, regarding sexual harassment at workplace. The court stated that these
guidelines were to be implemented until legislation is passed to deal with the issue.
The court decided that the consideration of “International Conventions and norms are
significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work
with human dignity in Articles 14, 15 19and 21 of the Constitution and the safeguards against
sexual harassment implicit therein.”
The court also defined sexual harassment as including such unwelcome sexually determined
behaviour (whether directly or by implication) like physical contact and advances, a demand
or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, or any other
unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature. The court recognised that
where any of these acts is committed in circumstances where under the victim of such
conduct has a reasonable apprehension that in relation to the victim’s employment or work
whether she is drawing salary, or honorarium or voluntary, whether in government, public or
private enterprise such conduct can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety
problem. The court noted that it was discriminatory when the woman has reasonable grounds
to believe that objecting to sexual harassment would disadvantage her in connection with her
employment or work including recruiting or promotion or when it creates a hostile work
environment. Thus, sexual harassment need not involve physical contact. Any act that creates
a hostile work environment — be it by virtue of cracking lewd jokes, verbal abuse,
circulating lewd rumours etc. — counts as sexual harassment.The creation of a hostile work
environment through unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature may
consist not of a single act but of pattern of behaviour comprising many such acts.
Noting that in some cases, the psychological stigma of reporting the conduct of a co-worker
might require a great deal of courage on the part of the victim and they may report such acts
after a long period of time. The guidelines suggest that the compliance mechanism should
ensure time-bound treatment of complaints, but they do not suggest that a report can only be
made within a short period of time since the incident occurred. Often, the police refuse
tolodge FIRs for sexual harassment cases, especially where the harassment occurred some
time ago.
Subsequent Legislation:

The Supreme Court of India’s judgement only proposed guidelines to alleviate the problem of
sexual harassment in 1997. India finally enacted its law on prevention of sexual harassment
against female employees at the workplace. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“Sexual Harassment Act”) has been made
effective on 23 April 2013 by way of publication in the Gazette of India.

Discuss “ME TOO” campaign with reference to Sexual Harassment at

Work

MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse,

sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences
of sexual abuse or sexual harassment.The phrase “Me Too” was initially used in
this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor
and activist Tarana Burke.The hashtag #MeToo was used starting in 2017 as a
way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem.

Me Too” empowers sexually assaulted people (especially young and vulnerable

women of color) through empathy, solidarity, and strength in numbers, by
visibly demonstrating how many have experienced sexual assault and
harassment, especially in the workplace.
The original purpose of “Me Too” as used by Tarana Burke in 2006 was to
empower women through empathy, especially young and vulnerable women. In
October 2017, Alyssa Milano encouraged using the phrase as a hashtag to help
reveal the extent of problems with sexual harassment and assault by showing
how many people have experienced these events themselves. It therefore
encourages women to speak up about their abuses, knowing that they are not
alone.
After millions of people started using the phrase, and it spread to dozens of
other languages, the purpose changed and expanded, and as a result, it has come
to mean different things to different people. Tarana Burke accepts the title of
“leader” of the movement, but has stated that she considers herself more of a
“worker”. Burke has stated that this movement has grown to include both men
and women of all colors and ages, as it continues to support marginalized
people in marginalized communities. There have also been movements by men
aimed at changing the culture through personal reflection and future action,
including #IDidThat, #IHave, and #IWill.
Awareness and empathy
Analyses of the movement often point to the prevalence of sexual violence,
which has been estimated by the World Health Organization to affect one-third
of all women worldwide. A 2017 poll by ABC News and The Washington Post
also found that 54% of American women report receiving “unwanted and
inappropriate” sexual advances with 95% saying that such behavior usually
goes unpunished. Others state that #MeToo underscores the need for men to
intervene when they witness demeaning behavior.
Burke said that #MeToo declares sexual violence sufferers are not alone and
should not be ashamed. Burke says sexual violence is usually caused by
someone the woman knows, so people should be educated from a young age
that they have the right to say no to sexual contact from any person, even after
repeated solicitations from an authority or spouse, and to report predatory
behavior. Burke advises men to talk to each other about consent, call out
demeaning behavior when they see it and try to listen to victims when they tell
their stories
Alyssa Milano said that #MeToo has helped society understand the “magnitude
of the problem” and that, “it’s a standing in solidarity to all those who have been
hurt.She stated that the success of #MeToo will require men to take a stand
against behavior that objectifies women.