Almost 16 years after the Apex Court in the landmark ‘Vishaka’ judgment laid down guidelines making it mandatory for every employer to provide a mechanism to redress issues pertaining to sexual harassment at the workplace, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into being on April 23, 2013. The Act defines sexual harassment to include any one or more of unwelcome acts or behaviour like physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, making sexually coloured remarks or showing pornography. The Act filled a glaring void in a country with such a large workforce, which includes a significant proportion of women workers, across the spectrum from blue-collared workers to corporate employees.
This Act is one of a kind because of the inclusion of domestic workers as well as agricultural labourers both in the organised as well as un-organised sector in its ambit. The salient features of this Act are:
- Every organisation employing 10 or more employees must set up an ‘Internal Complaints Committee’ (ICC) to investigate complaints of sexual harassment at every office/branch
- In organisations where there are less than 10 employees, the Government is required to set up a ‘Local Complaints Committee’ (LCC) to investigate complaints of sexual harassment
- All complaints must be disposed off within a time frame of 90 days failing which a penalty will be imposed on the organisation
- Employers who fail to comply will be fined up to Rs. 50,000/-. Repeated non-compliance by an organisation can lead to suspension or cancellation of their license to conduct business
- At the behest of the aggrieved employee the ICC and LCC can recommend certain interim measures to the organisation. These include transfer of the aggrieved employee to another branch or office, or granting leave of up to three months in addition to the statutory leave policy
- The Act also has made provisions to deal with frivolous and vexatious complaints made
Pradeep Ramakrishnan, a human resources professional in a leading corporate in India, when asked if he has ever encountered a complaint of sexual harassment, said: “Yes. In my previous company we implemented the entire framework on sexual harassment. As soon as the issue was highlighted there was a committee set up to investigate the entire incident. Actions were taken in-line with the policy mandates leading to termination of the offender.”
Emphasising the need for gender sensitisation Mr Ramakrishnan said: “We have a proactive approach in sensitising employees with regards to sexual harassment. With an open culture where anybody can be approached for any employee concerns, there are regular touch points with employees to proactively address any issues that are raised. There are strong policies and a framework that governs any incidents against sexual harassment.”
The statistics that a survey conducted by Center for Transforming India revealed about sexual harassment in the workplace is startling. The study concluded that 88% women faced sexual harassment, 83% never report it, and 91% fear victimisation. Literally nine out of 10 women employees face sexual harassment in India, but hardly a fraction of them come forward to report it. This may have been due to the lack of legal provisions that have now been addressed. This also has to do with the shoddy and haphazard way complaints have been handled till now.
Early last week, a teacher from a prominent school in Gurgaon, Delhi, sent a complaint to the National Commission of Women (NCW) alleging sexual harassment by a male colleague. It has been reported that despite bringing this issue up with the school Principal no action was taken, and instead the alleged victim who was a temporary member of staff was terminated from her position.
In the sexual harassment case that came to light at the IIM Bangalore campus, it took nearly two years after the victim made a complaint for a decision to be taken. The victim in that case filed the complaint in June 2011. Her services were abruptly terminated in January 2012 after which it was only in May 2013 that the offenders services were terminated by the institute. Despite garnering a fair share of media space it took two years for this decision to be reached.
Over the years there have been several high-profile cases of sexual harassment that have come to the fore. Designer Anand Jon, Author David Davidar, and even the former Punjab Director General of Police K.P.S. Gill have been embroiled in cases of sexual harassment. While many complaints get lost amidst procedural loopholes, some are settled out of court, and only a handful reach their logical conclusion of conviction if found guilty.
While the Act comes loaded with positives there are certain loopholes that exist as well. The Act has provisions to look into complaints made by women alone, thus making it gender biased. This Act could also make it harder for women to find certain jobs since employers may think twice before employing women now. While the need of the hour was a codified law on sexual harassment in the workplace, to speculate its success or failure is too early to do. If anything, sexual harassment in most cases is complex, subtle and highly subjective, lending itself to be an offence that is difficult to prove unless someone has a smoking gun, and thus the law should give the victim the ability to wade through the subjectivities and provide justice.
