Sexual Harassment at Workplace
Context:
- Even though the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH) has been in effect for 10 years, the Indian Supreme Court Bench has noted that there have been “serious lapses” and there is “uncertainty” over how it has been put into practise.
Defining sexual harassment at work:
- Sexual harassment in the workplace is defined as any inappropriate sexual behaviour that has the purpose or effect of preventing a person from carrying out their job responsibilities or from generating a hostile, abusive, or unpleasant work environment.
- Sexual harassment at work is prohibited by the PoSH Act of 2013 if any of the following things take place, are present, or are connected to any act or behaviour that qualifies as sexual harassment:
- a promise of special treatment in her job, whether implied or spoken; or
- covert or explicit threat of receiving undesirable treatment at work; or
- threat to her employment status, either now or in the future, whether covert or obvious;
- obstructing her work or creating a frightful, disagreeable, or unpleasant atmosphere at work; or
- degrading treatment that could put her health or safety in peril.
PoSH Act of 2013:
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013, defining sexual harassment and laying out the procedures for filing complaints, conducting investigations, and taking necessary action.
- It took the place of the Vishaka rules, which were previously in force. Following a case initiated by women’s rights organisations, including Vishaka, the Supreme Court issued a judgement in 1997 that established the Vishaka regulations.
- Regardless of whether they work regularly, temporarily, under contract, on an as-needed or daily salary basis, as apprentices or interns, or even without the knowledge of their primary employer, all female employees have the right to report sexual harassment in the workplace.
- In addition to typical offices, the law expands the concept of “workplace” to include all types of organisations across industries, including non-traditional workplaces. It is applicable to all businesses in the public and private sectors in India.
Employers must meet the following criteria:
- A female employee may visit the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which is a legal requirement for any company with more than 10 employees, to report sexual harassment.
- It must be run by a woman, have at least two women employees, another worker, and a third person—possibly an NGO employee with five years of experience who is conversant with the challenges posed by sexual harassment.
- In terms of calling someone to appear before it, requiring them to testify under oath, and demanding the production of documents, the ICC has similar authority as a civil court.
- The Act also requires the District Officer to create a Local Complaints Committee in each district and, if necessary, at the block level.
- The employer is expected to provide the district officer with an annual audit report that includes information on the number of sexual harassment claims that were filed during the year and any actions that were taken as a result.
The difficulties in implementation:
- The actual composition of the ICC is still to be determined.
- Either an essential external member is absent from the ICC, or there are not enough members.
- One of the problems is that the Act does not sufficiently address accountability by missing to specify who is in charge of ensuring that workplaces comply with the Act’s obligations and who may be held accountable in the event that those criteria are not met.
- Experts have also noted that incidences of sexual harassment at work are grossly underreported for a number of reasons.
- The access restrictions associated to the judicial system have ended up being duplicated as a result of the inadequate functioning and uncertainty in the legislation regarding how to conduct such inquiries.
Moving forward:
- Sexual harassment in the workplace is a violation of women’s rights to respect and dignity. It affects the group as a whole as well as the individual and society as a whole. To address the concerns brought up by the PoSH Act 2013 as quickly as possible, all parties must cooperate. Then, and only then, will we be able to create an environment that is respectful, safe, and fair for everyone.
