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Monday, March 16, 2009

IT'S NOT A PROFESSIONAL HAZARD

Sexual harassment at workplace is not reported as women feel that they may be in a way responsible for them being its victims.


Mrs. Madhuri Sute was an ambitious Marathi PhD student who believed in her mentor and guide. She believed he would be there at every step to lead the way to the right direction. Mr. Lokhande thought otherwise and considered her to be an easy prey.

This is not the first of its kind cases where women who are pursuing their dreams have faced constraints from society and sometimes just plain harassment from their superiors. The much touted glass ceiling does exist in the form of harassment- be it mental or sexual.

“When he sent me to fetch water, I went inside and he grasped me from behind and attempted to rape me but I ran away. Since then he constantly tried to threaten me with claims of him being a man who would get away with it but me as a woman would constantly have to bear the brunt of talking about it and thus the best way out would be to stay mum about the incident,” said Mrs. Sute, one of the courageous few who decided to take the battle to court and got her deliverance with the judgement of him being removed from his post. “Women in India constantly face the battle of wills where the family may not support the woman and instead ask her to withdraw or quit her job as the primary solution to dealing with sexual harassment,” she added.

Something very similar happened to Niharika Kalra, a student who was working as a part time associate with an advertising firm. The new boss kept flirting, which she kept ignoring, but after the initial days when it became impossible to work around him she told him to put an end to the indecent behaviour. His retaliation- an attempt to molest her right inside the workplace. Her reaction- She never returned to the job.

While it is believed that sexual harassment is more obvious in certain industries than others it is equally true that it is all pervasive and everywhere fathomable. Fashion, films media and advertising top the list of maximum offenders but then comes the call centres and blue chip companies that also demand a share in the pie. The aviation industry is the new entrant that begs for attention.
When Ashwini Jagdale, an upcoming executive in a blue chip company, was called to the boss’s office, she presumed a promotion was on the cards as she had been awarded the employees award sometime back. She was instead asked to empty her table and leave on grounds of incompetence. Shocked as she was, she demanded a valid reason but the only response she managed to evoke was the demand of a sexual favour in exchange for the job. Counselling family led to one solution- call in the police but police instead of taking action started a counter counselling session putting forth the troubles for her if she goes ahead with the complaint. With the family support slowly ebbing out, the only answer left to Ashwini, like Niharika, was to walk away quietly from the situation without further ado.

The law against sexual harassment at workplace in India came into formation after the Supreme Court upheld the guidelines of Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the Vishakha v/s State of Rajasthan case. The case was historical in nature as for the first time it identified the perils faced by women even during the task of fulfilling duty as projected in the rape of Bhanwari Devi by the villagers of Bhateri, Jaipur, while she was on duty as a saathin opposing child marriage. CEDAW defines sexual harassment as “any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour such as physical contact or touch, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography or any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non –-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.”

“The CEDAW guidelines also expect the companies to create a permanent Complains Committee where a woman can immediately report a case of misconduct. It not only expects this committee to be headed by a woman but also that at least 50% of the members on its board are women,” says Saharsh David of Akshara Women’s Center. While there are several organizations such as Akshara Womens Centre and Indian Centre for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL), that are working towards helping these women who are victims, the fundamental problem lies in the support system, mainly the family and society that pressurize her to keep sexual harassment under wraps.

Kamyani Bali Mahabal a women’s rights activists feels that “the myths that float around about sexual harassment amount to near absurdity with some of them being that women like being sexually harassed because it makes them feel special to be able to grab the attention of the man to this that only women who are provocatively dressed are victims of sexual harassment and decently dressed would never come under the radar of the roving eye.”

Sanjana Agarwal, an aspiring journalist became a victim of sexual harassment by her superior, known for notoriety of his nature. She was warned the same by all- to not let it affect her work and that it was a matter of time before somebody else would become the object of his distraction and she would be spared. She couldn’t handle the constant innuendos and the culmination of it is she has stepped away from journalism altogether. Says Sanjana, “The way it has become these days, its wrong for a woman to be made to go though this kind of harassment. It becomes difficult to concentrate on work and the ultimate sufferer in everything is still the woman. Why should a woman be stemmed from reaching out to her dreams?”

2 comments:

  1. Laws could not do much changing gender inequality. Sexual harassment at workplace is a part of gender injustice that we see everywhere in India. Hyper libido of men could not be satisfied by one women and for that reason they venture onto greener pastures. Moreover, it is majority of men who are engaged in such activities; and, some who are in minority are harassed for not doing so. I have been working for some three years; I saw that someone in my office who actually was a senior tried to molest a new employee (a girl). I tried to come up with legal rights of a women employee and sexual harassment (post Visakha case). I had bonafide intentions but the same girl complained against me alleging that I wanted her to get out from the job… and later on I was shown doors.

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  2. well done kalam wali bai!!

    however it is not only women who suffer there is a large percentage of men as well and while making these laws care must be taken that the law shld not only benifit the victims but shld also not be exploited by a few...

    keep it up...

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