WOMEN CONTINUE to be the victims of sexual harassment all over the world. In India, it happens all the time, in the buses, on the roads and at the workplace. Among the guilty are, sometimes, those who are the law makers and enforcers. Shockingly, even the homes are not safe if the attempt is not rebuffed the first time it is made. While the law remains inadequate, there is need for awareness among women in the absence of an effective machinery.
An allegation of sexual harassment levelled against the Orissa assembly speaker by a woman marshal not only led to the adjournment of the House, but also to his resignation, in March, 2008. A minister from Orissa also lost his job, for allegedly engineering and encouraging the problems against the speaker. Terming the allegation as baseless, the speaker said that it was the fallout of the actions initiated to discipline the employees and also part of a conspiracy in which important persons were involved.
This is not the only case of sexual harassment involving a high profile celebrity. In September, 2004, a former Kerala minister, Nadar, was sentenced to one year imprisonment in a sexual assault case. This was the result of a complaint filed in 1999 by a divisional forest officer, accusing the minister of attempting to molest her after summoning her to his guest house room on the pretext of an urgent meeting. Another similar case had been filed against the same gentleman by a lady Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, Nalini Netto, Following the complaint, he had to resign from the ministry.
The most celebrated case of sexual harassment and molestation pertains to KPS Gill, a former Punjab Police chief. He was convicted of molesting a Punjab cadre lady IAS officer at a party in Chandigarh. In January 1998, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to three months imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs two lakhs. Finally, his appeal was accepted by the Supreme Court (SC), which released him under Probation of Offenders Act. But he had to pay the fine in lieu of imprisonment.
An enquiry conducted by the ministry of Women and Child Welfare, in 2007, found United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) India chief guilty of sexual harassment. An army court of inquiry has found a top armed forces official, of the rank of Major General, guilty of sexual harassment of his subordinate woman officer, of the rank of Captain
Sexual harassment and rape are two sides of the same coin. Both have the same victim- women. The Apex court has explicitly defined sexual harassment as an act, which “Includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour, (whether directly or by implication) as: Physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.” The SC has emphasised that it should be treated as law under Article 141 of the Constitution.
The truth is that women do not complain against superiors, not only because they fear losing their jobs, but also because there is an element of doubt and disbelief against their complaint. In India, according to a survey, every 51 minutes, a woman is reported to be sexually harassed and every 26 minutes a woman is sexually molested. Several studies indicate that the magnitude of unreported cases is several times over the estimate.
The report of a study conducted by the gender study group of the Delhi University showed that 91.7 per cent of all the inmates of women’s hostels and 88.2 per cent of all the women day scholars had faced sexual harassment on the roads and within the campus.
According to a study, conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 23 countries, 15-30 per cent of the working women had been subjected to sexual harassment, which varied from explicit demands for sexual intercourse to offensive remarks. One out of 12 women surveyed, had to quit her job. Some of them were dismissed.
A study has found that 45 per cent of Czechoslovakian women had been sexually harassed at the workplace, yet the real numbers are probably higher.
Till now no law has been passed, which considers sexual harassment as a separate legal offence in our country. The fact is that it is not less serious, but it is taken less seriously. The critical factor, in sexual harassment, is the unwelcome nature of the behaviour. It is the impact of the behaviour on the recipient, rather than the intention of the perpetrator, which determines the standards for sexual harassment. In actual practice, in the absence of witnesses or other concrete proof, it is the complainant’s word against the harasser’s.
There is hardly a country where the problem of sexual harassment does not exist. France is the only country that has passed a criminal law related to sexual harassment, although some other form of criminal law in other countries can be applied to extreme cases of sexual harassment.
The statistics released by the Delhi Police in January, 2008 have just reinforced Delhi’s image as an unsafe metro for women. The reported molestation cases rose to an all-time high of 835, against 713 in 2006. This number may just be the tip of the iceberg, as a large number of cases go unreported.
In most cases, the victims avoid registering a complaint, fearing social stigma or harassment at the hands of the cops. The conviction rate is low in molestation cases as according to the police, the victims change their statements in the court. So the accused walks free and gets emboldened to repeat the act. The police also admits that many victims shy away from coming to the police station, as not many officers handle rape and molestation complaints sensitively.
In one of his poems, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former PM says, “In every panchayat Draupadi is robbed of her honour.” She is today not only dishonoured in panchayats but also in the city transport buses, in the city streets and even in her home.
The women on their part should shed the mentality of tolerating sexual harassment. They must express strong resistance the first time it occurs. If they allow such conduct to take place without expressing their strongest disapproval, the offender will assume that he has their consent.
In case someone behaves with a woman, in a manner that makes her feel uncomfortable, she should protest and complain loudly and at once. This will discourage the potential mischief mongers to misbehave. It also conveys a message, that such a behaviour is totally unacceptable
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