Daily News Analysis 15th October 2018.

Daily News Analysis (Prelims + Mains) – 15th October 2018

General Study – II

Topic:

Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Sexual Harassment at Workplace

Context: As India embarks upon the #MeToo movement, here is an overview of the issue of sexual harassment at workplace in India.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is a behaviour with a sexual connotation that is abusive, injurious and unwelcome and makes a person feel offended, humiliated and/or intimidated. The International Labour Organization (ILO) recognizes sexual harassment at workplace both as an aspect of gender discrimination and as a form of violence against women. Sexual harassment at workplace can be of two types:

Quid pro quo (this for that) harassment: There is a promise of a work-related benefit, or the threat of a work-related sanction, in exchange of sexual favours
Creation of a hostile work environment based on sex: actions/ behaviours which make working environment hostile for female employees

Statistical Overview:

Since 2015 till July 2018, a total of 1631 cases have been filed under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
There is a wide disparity among states, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for nearly 25% of all cases, followed by Delhi (16%).

Impact of Sexual Harassment at Workplace:

It violates a woman’s fundamental right to equality (Article 14), right against discrimination (Article15) and right to life (Article 21) guaranteed by the Constitution of India
Sexual harassment at workplace creates an insecure and hostile working environment for women which impedes their capacity to perform at work.
It also adversely affects the social and economic growth of women and hinders women empowerment. A study led by the ILO found that lewd behaviour and threatening at workplaces were the most well-known reason women left the workforce in Uttar Pradesh.
Sexual harassment also puts them through physical and emotional suffering. Experiences of sexual harassment can contribute to “sexual harassment trauma syndrome”. Further, harassment victims often experience secondary victimization when attempting to deal with the issue through legal or institutional means.

Indian Legislation against sexual harassment at workplace:

Before 1997, women experiencing sexual harassment at workplace had to lodge a complaint under Section 354of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the ‘criminal assault of women to outrage women’s modesty’, and Section 509 that punishes an individual(s) for using a ‘word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman’.
In 1997, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment in the Vishakha case, for the first time defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions — prohibition, prevention, redress. The Supreme Court directed institutions establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
In 2013, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed. The main objective of the Act was to implement the Vishakha guidelines and to ensure access to a safe workplace by woman.

Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013

This act was enacted in April 2013 as India’s first law dealing with the protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace. Some important feature of this act are as follows:

This Act aimed to provide every woman, irrespective of her age or employment status, a safe and secure working environment free from all forms of harassment.
This Act covered both the organized and unorganized sectors in India. The statute applied to all government bodies, private and public sector organizations, non-governmental organizations, organizations carrying out commercial, vocational, educational, entertainment, industrial, financial activities, hospitals etc.
This Act defined ‘sexual harassment’ in line with the Supreme Court’s definition in the Vishaka Judgment.
The Act extended the meaning of the word sexual harassment to include “presence or occurrence of circumstances of implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment, threat of detrimental treatment in employment, threat about present or future employment, interference with work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment, or humiliating treatment likely to affect the lady employee’s health or safety could also amount to sexual harassment”.
The Act also introduced the concept of ‘extended workplace’since sexual harassment is not always confined to the primary place of employment. Therefore, the Act defined ‘workplace’ to include any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment, including transportation provided by the employer for the purpose of commuting to and from the place of employment.
The Act provided for the establishment of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)at each and every office or branches of the organization employing 10 or more employees, in order to provide a forum for filing complaints to facilitate fast redressal of the grievances pertaining to sexual harassment.
It also provided for the establishment of local complaints committee (LCC)at the district level by the Government to investigate and redress complaints of sexual harassment of the unorganized sector or from those establishments where the ICC has not been constituted for the reason being, it having less than 10 employees.

Apathy of authorities

Lack of initiative on the part of government authorities to monitor the implementation and enforce the law.
The government at the State level has not even bothered to appoint district officers or local committees under the 2013 Act.
There are no appointments of nodal officers or internal complaints committees in certain offices.
There has been no move to ensure the reporting and collection of annual compliance reports from workplaces. Hence, the law meant to protect working women has hit a roadblock.

Issues and Challenges:

Lack of Awareness: The efficacy of anti-sexual harassment provisions depends largely on the awareness of the employees in an organization. However, studies conducted on occurrence and dynamics of sexual harassment at workplace noted that most of the employees including members of ICC are not aware of what amounts to sexual harassment.
Apathy of organizations:Many organizations have not constituted a ICC. Further, women rights activists point out that organizations generally view sexual harassment cases from the perspective of their public image and not as a breach to individual employee’s breach to dignity and safety. This often leads to hushing up of cases.
Reporting of cases:A survey conducted by Indian National Bar Association revealed that nearly 70% of women did not complain about sexual harassment at workplace due to fear, embarrassment, lack of confidence in complaint mechanism, unawareness, and due to stigma attached to sexual harassment.
Victimization:Victimization in sexual harassment often occurs during retaliation and due to third party hostility. However, the 2013 law is silent on victimisation and has neither any preventive provisions nor any remedies for the same
Inclusion of action for false and malicious complaints and evidence: Women are penalised and have to bear the threat of punishment in case they are unable to prove their complaint. These further acts as a deterrent in filing complaints. The provision has been largely criticised by activists and legal experts and even the Verma committee had advised its deletion.
Issues with ICC: Most of the committees lack people who have knowledge about legal technicalities involved in conducting the inquiry, cross-examinations and its importance.
Unorganized sector: The law in adequately addresses the plight of large numbers of women in the unorganised sector who continue to suffer worse conditions of work and harassment without access to legal measures. Further, the LCCs are not formulated or do not function properly in most of the districts.
Employers Liability: According to critics, the law is silent on the employer’s liability in cases except to the extent of setting up a committee and facilitating the holding of an inquiry. There are no prosecutions in case of a failure to provide a safe environment at work.Further, the act does not authorize employer to take suomotu cognizance of acts of sexual harassment at workplace. Thus, the law predominantly focuses on redressal and not prevention or prohibition of such acts.
Not Gender Neutral: The law against sexual harassment at workplace has been criticised for not being gender neutral. It does not take into account sexual harassment faced by men, trans-gender and transsexual individuals.

Need of the Hour

There has to be a sense of fear in the mind of the offenderswhich has to be ensured.
Elaborate suggestion, punishment and the disciplinary action has to be taken. The Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Women and Child Development should see to it that no matter who is accused should be severely dealt with which would instil a gender sensitive society.
More than this is the attitudinal change, how we raise the sons in the families, how we make men respect women within the family and within the private spaces will matter. The socialisation process and education all go towards making the man much more sensitive while dealing with women.
There must also be equal punishment to women who make false charges.
The law makers must think it over that any complaint of rape should have a time bar and complaints cannot be entertained beyond certain time limit. There are instances where the women approach the police or court with the charges of rape happened three years ago and there can be some motive behind the complaint. So there has to be a time bar within which the compliant should be registered say within 6 months or 1 year.
There are 100s of private companies where they don’t have any committee to look into the complaints of sexual harassment of women. The government have to look upon these companies and have proper investigation.

Way Forward:

Organisations should focus on gender diversity at a workplace not only in terms of increasing numbers of women but also ensuring a safe working environment for them and that their voices are heard.
It is important for organizations to educate their employees on proper conduct at the workplace, conduct regular training and aware about severe repercussions of any unwelcome behaviour. Women employees should be made aware of their rights and about what constitutes sexual harassment at workplace
Organizations need to tighten their internal processes to respond to sexual harassment complaints and take the requisite steps to appropriately respond to such cases through ICCs
Concerned state governments should take urgent steps to examine the establishment and functioning of LCCs and address issues of sexual harassment in unorganized sector.
The issue of sexual harassment cannot be addressed by mere enactment of laws. Sincere efforts need to be made in overcoming stereotypes, narrow-mindedness and gender biasness. A more gender-neutral approach needs to be taken to address sexual harassment.

Topics for Prelims

Beyond Twenty by 2020

Vice President launches the two-year celebrations of “Beyond Twenty by 2020” Campaign.
The event on occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

World Egg Day

The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries observes “World Egg Day” on 12^th October 2018.
International Egg Commission has declared the second Friday of October every year as World Egg Day. This is celebrated in countries all around the world, and is a unique opportunity to help raise awareness of the nutritional benefits of eggs.
India is the third highest producer of eggs in the world, but the per capita availability is around 69 eggs per person per year.
Egg is a wholesome, nutritious food with high nutrient density. It is a high value protein and provides a wide variety of other nutrients like vitamins, essential amino acids and minerals etc. crucial for growth and good health.