‘Employer needs to ensure that work environment is safe and women friendly’ | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
The recent spate of sexual harassment allegations that some of India’s female sportspersons (wrestling) have said has left us shocked. The affected people had to sit on a dharna in the capital to express their views. This shows that no internal complaints committee (if any) is functioning. Or, the wrestlers were not aware of this. The Vishaka Guidelines on reporting harassment are meant to be followed by government and private institutions alike. Considering the sensitivity of the issue, the Union Sports Minister constituted an ‘Inspection Committee’ headed by a woman Olympic medalist to look into the allegations leveled against the Wrestling Federation of India president.
Earlier, in February 2021, a prominent female journalist celebrated her victory—not because the man she accused of sexually harassing her was convicted, but because she was acquitted of defamation charges leveled against her by the accusers. was given. The ‘truth’ of harassment prevailed and it was held that a woman cannot be punished for raising her voice against abuse. She raised her voice against her employer and a powerful politician. Although a specific offense relating to ‘sexual harassment’ (under section 354-A) was inserted in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2013, the charge was broadly covered under section 509 (i.e., outraging the modesty of a woman). ) come under. IPC. The victim chose not to report the matter to the police, and there was no internal mechanism for redressal of complaints of sexual harassment since the Vishaka Guidelines formulated by the Supreme Court of India in 1997. But this did not give any liberty to the employer to violate the fundamental rights of a woman at the workplace.
Structural Violence, Data on the Workforce
Violence in the workplace is both direct and structural in the form of sexual harassment. While an enabling environment for the reporting of direct violence has shown gradual improvement, indirect violence has been poorly addressed because it is deeply embedded in our social and economic structures. This is more visible in the prevailing employment imbalance between men and women in the organized and unorganized sectors. With more men in the workplace, they feel entitled and empowered to take undue advantage of the historical fact that society is still patriarchal and women are not only a minority, but hold few high positions as well.
When it comes to majority rule, numbers matter. When there is a sufficient number of people in support of the affected person, he must muster the courage to voice his complaint. Also, a lot will depend on the tooth-to-tail ratio of any organization. When the number of women in leadership positions is not sufficient to instill confidence in subordinates, women in lower positions feel reluctant to air their grievances.
The Annual Report of the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), available for 2020-21, shows that although women’s participation in the total labor force has increased, that is, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) has gradually declined from 17.5% in 2017-18 Has increased to 25.1. % in 2020-21, and the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased from 16.5% in 2017-18 to 24.2% in 2020-21, it is still much lower than that of males. The LFPR and WPR data published in the latest quarterly bulletin (April-June 2022) are also not encouraging. While LFPR is defined as the percentage of individuals in the labor force among individuals in the population (i.e., both employed and unemployed or seeking employment), WPR is the percentage of individuals employed among individuals in the population.
start early, and at home
Lack of an enabling and safe work environment is one factor for the low participation of women in the labor force. It is generally accepted that most women do not report sexual harassment and that existing redressal mechanisms are either non-existent or ineffective. They are more vulnerable to exploitation by their employers as they can easily be threatened with the continuation of their jobs for obscene favors.
Unless a mindset of treating men and women as equals is inculcated at an early stage of character formation during childhood, the stereotypical power relationship between the two will be difficult to change later.
It would not be out of context to mention here a principle of criminology known as ‘nature versus nurture’. It states that both genetics and environment influence the development of an individual. While genes may dictate certain characteristics of one’s personality at birth, it is social conditioning and the family environment and early schooling that matter most during a child’s development. Unless both the parents respect each other and treat their girl and boy equally in every way, they grow up learning this inequality as a normal phenomenon, which leads to criminal tendencies in men. There can also be development. That’s why it has to start from home.
target setting
Similarly, it is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe working environment. The employer needs to ensure that the work environment is safe and women friendly. However, it is observed that whenever allegations of sexual harassment are made against senior officials, instead of getting the complaint expeditiously investigated under the law, i.e., the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Act, 2013, the accused either resort to multiple attempts at litigation to prevent due process or attempt to defame the victim on flimsy grounds. The situation becomes more complicated when the accused himself is at the helm of the cases, as in the examples above.
Therefore, it is necessary to set goals to improve the workplace environment for women. Short-term goals may include providing necessary women-friendly infrastructure, setting up internal complaints committees, and spreading awareness about the law and the process of grievance redressal.
Medium-term goals may include increasing female participation in the labor force, improving the tooth-to-tail ratio, and providing incentives to prevent drop-outs such as paid maternity leave. However, in the longer term, it is necessary to address the deeply rooted structural and cultural violence that puts women at a disadvantageous position. The status quo cannot change unless the society as a whole works continuously to bring about necessary changes in the existing socio-cultural and economic structures to eliminate indirect violence, root and branch.
RK Vij is the former Special Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal