What is Sexual Harassment ?
Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (SHW) has remained one of the central concerns of the women’s movement in India since the early-80s. Before 1997, women experiencing SHW had to lodge a complaint under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the criminal assault of women to outrage women’s modesty, and Section 509 that punishes individual/individuals for using a word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. These sections left the interpretation of outraging women’s modesty to the discretion of the police officer/s. In 1997, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment in the Vishakha case laying down guidelines to be followed by establishments in dealing with complaints about sexual harassment. THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT THE WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT was passed in April 2013.

Harassment of sexual nature is an infringement on life and liberty and is also condemned as a form of violation of the fundamental rights to equality under articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India and her/his right to life and to live with dignity under article 21 of the Constitution and the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, which includes a right to a safe environment free from sexual harassment. The protection against sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity are universally recognized human rights by international conventions and instruments such as the convention on the elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which has been ratified on the 25 June 1993 by the Government of India.

The Constitution of India and the international convention, CEDAW to which India is a signatory decrees this so and therefore, it is a prerogative of employers/administration of workplaces/Institutions to cater to and mete justice to those victims of harassment. A set of guidelines have been set by the Supreme Court, commonly known as the Vishakha Guidelines. According to this, every employer and other responsible people is obliged to do the following:

• Follow the judgment laid down by the Court.
• Evolve a specific policy to combat sexual harassment in the workplace.

The guidelines explicitly state the following:

It shall be the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in workplaces or other institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment and to provide the procedures for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts, of sexual harassment by taking all steps required.

Emergency complaints can also be dropped on a piece of paper in the Drop Box placed in the Central Library.
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