- The Indian Supreme Court has noted “serious lapses” and “uncertainty” in the execution of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act).
- It has directed the Union, States, and UTs to ensure that Internal Complaint Committees (ICCs) are formed in government entities and that the Act’s composition requirements are strictly followed.
What exactly is the POSH Act?
- In 2013, the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act became law.
- It defined sexual harassment, outlined the procedures for filing a complaint and conducting an investigation, and specified the appropriate action.
- It expanded on the already existing Vishakha Guidelines.
What exactly are Vishakha Guidelines?
- The Supreme Court established the Vishakha guidelines in a 1997 decision. This was in a case brought by women’s rights organisations, one of which being Vishakha.
- She had stopped the marriage of a one-year-old daughter in 1992, prompting the claimed gangrape as an act of retaliation.
The legislation and the guidelines
The legally enforceable Vishakha rules identified sexual harassment and set three key requirements on institutions:
- Prohibition
- Prevention
- Redress
The Supreme Court ordered that a Complaints Committee be formed to investigate allegations of sexual harassment of women in the workplace.
These criteria were expanded by the POSH Act:
- It required employers to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with ten or more employees.
- It established protocols and defined several components of sexual harassment, such as the aggrieved victim, who might be a woman “of any age, employed or not,” who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment.”
- This meant that the Act safeguarded the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace in any capacity.
Sexual Harassment Definition
Sexual harassment, according to the 2013 law, covers “any one or more” of the following “unwelcome acts or behaviour” perpetrated directly or indirectly:
- Advancement and physical interaction
- A solicitation or demand for sexual favours
- Remarks of a sexual nature
- Displaying pornography
- Any other unwanted sexual physical, verbal, or nonverbal activity.
- The Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued a Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace, which contains more comprehensive examples of workplace sexual harassment activity. These are, in general:
- Sexually suggestive or innuendoing remarks; serious or frequent offensive remarks; inappropriate queries or comments concerning a person’s sex life
- Display of obscene or sexist images, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
- Threats, intimidation, or blackmail in relation to sexual favours; likewise, threats, intimidation, or reprisal against an employee who speaks up about these Unwelcome social invitations with sexual connotations, typically interpreted as flirting Unwelcome sexual advances.
Unwanted behaviour
- According to the Handbook, “unwelcome behaviour” occurs when the victim feels guilty or powerless; it generates anger/sadness or low self-esteem.
- It goes on to define undesirable behaviour as “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided, and power-based.”
Circumstances totaling SHW
- The Act specifies five situations that constitute indirect or outright sexual harassment:
- Promise of favourable treatment at work
- Threat of negative treatment
- Threat regarding her current or future employment status
- Interfering with her work or creating a hostile or insulting work environment
- Embarrassing treatment that could endanger her health or safety
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-the-indian-law-on-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace/article66854968.ece