Women who face sexual harassment can now haul offenders and employers to court

He first brushed her breasts "accidentally". Perhaps it was her imagination. But then IAS officer Vishali Mehta found her boss "accidentally" tugging at her saripallu, and "accidentally" draping an arm around her shoulder.Finally Kamal Kishore - the one whom Mehta reported to and who wrote the confidential reports so crucial to her promotions - began asking her to come to his house with office files. Then she got married. That would put Kishore off, Mehta thought.She was wrong. Early in 1995, Kishore asked her to come to his house once again with some important office files. "You're married now," he told her when she reached there. "You know what a man expects of a woman." Mehta got up to leave. But before she could, Kishore grabbed her, tearing her blouse in the process. Terrified, Mehta ran out of the house, and home to her husband, who made her file an FIR in the local police station. What is sexual harassment?Physical contactadvances.A demand or request for sexual favours.Sexually coloured remarks.Showing pornography.Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal sexual conduct.(As defined by the Supreme Court)The police were reluctant to take the complaint - Kishore was, after all, an influential bureaucrat. But Mehta braved jeers, taunts and risque jokes from her colleagues and managed to get her case up to the district court which issued a summons against Kishore. But Kishore moved the Chandigarh High Court, asking that the FIR be quashed. "It was his word against hers," says Priya Hingorani, Mehta's lawyer. Fortunately for Mehta, the court ruled that the firm would stand but, says Hingorani, "Even the judge pointed out to her that it would be impossible for her to prove sexual harassment." The case is now back in the district court. But Mehta will now find it easier to press charges.Last week the Supreme Court told the country exactly what sexual harassment is. Chief Justice J.S. Verma and judges Sujata V. Manohar and B.N. Kirpal described what sort of behaviour is unacceptable and what working women can do when they are subjected to unwanted advances from male bosses or colleagues. "For the first time in this country, sexual harassment has been acknowledged as a human-rights violation," says Naina Kapur, a lawyer and women's rights activist based in Delhi. "The point of these guidelines is not to criminalise your employer, but to bring about an attitudinal change."It was the brutal gang-rape of a social worker in a Rajasthan village that inspired the Supreme Court to deliver its landmark verdict. "The incident reveals the hazards to which a working woman may be exposed and the depravity to which sexual harassment can degenerate," said the judges. They recognised that "the present civil and penal laws in India do not adequately provide for specific protection of women from sexual harassment".Women can now demand that their employers lay down norms and set up committees to deal with sexual harassment. And if a woman doesn't feel justice has been done, she can directly approach the courts. "It's like a super law," says senior counsel Fali Nariman. "Generally, the breach of a law isn't contempt, but any breach of this judgement will be treated as an offence of contempt. It gives you direct access to the courts." Moreover, say experts, it will have a persuasive effect on all government bodies and set a desirable code of conduct for employers. But women have greeted the judgement with cautious optimism and big questions: Will it make a significant difference to the working condition of women? How will it be implemented?Indian MalespeakMen often resort to stereotypes when it comes to female colleagues, says the NGO Sakshi"Women who are bold, outspoken and aggressive; those who live with a man outside of marriage; and those who wear revealing western clothes are most likely to be harassed.""Women in my organisation are extremely beautiful and graceful ... no wonder they face the threat of sexual harassment.""Sexual harassment doesn't take place in our organisation - only those foreign companies with their western work culture, where women are allowed to do and say what they want ... is where all this happens." "It certainly can be implemented," says Adesh Goyal, chief ethics officer of Hughes Software, a company that has fired employees for sexual harassment. "Take quick, swift action and publicise it throughout the company." It may be far more difficult, however, to make an example of a senior official functioning in a bureaucratic monolith, but even a recognition of the problem is a start."Just giving us the power of redressal is a huge step forward," says Vandana Malik, 38, a deputy secretary in Delhi's sprawling bureaucracy. Malik's problems began a year ago with "Let's have dinner tonight" post-it notes stuck on her desk by her immediate superior. When it grew to "Come with me on tour", she protested. But a conspiracy of silence fell into place. "They tell me now to forget it all, but I cannot forget the humiliation." Malik says she intends to use the new judgement to seek justice.Women complaining about sexual harassment can, according to the Supreme Court judgement, either get themselves transferred out or have the perpetrator transferred to another branch. But they can't have him jailed or fined.Since the judgement places the burden of guilt on the offender, not the victim, there is a fear that it can be misused. "Of course, anything can be misused," says Hingorani. But in a society where rape, molestation and sexual assault stigmatise victims, most women would not want to become the butt of locker-room humour. "No Indian working woman, already struggling with a job and a home, would invite more trouble on herself," says civil servant Malik.How widespread is sexual harassment? There are no official estimates, but it's common enough. A recent survey reveals widespread abuse: 60 per cent of working women said they have faced sexual harassment; so have 55 per cent of female students. "Non-verbal overt sexual conduct" was reported in 54 per cent of the cases and "uninvited sexual remarks" constituted 39 per cent. The survey, conducted by the Delhi-based women's rights group Sakshi, notes that managements ignored such complaints, "usually out of fear of upsetting the abuser who may be a senior person in the organisation". So most women ignore the problem."I've never been seriously molested," says Minu Jain, a copywriter. "But I have very often been subject to the so-called harmless pass. Whenever I've told male colleagues about it, their reaction has ranged from amusement to outright derision." This sort of unenlightened behaviour ranges across such "progressive" professions as advertising, journalism and entertainment (where the infamous casting couch has acquired quite a formidable reputation). When women who've been sexually assaulted at work do complain, they are often derided and their morality and motives questioned. A few years ago, a doctor with a public-service organisation was molested by a compounder at her workplace. When she complained to her boss, he made matters worse by asking her to explicitly repeat what had happened. She was pressured to resign. When she refused, she was sent a termination letter since she was not yet a permanent employee. By the time she moved the civil courts, her case was time-barred (although her criminal charges still stand). Or take the case of a high-profile school principal accused of molesting teachers. One of the teachers filed a complaint against him and the case came up for hearing in the Delhi High Court, which ruled that a committee of retired judges be set up to see if there was any merit in her case. They ruled against her for want of evidence. Eventually, the working conditions of women won't change unless society itself changes its attitude towards women in general and those in the workplace in particular. "The idea (behind the judgement) isn't to send people to jail," says Nariman. "It's to create awareness."With the muted optimism comes the less vocal, though real, concern that the judgement is the first step towards creating a claustrophobic environment where remarks could be taken out of context and the free interchange of ideas and opinions could come under strain. "I think we are falling into a me-too trap," says author and pop-culture diva Shobha De. "It is the politically correct thing to talk about now, mainly because it's happening in the West."But considering the sexist jokes, stereotypes and the "accidental" brushings and rubbings Indian women have to suffer daily, a politically correct environment is a small price to pay. - with Smruti KoppikarPublished By: AtMigration Published On: Sep 1, 1997 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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Women who face sexual harassment can now haul offenders and employers to court

Women who face sexual harassment can now haul offenders and employers to court. But will the office become a safer place?

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