Brief guide to the law against sexual harassment at workplace, clarifying some misconceptions.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH”) was enacted in 2013. Seven years since then, fears of misuse are rife. Are the fears legitimate? It is perceived that women are dangerously armed with a one-sided law. Men feel oppressed as there is no specific forum for redressal of their grievances. This article, therefore, examines the framework of the statute, checks and balances against misuse, more so in the light of the Madras high court’s recent judgement.

POSH: Why only for women?

(a) Limited representation of women in position of power:
In the United States, only 24 women headed the 2018 Fortune 500 companies. Less than 4% of the companies listed on the National Stock Exchange have women as their chief executives & managing directors. With very few women in positions of power, possibility of abuse at their behest is not likely to be rampant.

(b) Inherent risks:
The educated urban population tends to view POSH through a very narrow prism. Many equate it with personal experiences and prejudices. In remoter areas, such prejudices are deep rooted. Certain sectors are inherently unsafe. It is for this reason that social activists and NGOs, enraged by the gang-rape of a social worker in Rajasthan, filed a class action before the Supreme Court of India. The social worker was gang-raped for preventing a child marriage! The incident exposed the risks faced by women at work. Justices Sujata Manohar and BN Kirpal delivered the landmark judgment, ‘Vishaka & Ors. V/s. State of Rajasthan’, on August 13, 1997. Till then, despite having ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), no law for prevention of sexual harassment had existed. POSH is based on the said judgment.

You can read more by clicking the link here