SEXUAL HARASSMENT

TOPIC – SEXUAL HARASSMENT 

AUTHOR – HAJRA BEGUM, A STUDENT OF SULTAN UL ULOOM COLLEGE OF LAW, HYDERABAD

SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND PUNISHMENT FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT 

(SEC. 354-A)

Sec 354-A. Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment —

3. A man committing any of the following acts—

• physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or

• a demand or request for sexual favours; or

• showing pornography against the will of a woman; or

• making sexually coloured remarks,

shall be guilty of the offence of sexual harassment.

(2) Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (i) or clause (ii) or clause (iii) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.

(3) Any man who commits the offence specified in clause (iv) of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.

Nature of offence: Cognizable, Bailable, Triable by any Magistrate. Non- Compoundable.

Around 1,971 cases of sexual harassment at workplace were registered in 4 years till December 12, 2017. Cases reported increased by 45% from 371 in 2014 to 539 in 2017, till 12 December 2017.

#ME TOO MOVEMENT?

It is a movement against sexual harassment and assault. It started getting viral in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media to express discontent and hatred against sexual assaults especially in workplace. It was followed on a large extent after allegations on Harvey Weinstein regarding sexual misconduct. Tarana Burke used this term for the first time, which was further popularized by Alyssa Milano.

#ME TOO MOVEMENT IN INDIA

It gained momentum in India in 2018 in entertainment Industry of Bollywood, when Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual violence.  But there is one obstacle that defamation laws in India allow the criminal prosecution of women who are not able to prove allegations against accused with two years jail term, unlike US in which first amendment protects freedom of speech.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACROSS GLOBE

NEW YORK, Feb 01 (IPS) - Most of the world's women have experienced sexual harassment. Based on available country surveys, it is estimated that no less than 75 percent of the world's 2.7 billion women aged 18 years and older, or at least 2 billion women, have been sexually harassed. 

In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 35 percent of women, or approximately 930 million women, have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. WHO considers this level of violence against women a major public health problem as well as a serious violation of the human rights of women.

Countries have taken a variety of steps to address the sexual harassment of women. For example, 189 countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Many national, regional and international legal systems have made sexual harassment illegal.

It is often the case that women are reluctant and even afraid to report sexual harassment due to embarrassment, humiliation, social stigma, victim blaming, job loss and retaliation. Young women are frequently afraid of the consequences of a sexual harassment complaint on their education, jobs, careers, future promotions and personal lives, especially when it takes place at the workplace or an educational institution.

CONCLUSION

Based on available data, official reports and personal accounts of women, one cannot avoid concluding that the sexual harassment remains a major global problem impacting most of the world's women. While laws, policies and programs against the sexual harassment of women are certainly necessary, they in themselves are insufficient.

Societies and cultures will need to change attitudes, norms and behaviour of both men and women concerning the treatment of women at the work place and in public spaces. Women and men boldly speaking out, organizing support networks and taking effective action against the sexual harassment of women are critical ingredients for realizing the needed societal changes.