Women’s Rights Against Sexual Harassment at Work

In News: Recently, the Delhi trial court has extended a legal shield to women speaking up against sexual harassment. It held that a woman has the right to put grievances before any platform of her choice and irrespective of the time.

Background

• In October 2018, Journalist Priya Ramani accused the then Union Minister MJ Akbar of sexually harassing her in 1993. MJ Akbar filed a criminal defamation case against her in a Delhi court.
• The absence of a legal framework to protect women against sexual harassment at their workplace at that time formed the basis of the court’s reasoning to reject Akbar’s case.
  • The Supreme Court’s landmark verdict in the Vishaka & Others vs State of Rajasthan case came in 1997.
  • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was enacted in 2013.
• Using the preponderance of probabilities as the standard of proof for Ramani’s defence, the court held that her testimony was more probable than Akbar’s claims.
  • The preponderance of probability: It is a legal principle which is generally understood as the probability to lean towards one side being more than to lean to the other side.
• In February 2021, the Delhi court acquitted her in the case.

Court’s Verdict

• The Court took into consideration the systematic abuse at the workplace and the option to not lodge the complaint of sexual harassment.
• There is a social stigma attached to the allegations and the delay in speaking out or filing a formal complaint is often used against women to discredit their allegations.
• A woman cannot be punished for raising voice against sex abuse on the pretext of criminal complaint of defamation as the right to reputation cannot be protected at the cost of the right to life and dignity of women as guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
• Court also observed that even a man of social status can be a sexual harasser.

Formulation of Vishaka Guidelines

• In 1992, Bhanwari Devi’s sexual assault, culminated in a plea before the Supreme Court (SC) seeking redressal for sexual harassment at the workplace.
  • Bhanwari Devi was a Dalit woman employed as a social worker by the Rajasthan government to spread awareness against child marriage.
  • Her sexual assault was a result of the backlash against her work in the community.
• In 1997, in the Vishaka case, the SC addressed the issue of no legal recourse for women who were sexually harassed at work.
  • To address this, the SC created a set of guidelines, relying on international law principles and practices, to address this.
• These guidelines filled the vacuum in law till the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 was enacted.
  • It defines sexual harassment at the workplace, creates a mechanism for redressal of complaints and provides safeguards against false or malicious charges.

Laws before 1997

• Sexual harassment was addressed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions that deal with outraging the modesty of a woman, either by criminal force (Section 354) or by a gesture, word or act (Section 509).
• In 2013, IPC Section 354 was amended to include Section 354A that criminalises sexual harassment.

Source: IE