Importance of Awareness of Sexual Harassment at Workplace

Importance of Awareness of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Manish Kaithwas Banaras Hindu University Workplace harassment affects women in every walk of life, in every level of employment. The purpose of this research paper is to elucidate the awareness among working women regarding sexual harassment law procedure provide to them in the constitution. Moreover, efforts to implement the guidelines are also limited. Mechanisms for redress do not always function impartially and a few women are effectively able to translate the guidelines to make the workplace safer and gender equitable. Only few women seek redress and few receive swift action; responses have included non-action and even victimization of the complainant women. Most of the women don't complain because they fear of being blamed for provoking the incident or the loss of their reputation. The results from this research, however indicate that in Govt. Org sexual harassment is still prevalent in the workplace despite attempts to eradicate it. Sexual Harassment at Workplace Sexual Harassment is one of the topics which has received minimal attention in our society as the silence surrounding the issue is much more audible than the faint echo of the victim. The awareness on this issue is very minimal and such ignorance is no longer bliss. The most effective step to deal with the problem is to talk about it. The status of women in India has evolved over the ages. During the ancient period, women enjoyed equal status to men (Mishra, 2006) which deteriorated in the medieval period with invasions from foreign powers. The reformists of the 19th century and the 20th century fought for the rights of women questioning the prevalent practices in the Indian society such as Sati, Jauhar, Devadsai, Purdah, Dowry and child marriage. With Independence, the rights of women were enshrined in the Constitution as fundamental rights with right to equality in Article 14, non-discrimination by the State in Article 15(1), equality of opportunity in Article 16, equal pay for equal work in Article 39(d), special provisions by the State in favour of women and children in Article 15(3), renounces practices derogatory to the dignity of women in Article 51(A) (e), and provisions to be made by the State for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief in Article 42 (Menon & Shivkumar, 2001) Sexual harassment is all about expression of male power over women that sustain patriarchal relations. It is used to remind women of their vulnerability and subjugated status. In a society where violence against women, both subtle and direct, is borne out of the patriarchal values operating in society, force women? S conformity to gendered roles. These patriarchal values and attitudes of both men and women pose the greatest challenge in resolving and prevent me on of sexual harassment. Violence in the workplace is fast becoming the number one problem for employers (Workplace Violence Statistics, 2010). It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence, yet the reality is that too often it is hushed up or brushed aside. Workplace violence is spill-overs of violence at home and in the society. The Indian society still carries the traditional outlook with regard to the representation of women. The women are subjugated in the name of traditional norms and culture inherent in the Indian society. Their domination by the male members at home is extended to the workplace where they are dominated again by male superiors. The power quotient is accorded to one gender, here in the mail, by societal norms who in order to retain the power use violence against the other gender to bring them to submission. This is the basis of the traditional theory of understanding violence against women. The Constitution of India ensures and guarantees every individual the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business as enshrined under Article19 (1) (g) (Bhasin, Alok., 2008). Every woman has a constitutional right to participate in public employment and this right is deprived in the process of sexual harassment, which compels her to keep away from such employment. Though this right is only available against the State itself is a recognized right in all the major international conventions. Sexual harassment of women at the place of work exposes her to a big risk and hazard which places her in an inequitable position vis-à-vis other employees and this adversely affects her ability to realize her constitutionally guaranteed right under Article19(1)(g). Sexual harassment at workplace is also a violation of the right to life and personal liberty as mentioned in Article21 that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty. Right livelihood is an integral facet of the right to life. Sexual harassment is the violation of the right to livelihood. For meaningful enjoyment of life under Article21 of the Constitution of India 1950 every woman is entitled to the elimination of obstacles and of discrimination based on gender (Radhakrishnan, 2009). Since the’ right to work’ depends on the availability of a safe working environment and the right to life with dignity, the hazards posed by sexual harassment need to be removed for these rights to have a meaning. The Preamble of the Constitution of India contemplates that it will secure to all its citizens – Equality of status and opportunity. Sexual harassment violates this basic motive of the framers of the Constitution. History of battle against sexual harassment at workplace During the 1990s, the most controversial and brutal gang rape at the workplace involved a Rajasthan state government employee who tried to prevent child marriage as part of her duties as a worker of the Women Development Programme. The feudal patriarchs who were enraged by her (in their words: "a lowly woman from a poor and potter community") 'guts' decided to teach her a lesson and raped her repeatedly (Samhita, 2001). After an extremely humiliating legal battle in the Rajasthan High Court the rape survivor did not get justice and the rapists -- "educated and upper caste affluent men" -- were allowed to go free. This enraged a women's rights group called Vishakha that filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court of India (Combat Law, 2003). Some noteworthy complaints of SHW that came into the national limelight were filed by: Rupan Deo Bajaj, an IAS officer in Chandigarh, against 'super cop' K P S Gill. An activist from the All India Democratic Women's Association, against the environment minister in Dehra Dun. An air hostess against her colleague Mahesh Kumar Lala, in Mumbai. An IAS officer in Thiruvananthapuram, against the state minister. Before 1997, women experiencing SHW had to lodge a complaint under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with the 'criminal assault of women to outrage women's modesty', and Section 509 that punishes an individual/individuals for using a 'word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman'. These sections left the interpretation of 'outraging women's modesty' to the discretion of the police officer. In 1997, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment in the Vishakha case laying down guidelines to be followed by establishments in dealing with complaints about sexual harassment. The court stated that these guidelines were to be implemented until legislation is passed to deal with the issue (Mathew, 2002). Sexual harassment at workplace in India was highlighted with the leading case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (Desai, 2008). In this case a social activist, Bhanwari Devi was alleged to be brutally gang raped in the village of Rajasthan. The incident is recorded the hazards to which a working woman may be exposed and the depravity to which sexual harassment can degenerate, and the urgency for safeguards by an alternative mechanism in the absence of legislative measures. The famous Vishaka guidelines an aftermath of the judgement of the case sought to ensure Redressal of grievances of women at work place. Also, it outlined the establishment of grievance cells to address the problems of women at workplace in both public and private sectors. In the absence of effective legislative measures, the need is to find an effective alternative mechanism to fulfill this felt and social need. In this case, the Supreme Court has categorically held that sexual harassment results in violation of fundamental rights of equality of the sexes, of right to life and liberty, and of the right to practice any profession or to carry on any trade or business. Pursuant to this, the Government of India requested the National Commission for Women (NCW) to draft the legislation. A number of issues were raised regarding the NCW draft, until, ultimately, a drafting committee was set up to make a fresh draft. Several women's organizations are part of this committee, including Majlis from Mumbai, which was asked to make the draft. Women's organizations and women lawyers associated with trade unions in Mumbai have collectively worked on the draft with Majlis. Particular concern, whilst working out the draft, has been to include the unorganized sector and to incorporate provisions of the labor law. The bill to be introduced in Parliament is known as the Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention And Redressal) Bill, 2004. The bill provides for the prevention and redressal of sexual harassment of women at the workplace, or arising during and in the course of their employment and matters connected thereto, in keeping with the principles of equality, freedom, life and liberty as enshrined in the Constitution of India, and as upheld by the Supreme Court in Vishakha vs State of Rajasthan [1997(7) SCC.323] and as reflected in the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which has been ratified by the Government of India. Scenario in the post-Vishakha guidelines period Several organisations have carried out research on SHW that has been widely disseminated. A survey by Sakshi (Delhi) throws up some worrying data: 80% of respondents revealed that SHW exists, 49% had encountered SHW, 41% had experienced SHW, 53% women and men did not have equal opportunities, 53% were treated unfairly by supervisors, employers and co-workers, 58% had not heard of the Supreme Court's directive of 1997, and only 20% of organisations had implemented the Vishakha guidelines (Dalal, 2003). Controversy over SHW by the senior manager of Infosys (Nair, 2003), by the chairman and managing director of NALCO (Ramanujan, 2004), the Medha Kotwal petition on SHW of a PhD student by her guide at M S University, Vadodara, complaints against a senior professor at Lucknow University (Times of India, 2003), complaints about SHW by the film star Sushmita Sen against the CEO of Coca-Cola have all alerted employers to the economic burden and efficiency loss from SHW. Still, most private companies refrain from investing funds in such committees. A Sophia Centre for Women's Studies and Development study shows that awareness and implementation of the Supreme Court's guidelines is very low and there is a need to spread awareness about the same. A study by Samhita (Kolkata), throwing light on the Bhanvari Devi case, has highlighted in the state and civil society the gravity of the menace of SHW (SCWSD and ICHRL, 2003). In Times Foundation workshop for the corporate world on SHW. The testimonies of several participants at the workshop revealed that SHW is prevalent even in companies where the victims are highly educated and have considerable economic leverage. Similar views have been expressed in the business journals (Business Today, 1-9-2002). On October 20, 2004, students beat up an anatomy professor from Versova, Andheri, for alleged sexual misconduct (The Indian Express, Mumbai Newsline, 21-10-2004). Sexual Harassment Law in India Sexual harassment law in India began in 1997 with the landmark Vishaka decision, which for the first time defined sexual harassment at work and recognized it as a violation of women’s fundamental rights to dignity and equality. Prior to this decision, there was no law preventing sexual harassment at the workplace in India. Sexual harassment was not regulated by any of the labour or employment legislations. To some extent, traditional criminal law provisions under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalized some forms of sexual harassment with the aim to preserve women’s modesty. For example, section 509 of the Indian Penal Code states that any word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman is an offense and section 354 creates an offense out of any act that outrages the modesty of a woman, but these were not actually used to address the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. They were not effectively enforced, and at any rate, were not understood as aimed at promoting gender equality. A well-known case was that of Rupan Deol Bajaj v. K.P.S. Gill, in which the then-Chief of Police in Punjab slapped a senior administrative services officer on the bottom at a dinner party. The general public opinion was that the officer was blowing the case out of proportion, and top officials in the state tried to suppress the case. Despite this attitude, the Supreme Court found the officer guilty of offenses under section 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and section 509 (an act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code. Another well-known case was Radha Bai v. Union Territory of Pondicherry, in which the appellant was a government officer who was sexually harassed and molested by the Home Minister of Tamil Nadu when she exposed his illegal involvements with the inmates of a shelter home for women. When she complained, she was removed from service. Following additional complaints, the Supreme Court intervened in the investigation of the case almost seventeen years after the incident. Ultimately, the Supreme Court held that although the complainant was terminated from service, she would be entitled to full retirement benefits and directed the State and the harasser to compensate her for lost reputation and honor. The Vishaka decision resulted from a public interest petition filed in the Supreme Court that arose out of the gang rape of a woman employee of the state government and the failure of officials to investigate her complaints. As part of her work, the employee was engaged in advocating against child marriage. In the course of her advocacy, members of the upper caste harassed her and when she reported the occurrence to the local authority, it did nothing. That negligence led to her rape by five upper caste men. A women’s rights organization, then filed a writ in the Supreme Court requesting it to direct the state to form a committee to frame guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment and abuse of women at the workplace. The Supreme Court recognized that sexual harassment in the workplace violated women’s rights to equality and that employers were obligated to provide a mechanism for the prevention of sexual harassment and for the resolution, settlement, or prosecution of sexual harassment. Accordingly, the Court framed guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace and declared the guidelines as law of the land until the legislature took further action. More specifically, the Supreme Court held that incidents of sexual harassment violate women’s fundamental rights to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, equality under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, and the right to “practice any profession or to carry out any trade or business” protected under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The right to life was interpreted to mean a “right to life with dignity.” The Supreme Court held that “gender equality includes protection from sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity, which is a universally recognized basic human right.” Keeping these principles in mind, the Supreme Court framed detailed guidelines for the protection of these rights to fill the legislative vacuum. In giving such a finding, the Court relied not only on fundamental rights under the Constitution of India and on the Court’s jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution to enforce fundamental rights, but also on Article 11 of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women [CEDAW] and General Recommendations 19 and 22–24 made by the CEDAW Committee. Definition of sexual harassment at work   The Supreme Court directive of 1997 clearly and unambiguously provides an answer to the question 'What is sexual harassment?'. As defined in the Supreme Court guidelines (Vishakha vs State of Rajasthan, August 1997), sexual harassment includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour as: Physical contact A demand or request for sexual favours Sexually coloured remarks Showing pornography Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature, for example, leering, telling dirty jokes, making sexual remarks about a person's body, etc The Supreme Court directive provided the legitimate space for the hidden truth about SHW for surface; earlier one only heard about victim-blaming, witch-hunting and blackmailing. Now women are fighting back tooth and nail. The electronic and print media have become extremely responsive to the issue of SHW. My first hand experiences with providing support to women survivors of SHW has convinced me that we need to counter the myths about SHW with concrete facts, case studies and a database. Types of Sexual Harassment: The US Supreme Court has expressed that a claim for sexual harassment may fall into either of the two categories: (1) Quid pro quo and (2) Hostile work environment Quid Pro Quo: Quid pro quo is Latin fir “this for that” or “something for something” and refers to an exchange. It refers to a situation where an employer or superior at work makes tangible job-related consequences such as promises of Hiring, promotions, salary increases, shift or work assignments, and performance expectation conditional upon obtaining sexual favors from an employee. In this case the exchange is between employer and employee, where the employer demands for sexual favors from the employee in exchange of job benefits. Hostile work environment: “Whether an environment is ‘hostile’ or ‘abusive’ can only be determined by looking into the totality of the circumstance. These may include the frequency of the discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is physically threatening or a mere offensive utterance; and whether it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance.” The US Supreme Court held that a hostile work environment is one in which an unwelcome response to the demand for sexual favours (by the employer) creates an abusive working environment for some employee. Quid pro quo and hostile work environment, though two different forms of sexual harassment, do not occur in isolation, one can be a reason of the other. Moreover, it is not possible to devise a formula to distinguish between the two as most of the time the features and ingredients of the two overlap each other. An analysis of The Sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 Complaint mechanisms :             Chapter II (Section 4) and Chapter III (Section 5 & 6) of the Act deals with the constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) (Sec. 4) at the work place and Local Complaints Committee (LCC) at the district and block levels (Sec. 6). A District Officer (District Collector or Deputy Collector) shall be responsible for facilitating and monitoring the activities under the Act.             As per the Act, employers are mandated to set up an internal complaints committee (ICC) at each office or branch where there are at least 10 employees.  Sec. 4(2) states that the ICC is required to consist of at least four members, and its presiding officer is required to be a woman employed at a senior level. Provisions have been made in case no senior woman employee is available, to nominate a woman presiding officer from another office, administrative unit, workplace, or organisation. Further, one half of the members must be women. LCCs (Section 6) are to be set up by the appropriate government, which shall receive complaints in respect of establishments that do not have ICCs on account of having fewer than 10 employees and to receive complaints from domestic workers. Both the ICC and LCC are required to follow the process and inquire into the complaints in time bound manner.      Section 9 of the Act deals with the mechanism of filing a complaint of Sexual Harassment which can be summarized as under: Any aggrieved woman or her legal heir, in case of her physical or mental capacity or death otherwise or such other person as may be prescribed The complaint should be in writing It should be made to the ICC or LCC whatever applicable The complaint should be filed within three months from the date of the last incident The said period may be extended to 3 more months by the ICC or LCC if circumstances, upon the committee’s satisfaction existed so as to prevent the woman from filing a complaint within the same period The committee shall record the reason for extending the period in writing Section 10 further provides for Conciliation, before initiating an inquiry, the ICC or LCC may, at the request of the aggrieved woman, take steps to arrive at a settlement between the parties. However, no monetary settlement can be made as the basis of such conciliation (Sec. 10(1)). If a conciliation agreement fails or a settlement is violated or no request from the complainant for conciliation exists, the committee should then proceed with an inquiry as provided under section 11 of the Act. If the committee, during the inquiry, finds that there is a prima facie evidence of serious criminal nature, the complaint will have to be passed on to the police within seven days. The police should take further action on the complaint treating it as an allegation of ‘outraging the modesty of woman’ under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 509. The offence under IPC 509 is a cognizable, bailable and compoundable (a private nature offence) one. The court, when settling the case, can award a payment to the aggrieved on account of emotional distress, mental trauma or pain, as well. Sub Section (3) of Section 11 provides that for the purpose of making an inquiry under section this section, the ICC or LCC shall have the same powers as vested in a civil court under CPC. The ICC or LCC’s inquiry into the allegation of sexual harassment should be concluded within 90 days (sub-section (4) of section 11). Chapter V of the Act comprise of sections 12-18. Section 12 provides that During the inquiry the ICC or LCC has authority to recommend to the employer to transfer either the complainant or respondent to any other workplace or to grant leave of absence to the aggrieved woman as the rules stipulate so as to avoid face to face contact and this leave shall be in addition to the leave she would be otherwise entitled. The employer is bound to implement the recommendation and send the report of such implementation to the ICC/LCC. Section 13 further provides for the inquiry report. As per the section, the committee shall provide a report of its findings with recommendations to the employer or the District Officer within a period of ten days. If the complaint is genuine, the report should suggest disciplinary actions commensurate with the nature of sexual harassment. : (i) take action for sexual harassment as a misconduct in accordance with the provisions of the applicable service rules or where no service rules exist, in accordance with rules framed under the Act; (ii) to deduct from the salary or wages of the respondent such sum as it may consider appropriate to be paid to the aggrieved woman or to her legal heirs, as determined by it, in accordance with the provisions of section 15. Section 14 of the Act deals with punishment for false or malicious complaint and false evidence. If the ICC/LCC concludes that ‘the allegation against the respondent is malicious or the aggrieved woman or any other person making the complaint has produced any forged or misleading document’ it may recommend that the employer take action against the aggrieved woman. The provision for appeal for the aggrieved person by any recommendation made under any of the above provisions finds place in section 18 of the act. This must be in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to the said person or where no such rules exist, in such a manner as may be prescribed. Section 19, contained under Chapter VI provides for the duties of the employer. The Employer should provide assistance to the woman if she decides to file a police complaint under IPC or any other law for the time being in force against the perpetrator. In addition to ensuring compliance with the other provisions stipulated, the Sexual Harassment Act casts certain obligations upon the employer to, inter alia, which includes: Provide a safe working environment Display conspicuously at the workplace, the penal consequences of indulging in acts that may constitute sexual harassment and the composition of the Internal Complaints Committee Organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing employees on the issues and implications of workplace sexual harassment and organizing orientation programmes for members of the Internal Complaints Committee Treat sexual harassment as misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for misconduct. The employer is also required to monitor the timely submission of reports by the ICC. Section 26 provides for the penalty clause and prescribes punishment for the employer or the district officer in case of their failure to constitute the committee. This section states that if an employer fails to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee or does not comply with any provisions contained therein, the Sexual Harassment Act prescribes a monetary penalty of up to INR 50,000 (approx. US$1,000). A repetition of the same offence could result in the punishment being doubled and or de-registration of the entity or revocation of any statutory business licenses. Implementation and Enforcement of Sexual Harassment Law In addition to defining sexual harassment in the workplace as a legal claim, the Indian Supreme Court in “Vishaka” laid down guidelines for employers and institutions for preventing and redressing sexual harassment in the workplace. Employers were required to set up complaints committees to take up complaints of sexual harassment and investigate those complaints. While the Supreme Court guidelines have opened up the discourse on sexual harassment in the workplace, it is clear that much remains to be done on the ground to address gender stereotyping and harassment in the workplace and to ensure that women have recourse to effective resolution of complaints. The Supreme Court guidelines are far from being introduced at all levels of employment in India, and “for the most part, continue to languish on paper.” In protest against the dismissal of her complaint and victimization, several women’s organizations wrote protest letters to the Chief Justice of India. The letters were converted into a public interest petition in the name of Medha Kotwal Lele and Ors. v. Union of India, and the Supreme Court started supervising the implementation of the Vishaka guidelines. Notices were issued to the Central Government, all State Governments and the Union Territories, asking them to report to the Supreme Court on the measures taken by them for complying with the Vishaka guidelines. Due to this petition, many of the service rules were amended at the Central Government and the State Government level to define sexual harassment as a specific form of misconduct. In addition, labour welfare and employer liability being a subject which both the State and Central governments have power to legislate upon, many similar State amendments were made to the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946, which applies to private employers, to include sexual harassment as a form of misconduct. As a result, Complaints Committees were set up in various public sector organizations, and the University Grants Commission sent a letter to all universities asking them to set up committees. In addition, the Supreme Court continued monitoring the progress and in 2004 passed an order stating that the Complaints Committee as envisaged in Vishaka should be deemed an inquiry authority for the purposes of the 1964 Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, that the report of the Complaints Committee should be deemed an inquiry report under these rules, and that the disciplinary authority should act on the report in accordance with these rules. First, entrenched patriarchal attitudes prevent sexual harassment from being seen as a serious offense; worse, they invert the stigma of harassment on women themselves. Second, the vagueness of the guidelines on the internal grievance mechanism has left organizations with a great deal of room to manipulate the process or bypass it altogether. Third, a partial result of the first and second, is the failure of organizations to treat sexual harassment as a policy matter and integrate it into their service rules. Current Issues at Workplaces in prevention The study showed that most of the women are aware about law and its procedure as educated, so has knowledge but problem arise in those women working on lower wages and temporary work. As these women not much educated, belong to poor family, bread earner so sometime time they didn’t speak on such violence with them due to the reason of job security and they didn’t even aware about complain mechanism and it far from their reach as no enforcement in their workplace and step taken by employer to aware. If Complaint cell is there as law but not in working condition and none step taken by management to discuss with employer. For millions of teenager s working in the Indian workforce, being sexually harassed is not an uncommon occurrence in their daily work environment. Unfortunately, teenagers in the work force become particularly vulnerable to acts of harassment because they lack awareness about their rights as an employee and do not have enough work experience or maturity to address situations that arise in the work environment. These teenagers are usually part­ time worker s, over looked for training, view their super visor s as having the ultimate authority over their job, and are more likely to be unaware of harassment policies than other worker s within the workforce. Despite all of these factor s, more and more organizations in industries like retail, entertainment, BPOs and food services to be specific, have turned to teenager s as a key source of labor. In doing so, these organizations have exposed themselves to the liability of protecting the youth that they employ and must take even greater measures to prevent these teenager s from being subjected to a hostile work environment. Situation is same as before the Sexual Harassment Workplace Act 2013 and after, Organizations are not taking hard step to implement the Law and aware the employee from his/her right. As a result, defending teenagers has and will become a more prevalent occurrence within the workforce that will require more awareness by employers and more protections to ensure that an equal and safe work environment is being provided to all employees. Despite these reforms, more than thirteen years since the Vishaka judgment, change in the workplace is still moving very slowly. The majority of employers still do not have Complaints Committees established. Apart from a few public sector bodies, universities, and some large private companies, Complaints Committees have not been set up on a large scale. Complaints Committees are often hurriedly established when employers receive a complaint of sexual harassment. Even when they are constituted, they remain largely non-functional. Explanations behind the lack of Complaints Committees are many. Prevention measures at workplace and why legislation is alone not enough In stark contrast to the global research effort, research on sexual harassment in Indian workplace is still in its beginning stages. In India, many allegations of sexual harassment have cropped up in the very year in which a law to prevent such harassment at the workplace was enacted. This clearly reveals that laws are not enough to stop such abuse, as well as other forms of violence against women. At the same time, the sense of empowerment such laws has afforded women has encouraged many to come out in the open to protest such attacks on their personal integrity. The Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, was a codification of the "Vishaka Judgment" on guidelines for employers to institutionalize mechanisms to provide redressal to victims of such abuse at the workplace. The case of the beleaguered editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, the allegations by law interns against two retired Supreme Court judges in the recent past, and scores of others that followed in private and public workplaces has, for the first time, brought the topic of workplace sexual harassment on to the wider debating platforms of the country. Most sexual crimes against women in India, however, still go unreported. This is primarily because extant assumptions of patriarchy, power and control over women allow such crimes to happen and make it all that more difficult for women to report them. Sexual harassment of women at the workplace is aided by skewed gender equations in the organizational hierarchy. The law in India now makes a clear link between sexual harassment and the violation of fundamental rights to equality of a woman. It is also clear that for the law to be effective, each organization and institution must put in place, on pain of strict penalty, the required bodies and mechanisms to deal with such violations. But will law alone eradicate this scourge? No. Harassment at the workplace is often about abuse of power by a "superior", and change in mindset of the oppressor and the victim and a strict application of the law and commensurate punishment for offenders might help victims to report it. There is therefore a pressing need to devise a more comprehensive mechanism that compliments and acts in conjunction with the existing legal regime to tackle sexual harassment at the workplace. Through study’s proposes that the systems thinking approach will provide a way out of this wicked problem. Systems thinking as an Effective Approach to Managing wicked problems Systems‟ thinking is a way of seeing the connections, links, or relationships between the antecedents, determinants, concomitants and consequences and the reinforcing and balancing feedback process of sexual harassment. Instead of seeing parts and pieces of how harassment happens, it allows the interdependent whole to be appreciated. It is a process for understanding the interrelationships among key components of the sexual harassment system, such as: hierarchical relations, process flow, attitudes and perceptions. Systems‟ thinking helps to uncover the living connections between things large and small. After a while, what emerges is recognition of underlying structures to a complex situation like sexual harassment – and that often shows up in the form of archetypes. Mapping and analyzing sexual harassment at the systems level allows a careful tracking of factors affecting input, processes, output and outcomes that might otherwise have remained invisible or misunderstood. Sexual harassment is a complex social problem involving multiple actors and dealing with this problem is notoriously difficult. Conventional solutions to the problem of sexual harassment, like legal protection to victims and stringent punishment for perpetrators while good on paper, are of limited practical efficacy, unless coupled with affirmative action. The approach of systems thinking is fundamentally different from that of traditional forms of analysis. The Traditional analysis focuses on separating the individual pieces of sexual harassment; in fact the word “analysis” actually comes from the root meaning, “to break into constituent parts”. Systems‟ thinking in contrast, focuses on how the antecedents and concomitants of harassment interacts with the process of harassment- to produce unacceptable behavior –which is a part of workplace sexual harassment. This means that instead of isolating smaller and smaller parts of the system being studied, systems‟ thinking works by expanding its view to take into account larger and larger number of interactions as an issue being studied. This results in sometimes strikingly different conclusions than those generated by traditional forms of analysis, especially when what is being studied is a wicked social problem like workplace sexual harassment. Defining Problem of Sexual Harassment There are two main approaches to defining sexual harassment: One from a legal perspective and the other from a social-psychological perspective. In India –The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, was passed “to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at the workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment”. While no comprehensive legal definition is provided in the Act, in general, social-psychological definitions are broader than legal ones, though recent exceptions exist. Perhaps, the most frequently asked questions about sexual harassment tries to determine which specific behaviors constitute sexual harassment. Such research approaches the study of sexual harassment by analyzing which aspects of these patterns of behaviour are unwanted. In defining sexual harassment, the sexual advance, request for sexual favours, sexually verbal or physical conduct must be “unwelcome”. In other words, the complaining individual must show that he or she did not want, invite, solicit or encourage the sexual conduct in order to prove that sexual harassment actually occurred. A truly consensual sexual relationship or sexual conduct, in which the alleged victim willingly participated or set in motion, may not be considered unwelcome and hence, is not sexual harassment (Roumell & Danlene, 1999). Additionally, further contention occurs in the fact that when the courts consider whether sexual conduct was unwelcome, they look at all circumstances and concentrate on the alleged victim, not the alleged offender‟s intent. Reid (2004) broadly describes sexual harassment as a form of unlawful sex discrimination. A spectrum of behavioural patterns may signify sexual harassment. An integrated approach to sexual harassment through Systems Thinking Systems‟ thinking helps to uncover the living connections between things large and small. After a while, what emerges is recognition of the underlying structures of a complex situation – and that often shows up in the form of archetypes. Mapping and analfyzing at the systems level allows a careful tracking of factors affecting input, processes, output and outcomes that might otherwise have remained invisible or misunderstood. There is no perfect law, perfect policy or perfect procedure which can combat sexual harassment on its own. This is because of the numerous linkages and connections between the antecedents, concomitants and consequences of workplace sexual harassment. A Systems Thinking approach can be used to create a model that clearly reveals these linkages and connections. Sexual harassment is a wicked problem. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to design a complaint system that users will think is satisfactory. Once harassment has occurred, it is difficult to bring about any resolution that is wholly positive. This virtually guarantees that harassment policies and complaint systems have an unsatisfactory reputation. In an ideal system, a high proportion of complainants would feel satisfied, most respondents would feel fairly treated, and most complaint handlers would feel they acted fairly. In actuality, the complainant’s pain is often long lasting. Any steps that can be taken after harassment has occurred may lead to feelings of more injury. Legal prohibition versus an affirmative duty to act A relatively new development is not only to prohibit sexual harassment in legislation, but to provide for an affirmative duty to prevent it. The Supreme Court decision in Vishaka insists on affirmative action by the employer. This measure provides employers with a significant incentive to take preventative measures against sexual harassment. The benefits of holding employers liable, in addition to the perpetrators, are foremost that employers may be the best placed to ensure that the harassment stops. They may also be the only ones able to remove the harasser from the complainant‟s working environment or to remedy the harm caused by the harassment such as loss of salary, promotion, training, or other opportunities. Combative strategies Preventive mechanism- Employer obligation to respond proactively. Effective legal remedies are necessary. However, the main aim of most victims of sexual harassment is not to sue their employer for damages, but that the offensive behavior should stop, that it should not recur and that they should be protected against retaliation for having brought a complaint. Therefore, the most effective way to deal with sexual harassment is to develop and implement a preventive policy at the enterprise level. The employer should abide not only by the letter, but also by the spirit of the law. He must ensure that robust mechanisms exist in the workplace that definitely ensuring the sanctity and neutrality of the complaint investigation process. Thus, the resolution largely depends on robust internal systems, privacy and the ability to safeguard the reputations of the aggrieved, the accused and the organization.. A fair and neutral investigation system, the right and opportunity to express, better and equitable work conditions and suggested exceptions, as the case might be, are other important components of a robust system. Throughout Asia and around the world, governments, employers‟ and workers‟ organizations and NGOs are increasingly advocating that sexual harassment be addressed through workplace policies and complaints procedures. This trend reflects the recognition that workplace policies can be a most effective tool for preventing sexual harassment. It has become increasingly apparent over recent decades that legislative measures for combating sexual harassment need to be accompanied by preventive mechanisms introduced at the workplace level. The biggest ground yet to be covered is in educating and sensitizing employees. Some organizations have one-off workshops for department heads, but make no effort to ensure the message filters down. In order to facilitate the development of a healthy work environment organizations have to create effective policy framework and communicate it at regular intervals so that it comes alive through campaigns and creative platforms. They must demonstrate a culture of zero tolerance to workplace sexual harassment. Research Methodology In the present chapter study was focus on the awareness among working class women regarding their workplace rights from employer and to study the awareness level among woman regarding sexual harassment protection provided to them in law and if its implemented at workplace their status of working and also to analyze the steps taken by the employer to avoid sexual harassment. Research has shown that each place of workplace harassment predicts target strain outcomes as expected, including poor job attitudes, high levels of work withdrawal, turnover intentions, mental health symptoms, and high levels of physical symptoms or somatic complaints. Most of the working women would be found who unaware about the law related to sexual harassment protection. The working women would not be aware about redressal mechanism established by authorities / employers. Methodology and Measures To find out awareness among respondents regarding sexual harassment at work place, researcher had carried out an extensive survey and collected the information regarding knowledge, awareness, prevalence, and existing redressal mechanism to prevent sexual harassment at work place. In the present study, social background of IDUs of Lucknow city was studied by using interview schedule. In that various social characteristics like; Age, Religion, Caste, Educational Status, Status of job and family background were studies during survey. The present study was conducted on sample of 50 employees 05 government offices in Lucknow, India and 50 employees completed the survey were selected by using simple random sampling as to cover maximum offices within time and resources constrain. Data were given in the form of questionnaire and were distributed to the employees. The survey contained a variety of questions regarding the organization, work environment, employee relations, job attitudes, there profile, past cases, management reaction there awareness on issue, guidelines by court and Act which is enacted recently and lastly on knowledge on complaint cell there duty’s and rights which have provided. Research Findings In the present study the hypothesis 1 and hypothesis 2 are tested and the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and represent as in percentage. The result of the present study show that the most of the working women were aware regarding guidelines issued by Supreme Court on sexual harassment about 76% but most of the working women about 62% was not aware about women complaint cell at work place. It is concluded from table that more than two-third of the respondents (70.00%) are aware about complaint system on misconduct related to sexual harassment at work place. It is concluded that most of the respondents (86.00%) said that they have never been harassed at workplace and more than half of the respondents (56.00%) suggested that awareness regarding sexual harassment at workplace must be generated among working women to prevent its occurrence, where as 22.00% said that laws related to sexual harassment must be properly implemented and its implementation must be insured (12.00%). It is concluded from the table, most of the respondents (92.00%) feel that women are still violated at work Place. On the basis of findings it was conclude that more than half respondents were not having knowledge regarding implementation of sexual harassment policy at work place and approximately two-third respondents are not aware about establishment of women complaint cell in their office. Some respondents have been harassed at workplace. More than half of the respondents feel sexual harassment at workplace as being mentally disturbing and hurdle in growth of carrier. Most of the women are aware about law and procedure as educated so have knowledge but it far from their reach as no enforcement in their workplace and step taken by the employer to aware. Complaint cell is there as law but not working and none step taken by management to discuss with us. From studies, it shows most of cases of harassment happen with women working on low salarys and uneducated they always harassed and as their status, they didn’t raise their voice on such issues as fear of losing jobs. Even after implementation of the law on sexual harassment none of the department took steps in regard of policy making in their premises of offices which shows non seriousness on such issues. Awareness Generation and Sensitization Gender sensitization and awareness generation programmes. Sensitization programmes should be organized for the policy makers, judiciary and enforcement: personnel in order to make them responsive in their handling cases of violence against women. Frequent legal awareness camps for women empowerment and spreading social awareness about women’s status & rights should be organized. Take your employees with you. Educate them about the issue and promote a healthy discussion of the policy It needs to handle complaints in a confidential manner and within a time-bound framework Conclusion Sexual harassment at the workplace is a universal problem. Even though the occurrence of sexual harassment at the workplace is widespread in India and elsewhere, this is the first time it has been recognised as an infringement of the fundamental rights of a woman, under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution of India "to practice any profession or to carry out any occupation, trade or business". Of late, the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace has assumed serious proportions, with a meteoric rise in the number of cases. Surprisingly, however, in most cases, women do not report the matter to the concerned authorities. In the last 50 years, various international human rights organisations have been focusing on promoting and protecting women's rights. The United Nations has acknowledged that women's rights are synonymous with human rights. The same was reiterated in the Beijing Declaration. Most international women's human rights movements have raised their voice against abuse and violence perpetrated against women in general. In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Areas where discrimination was found to be rampant include political rights, marriage, family and employment. The convention emphasised that discrimination and attacks on a woman's dignity violated the principle of equality of rights. Sexual harassment in the workplace is still very much in existence today more than ever. The data presented in this research paper describes the two types of sexual harassment, quid pro quo and hostile environment, as well as the legal ramifications for the accused harasser. From the above discussion shows most of the women are aware about law and procedure as educated so have knowledge but it far from their reach as no enforcement in their workplace and step taken by the employer to aware. Complaint cell is there as law, but not working and none step taken by management to discuss. As from study harassment with women happen only with those working in low wages and small works of offices as they are not much aware about the law and have fear of losing job, reason behind is belong to poor family and dignity is the only thing they have to survive in their society that’s why they didn’t speak anything on such issues. So there is need for equality of work opportunity for women, however class from her belong, law procedure should be open and in reach. Need to aware women time to time through women cell, break their all thoughts of custom and make them bold. In any civilised society, it is the fundamental right of people to be able to lead their lives with dignity, free from mental or physical torture. To ensure this, transgressors must pay for their unsolicited sexual advances. At the same time organisations such as Men Against Violence and Abuse, that conduct gender-sensitisation programmes and self-defence classes to combat sexual harassment at the workplace, must be encouraged (Sadani, 2003). To effectively prevent SHW we need both a top-down initiative by the state and employers and civil society initiatives from citizens' groups, women's organisations and trade unions. 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