Sex abuse at work: An Act isn’t enough

Over 25 years ago, Shehnaz Mudbhatkal slapped her employers, Saudi Arabian Airlines, with an unusual charge — sexual harassment. As she had been removed from service, this point  was also tried under the capacious Industrial Disputes Act.

Many more have knocked on judicial doors since, leading to a refinement of the understanding of sexual harassment at the workplace and a law passed by the Lok Sabha recently — the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act 2010.

The passage of the Act will no doubt be a milestone for the growing number of women stepping out of homes to earn a living, wishing away that open stare, uncomfortable innuendo, and cheesy propositioning.

Only a trickle of these women complain, and when they do, the results are often more disastrous for them than for their tormentor.

So, while laws will have lacunae as does this one, the real proof of a society’s maturity lies in the way it handles these cases. Most offices don’t have a committee to deal with sexual harassment complaints and those which do have no clue what they are supposed to do, nor do they care.

In one case in the city, a senior executive of a multinational firm took on her bosses for their innuendos and snide remarks. When her complaint went unheeded, she resigned. After rejecting her resignation, the company dismissed her a month later. Till then, the company had no committee in place to deal with sexual harassment complaints though its policy manual tom-toms its sensitivity to the issue.

In what is a pattern in such cases, a committee was rustled up which nitpicked on the format of the complaint, and generally seemed unconcerned about the actual plaint. The complainant snubbed the committee and approached other fora including the courts. After half a decade, three senior executives have been charge sheeted. That may seem reassuring but it’s a long haul. One of the accused has been promoted regardless of the slur while the complainant, a single mother, remained jobless for years, was abused on websites after her name was outed by a reporter. Consequently, her health has suffered, and her child has had to go for counselling.

The odds don’t even out. It’s so common for a woman to be targeted for complaining that it hobbles the Act. Therefore, it may be worthwhile to build in safeguards in the Act to immunise a complainant against the social stigma and economic inequity that inevitably visits her.

The UK has a sweeping law in the form of its Equality Act 2010. It takes care of all attendant issues stemming from a complaint and addresses all forms of discrimination at the workplace including protection from reprisals.

In fact, even unequal treatment is punishable by law in the developed world. An international consulting giant in the US is facing turmoil with grave charges of gender stereotyping tumbling out. A senior female executive of the company has alleged she was told she did not “schmooze” enough, another high achiever was shunned on becoming a mother, a third was paid less than others, and so on.

We need to fine-tune our legal apparatus as well as our social sensibilities to cover the web of issues entwined with the subject of sexual harassment at the workplace. Having an Act in place is no doubt a great leveller. But for the rule book to be effective, it must be read and implemented in the right spirit. We’ll need to pull up our socks before we can wear the shoes and walk.