Indian women may have become economically independent but social empowerment is still a far cry.
A survey on sexual harassment at workplace by lawyers’ body, Indian National Bar Association — conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Guwahati, Jalan-dhar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Lucknow — reveals 68.9 per cent of victims claimed of not complaining to the superiors due to “fear, embarrassment, lack of confidence in complaint mechanism, unawareness, and due to stigma attached to sexual harassment.”
The survey covered 6,047 people, of which 78 per cent were females, working in sectors such as BPOs, IT, education, legal and hospital. Of the total, 38 per cent claimed of sexual harassment at workplace, while 50.7 per cent said they had been targets of it online, or on social networking.
The survey also found that companies were still unaware of following the process under Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013, with 65.2 per cent of the complainants themselves unaware of the policies.
Zameer Nathani, Honorary National Secretary, Indian National Bar Association, said: “The Act has clearly defined the rights of the women and the complaint mechanism to be at the workplace. Once there is awareness regarding the same, we would find the cases of sexual harassment dealt with in a better way.”http://m.thehindubusinessline.com/news/variety/close-to-70-women-avoid-afraid-of-reporting-sexual-harassment/article9457405.ece
January 5, 2017 at 5:46 pm
As women going to jobs has increased, their harassment at work places has also increased. They have become financially independent but empowerment on social and cultural front is yet a far cry. The goal of all-round empowerment of women should be given top priority