Sexual Harassment

What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual harassment is very humiliating and offensive behaviour. It is the request for sexual favour, unwelcomed sexual advances or any other kind of sexual conduct either physically or verbally. This can happen with both males and females, but the most suffered gender in this century are females. This can happen to anyone during work time, or any work-related event or at any public places. It can directly or indirectly affect the person’s education and employment decision, mental condition or his/her participation. Such a hostile and intimidating kind of behaviour can adversely affect the living environment of the person.

Many incidents of sexual harassment have been registered in India under different IPC section. Some stated that this criminal offence has occurred at public places and others were sexually harassed inside their own home. 

Types of Sexual Harassment

1. Quid pro quo (meaning “this for that”): In this kind of sexual harassment the individual person is asked to for a sexual favor in return of participation inactivity. For example you must have heard that the employee will be promoted further to higher post is he/she goes on a date or gives some kind of sexual favor. And in some case, the financial condition enforce the females to accept the deal for the money. In that case, people take advantage of their condition.
2. Hostile environment sexual harassment: It refers to the creating of an abusive and threatening environment in the workplace in order to affect the other person’s ability to participate in. A person with aggressive behavior has some power over the person being harassed.

What kind of activity can be considered as sexual harassment?

1. Unwanted physical advances: If the person intentionally tries to make physical contact like grabbing, touching, hugging, kissing the women, then is considered as sexual harassment.
2. Unwanted sexual statement: The person makes sexual comments about the other person in the form of writing(text messages), emails, blogs etc. Sexual comments and dirty jokes by roadside Romeos, spreading rumors, questioning on sexual life, distributing a sexually explicit picture of a person via social media are considered as sexual harassment.
3. Unwanted personal attention: The person gets unwanted attention like receiving letter/ phone calls from an unknown person and getting pressurized for sexual favors.

What can Sexual Harassment do?

1.  It can make a person stressed, depressed and can suffer from mental disorder conditions like anxiety.
2. It can result in losing confidence and self-esteem.
3. The person becomes less productive in the workplace and concentration decreases.
4. A person suffers from headaches, tension, and sleep problem.
5. It can enforce a person to attempt suicide.

Some Laws Under Indian Penal Code(IPC) against sexual harassment

1. Section 354(A): A man can be imprisonment for three or more if he/she tries to make any kind of physical contact, demands for sexual favor, makes any kind of sexual remark, shows pornography against woman concept.
2. Section 354(B): A person can be punished for 3 to 7 years along with a fine if he has deprived her for her clothing and forced to see her naked.
3. Section 354(C): A man can be jailed for capturing the picture of the women in her private space and distributing it.
4. Section 354(D): Man can be penalized for following, stalking or contacting women(through social media or emails) to build a personal relationship without her interest.
5. Section 209:  A person can be imprisonment for 3 months, fined or both if he makes any kind of obscene act or sings obscene songs in public place to annoy others.
6. Section 509: A person can be punished for 1 year or more if he makes the sexual gesture to insult women’s modesty.

Co-Author: Himanshi Rajput, Content Writer, Sarvpriye Foundation (https://sarvpriyafoundation.wordpress.com/2019/11/22/sexual-harassment/)(https://community.codebinary.in/)