Sexual harassment at work tops women’s woes

Victims choose not to report incidents fearing repercussions

It is almost difficult for women not to be victims of sexual harassment. Lewd comments, deliberate touching, ‘wolf-whistles’ and staring are part of their life, so much so that they are being dismissed as the new normal.

Working women are no exception. Despite the legal provisions to deter sexual harassment at workplace, women continue to be targeted by colleagues and superiors and most of the cases go unreported.

A survey by the Indian Bar Association has shed light on this with the findings that 70 per cent of women facing harassment at workplaces chose not to report it, fearing repercussions. The survey was conducted among 6,047 women. According to the latest NCRB data for 2016, the country reported 27,344 sexual harassment cases and Telangana had 860 cases with Hyderabad having 152 victims in 2016.

On December 2, four lab technicians at the Gandhi Hospital were arrested by Chilkalguda police for sexually harassing new trainees. “The men inappropriately touched and stalked us repeatedly,” one of the victims told Chilkalguda police. D. Kavitha, assistant commissioner of police, SHE Teams, said, “We come across many cases every day. Recently, we arrested a graduate, Karthik, who was earlier warned by us, for sexually harassing several women, including an advocate. Earlier this week, we booked a few men for harassing women in Secunderabad.”

Cases of sexual assault rose to 819 in 2016 from 671 in 2015.

The figures do not reveal the real situation since many cases go unreported.

According to Dr Daina Monteiro, a psychologist, victims of sexual harassment can experience strained relationships in the workplace and are also at risk of facing numerous health problems like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, blood pressure, etc.