THURSDAY | 16 MARCH 2017 A ‘working’ nightmare
Sexual harassment at the workplace has once again taken centre stage, with many reasons for its prevalence even today
The lack of availability of an Internal Complaints Committee is the number one reason (why harassment cases are not reported). Nobody wants to deal with the police for months on end, and a criminal complaint requires a very different order of evidence. You’re supposed to have the option of dealing with it in the workplace, and the fact that so many offices don’t have it is the number one deterrent — apart from victim blaming. YouTube content creators The Viral Fever (TVF) were hit by allegations of sexual assault by a former employee on Sunday, with an anonymous blogger accusing the company’s founder Arunabh Kumar of molestation and sexual harassment
While this isn’t the first time someone in power has been accused of taking advantage of their position to sexually harass employees, there are some issues that such cases have in common, and need to be addressed.
A PROACTIVE RESPONSE
TVF responded to the allegations by discrediting the victim, then threatening her: “We will leave no stone unturned to find the author of the article and bring them to severe justice.” Arunabh also told a leading tabloid that being a heterosexual male gave him the right to call a woman “sexy”.
But lawyer Rachna Reddy says that even this constitutes sexual harassment. “The way Arunabh defended himself is unnecessary. If women don’t want to be complimented and what you say makes them uncomfortable, it’s also sexual harassment. The accused must know that it’s decent to keep quiet and wait till the truth comes out, instead of going out and belittling the accuser,” she says.
In contrast, comedian Rohan Joshi, who was also accused on Tuesday of sexual assault, responded to the allegations with restraint by tweeting, “I would like to state categorically that this did not happen. I am open and willing, and even urge @MumbaiPolice to investigate this... any competent authority who wants to investigate is welcome to, and I encourage whoever wrote that to pursue the matter earnestly.”
YOUNGER VICTIMS
Many victims are usually new to a company and the city they’re living in, a common factor in many such cases.
The company had first responded to the alleged victim by threatening to “bring them to severe justice”
Lalitha ‘Volga’ Kumari, writer and chairperson of Asmita Resource Centre for Women, says, “Women below the age of 30 and who work in new cities are more vulnerable because they do not have a support system. Men think that it’s easy to attack them and that they won’t open up about it to anyone.” Being in a position of power is another reason why younger employees are targeted, with Kavita Krishnan, Secretary All India Progressive Women’s Association, saying, “In any workplace where there’s a lack of accountability and there’s undue power at one end of the spectrum — it’s more likely to happen."
LACK OF REPORTAGE
The number of reported cases of harassment are few and far, due to a number of factors. “Women worry about what colleagues and families will think. Also, these cases are purely circumstantial and cannot be documented. So she may be hesitant to talk about it,” says Rachna. But one of the main reasons why sexual harassment at the workplace is still rampant, is because many companies, regardless of whether they’re start-ups or fullfledged organisations, do not have an internal complaints committee (ICC) — despite them requiring to have one, by law. Kavita says, “The lack of availability of an ICC is the number one reason. Nobody wants to deal with the police for months on end, and a criminal complaint requires a very different order of evidence. You’re supposed to have the option of dealing with it in the workplace, and the fact that so many offices don’t have it is the number one deterrent — apart from the victim blaming and other reasons.”
MOVING FORWARD
But forming such committees isn’t the only way to battle harassment at the workplace. A wider change in office culture is what’s also needed, believes Gopika Bashi, a women’s rights campaigner at Amnesty India. She says that while the law provides a framework for action against such issues, it’s up to the companies to make sure they’re enforced.
“Companies should foster an overall environment of gender equality in the office, of being open to complaints, talking about what harassment is, how to overcome differences and more. They need to address these problems before they actually become one — through mini campaigns in the office, talking about creating an open environment, how they have a zero tolerance policy towards sexual harassment, and what you can do beyond just being a complainant or a bystander,” says Gopika. In start-ups, the group is very small, and most of the time, there is no committee or person to help someone who has been sexually harassed.
One incident that happened to me was when I went to meet an investor for my company along with my cofounder. After listening to my business plan, the only question he had was when was I getting married. I didn’t quite understand what my marriage had to do with an investment. He then proposed that I step down as CEO and let my co-founder take over that position as he’s a man. My cofounder and I have been friends for a long time, and he immediately retorted, ‘Sir, if you’re looking for a man to be the CEO, then I must tell you that she is the man.’ Unfortunately, this isn’t just my story. Many women face the ‘funding couch’ like the entertainment industry’s casting couch.