Why sexual harassment at work goes unreported
REASONS Women fear social stigma and repercussions, says survey
NEW DELHI: That sexual harassment is a concern at workplaces is no secret, a new study conducted by the Indian National Bar Association (INBA) found that 37.8% of their participants reported having been sexually harassed at their workplace.
The study also found that 69% of the victims never complain or report sexual harassment citing reasons such as fear of social stigma and lack of confidence in the recourse system.
The survey had 6,047 participants from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Assam, Jalandar, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Lucknow — 78% females and 22% males. No matter which industry they came from, most had experienced some sort of sexual harassment in their lives.
The workplace was the most sexually aggressive place with 37.8% people saying that they were harassed there. Schools and colleges followed close with 22% respondents calling these as the next more common places of harassment.
Karuna Nundy, lawyer, who deals with anti-sexual harassment policies for companies, said, “Sexual harassment is an act of wielding power over another. In participants —
female, male from IT, education, food, medical, legal, manufacturing, labour, government sectors
people said they have experienced sexual harassment at their workplaces
people said they have been harassed by immediate managers or fellow colleagues; and 17.8% said that many cases, it is not because of attraction. It is mainly because they feel they have the power to act. Sometimes, it may have nothing at all to do with attraction; it could be jealousy, or even a way of undercutting a colleague’s success by humiliating her.”
A large proportion of the victims, 28.9%, said that they were sexually harassed by their immediate manager or a fellow colleague, or the senior leaders of the organisation (17.8%).
Three out of every four people who were harassed said they were subjected to inappropriate comments, touching and physical abuse.
Even though the problem they were harassed by senior members of the organisation
said that inappropriate comments and touching were the most prevalent forms of harassment
victims of sexual harassment said that they never complained for fear of repercussions and some even sympathise with the offender, wondering if they have misunderstood their intentions seems to be widespread, not many actually complain. In approximately seven out of 10 cases, victims said they did not complain, as they fear retaliation and social stigma attached to cases of sexual harassment.
Zameer Nathani, chairman, media, INBA, said that almost half of the people they spoke to said that they did not believe that they would be protected by the law if they reported sexual harassment.
The report also stated that a majority of the people are unaware of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act instituted in 2013 to ensure safe spaces for women in office.