Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplaces
The evolution of the Sexual Harassment of women at workplace( Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013

As a largest democracy in the world we are struggling hard to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. We are trying to find means and ways to protect women from any form of indecency, indignity and disrespect at all places. But unless and until we understand and accept the concept of dignity and modesty of a woman we cannot provide for new initiatives for advancement of women and girls in all spheres of life. Only formulation of laws and effective implementation of laws are not enough for the true and genuine upliftment of our half most precious population-women.
Human rights rest on human dignity.
Maya Angelou quotes “Dignity. It means a belief in oneself that one is worthy of the best. It means that what I have to say is important and I will say it when it's important for me to say it. Dignity really means that I deserve the best treatment I can receive and that I have the responsibility to give the best treatment I can to other people.”
When people are treated with dignity, they become more contented and are able to create more meaningful relations by choosing dignity as a way of life we open the way to greater peace within ourselves and to a safer and more humane world for all.
Are we ever going to accept women as human beings?
It is our ancient tradition to treat women like a goddess and a goddess is supposed have supernatural powers and is believed to protect people in times of distress. If we treat woman as a goddess in this process we deny the human rights which are indeed a grave injustice towards her womanhood and humanity. If we really want to empower women we need to accept them as human beings with all potentials and credentials to contribute in development of the society. So, let us treat women as human beings so that we can discuss their problems in society. Taking into consideration the fact that the percentage of working women in private as well government and corporate sector is increasing day by day and their problems of safety and dignity at work places have attracted attention of society and judiciary. It is a fact that many women are sexually harassed at workplaces. Here we have to acknowledge that sexual harassment hampers women’s productivity at work places and creates hostile environment affecting women’s mental health.
Bhanwari Devi: The icon of Vishakha judgement
We all know the brave heart Bhanwari Devi and her resilience to fight for justice for the dignity of womanhood in India. After her assault at workplace, she had to leave her valuable lehenga at the P.H.C for medical examination and cover herself with her husband’s turban while returning home. She fought the battle with no tools in her hands except the courage, fearless mind and determination for bringing justice and the largest judgement on gender justice i.e Vishakha judgement.
Sexual harassment is a social problem and a social evil.
Honourable Supreme Court in the Vishakha judgement accepted the fact that sexual harassment of women in workplaces is a social problem of considerable magnitude and it is a violation of fundamental rights of a woman. It laid down the guidelines in the year 1997 making it obligatory to all the government and non-government organizations to observe these guidelines to fight the evil of sexual harassment at work places. It also endorsed the view that in the present scenario it is an urgent social need to find suitable methods of realization of the true concept of gender equality and to prevent sexual harassment of working women at all work places.
Sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 came into force for women’s safety, security and dignity.
Beyond the definition of sexual harassment
The report of the committee on amendments to criminal laws headed by late chief justice J.S. Verma, former chief justice of India (author of Vishakha Judgement) observed.
The definition of sexual harassment requires some classification in as much as any interpretation of the word unwelcome as contained in the said definition must give due weight to both objective as well as subjective criteria in order to ensure that women of different perceptions and comfort levels are given appropriate protection. Therefore, we suggest that after the definition of sexual harassment the following explanation may be inserted in determining whether the behaviour of act complained of is unwelcome, one of the factors to be given due weight shall be the subjective perception of the complainant.
Here we all women should be thankful to the man the author of the Vishakha judgement for understanding the comfort zone of a woman and her subjective perception. Indian womanhood will always remain in gratitude for this great and pure soul.
Woman is born with modesty.
Honourable justice Dr.AS Anand and M.K. Mukherjee of Supreme Court observed the RD Bajaj VS KPS Gill (1995) and found out that
- The word Modesty has not been defined in the Indian Penal Code. The court looked into the dictionary meaning of the word.
- The ultimate test for uncertainty whether the modesty has been outraged is the action of the offender if it is capable of shocking the sense of decency of a woman, the alleged act of the respondent in slapping the appellant on her posterior amounted to outraging her modesty. It was not only an affront to the normal sense of feminine decency but also an affront to the dignity of the lady.
- Court said that the essence of modesty is her sex she is born with modesty. In this context we need to understand modesty to give justice to the cases of sexual harassment of women at workplace. Without understanding modesty or womanhood or the feeling of self-respect of a woman we will not be able to curb the evil of sexual harassment of women at workplace.
Rupan Deol Bajaj raised her voice for gender justice and she says “when a woman stands up for herself she stands up for all womankind.” We salute this spirit of bravery which lead the judiciary to arm the women with stringent laws on gender justice and equality. Accepting the fact that a woman is born with modesty we can build a culture of ethics to safeguard the basic right of a woman to live with dignity.
It is a great feeling that this pageant “Queen of substance 2024” gives us the chance to bring the woman of substance in this blog who has added a substance to the life of every woman in India.