Where to draw the line?

Streaming network Netflix decided to drop Kevin Spacey from its flagship show House of Cards and has decided to stop the release of a movie starring him after the actor was accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour. 

In another news, Hollywood biggie Harvey Weinstein is likely to be arrested after an actress accused him for raping her twice in 2010. This is after several actresses came out and accused the producer of sexual assault. 

These incidents have got people talking about the sexual harassment at workplace. Even the controversy at the sets of a comedy show involving actor Akshay Kumar and Malika Dua touched upon the topic of harassment at the workplace.

Some say that sexual harassment at workplace is limited to the glamour world, but reports suggest that the number of sexual harassment cases registered in corporates is only growing.

Compared to 425 cases last year, companies part of the National Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nifty index, reported 579 cases between 2016 and 2017. 

Experts say that the numbers are only bigger in reality. Renuka R, from Centre for Women’s Development And Research points, “There are a lot of loopholes in the system and the first reaction of most companies is to sweep the issue under the carpet. According to the guidelines, the committee must be headed by a woman and not less than half of its member should be women. Also, to avoid any influence from seniors, the committee must also have a third party, either from an NGO or another body familiar with sexual harassment.” She goes on to add, “These companies call and say that you can be in the committee, but you do not have to come to the meeting. ‘We will send you the documents and you can just sign’. I refuse. There are scores of cases where the same committee asks the victim to go for a settlement.” 

Renuka also points that women are often asked not to pursue the cases of sexual harassment. Varsha (name changed on request), an avid traveller volunteered with an animal welfare organisation was forced to leave the organisation when she filed a sexual harassment case against one of the organisation heads. “I would ignore the physical contact in the beginning. He was someone generous with hugging. I wasn’t comfortable, but I didn’t say anything because no one else did. Then he touched me inappropriately. I shared my concerns with my friends in the organisation and they didn’t take me seriously. But things became worse as he continued to do it. I went and complained to the seniors who assured me that right action will be taken,” says Varsha. “Indeed, there was an inquiry but in my absence. Appalled, I decided to file a legal notice but the people in the organisation got a whiff of that and they came home in my absence and spoke to my mother. She was told that the man in question was planning to slap a defamation case on me for Rs 2 crore. My mother was worried, and her health started deteriorating, I had to abandon the fight. I had written a blog post about it and I was asked to remove that. Needless to say, I was asked to leave the organisation.” 

Those accused of sexually offending a colleague, often say that was not the intention and it was just a friendly gesture. “The law defines sexual harassment clearly and there is no two ways about it. Like no one can crack casteist jokes in public, a sexist joke in a workplace is not acceptable,” says Feminist writer V. Geetha 

However, some argue that in certain workplaces colleagues are comfortable with jokes with sexual undertones. V Geetha says, “Not everyone is comfortable with these conversations and if someone feels that it is derogatory, she has the right to file a sexual harassment case. The law clearly indicates what constitutes as harassment and there is no bending that.” 

Women across fields have to face sexual harassment and the strong system (which is very rare to find) in place do act a shield from the predators. Priyanka, a communication professional says, “A colleague would constantly send me messages late in the night that I avoided to reply for months. He’d persist to meet outside work, even after denying on several occasions. When he once sent an obscene text message, I asked him to stop talking to me immediately and said that I would complain to the HR if he continued. Since there was a Vishakha committee in place and the notice board in the organisation had the contact details, I knew what exactly to do. He has not bothered me since.”

Also, recently the Delhi High Court observed that not all touch amounts to sexual harassment. The question now is where to draw the line as some jokes may be fine to some and not to other. Some experts say that the best way to do is to give a warning when it happens initially. If the person in question still continues, it is only fair to reach the higher authorities. 

Senior advocate Sudha Ramalingam says, “The Delhi High Court judgement is an interpretation of the law and it holds good in any situation – not all touch is sexual. A situation has to be looked holistically because what may be offending to one person may be absolutely normal to others.”

Sexual harassment includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as: