Sexual harassment in the workplace is unwelcome or unwanted attention of a sexual nature from someone at a workplace that causes discomfort, humiliation, offense or distress, and/or interferes with the job. This includes all such actions and practices of a sexual nature by a person or a group of people directed at one or more workers.
According to The Supreme Court definition, sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexually determined behavior, such as:-
- Physical contact
- A demand or request for sexual favors
- Sexually colored remarks
- Showing pornography
- Any other physical, verbal, or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature
Sexual Harassment takes place if a person:
- Subjects another person to an unwelcome act of physical intimacy, like grabbing, brushing, touching, pinching, etc.
- Makes an unwelcome demand or request (whether directly or by implication) for sexual favors from another person, and further makes it a condition for employment/payment of wages/increment/promotion, etc.
- Makes an unwelcome remark with sexual connotations, like sexually explicit compliments/cracking inappropriate jokes with sexual connotations/ making sexist remarks, etc.
- Shows a person any sexually explicit visual material, in the form of pictures/cartoons/pinups/ calendars/screen savers on computers/any offensive written material/pornographic e-mails, etc.
- Engages in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which could be verbal, or even non-verbal, like staring to make the other person uncomfortable, making offensive gesture kissing sounds, etc.
Sexual harassment also takes place when the supervisor requests sexual favors from a junior in return for a promotion or other benefits or threatens to sack for non-cooperation. It is also sexual harassment for a boss to make intrusive inquiries into the private lives of employees, or persistently ask them out.
It is important to ensure that the emphasis is on prevention rather than punitive action. This calls for widespread awareness of the Act among employers, managers, and the workers themselves. Frequently, women workers may face sexual harassment but may not be aware that it is a breach of their rights and that there is something they can do about it. They need to know that they can do something about it.
