Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and annoyances to actual sexual abuse or sexual assault. Sexual harassment is a form of illegal employment discrimination in many countries, and is a form of abuse (sexual and psychological) and bullying. For many businesses, preventing sexual harassment, and defending employees from sexual harassment charges, have become key goals of legal decision-making. In contrast, many scholars complain that sexual harassment in education remains a “forgotten secret,” with educators and administrators refusing to admit the problem exists in their schools, or accept their legal and ethical responsibilities to deal with it (Dziech, 1990).
Globalization and trade liberalization have resulted in the expansion of industrial sectors where women constitute the majority of the workforce. This new opportunity for employment, particularly in non-industrialized countries, has brought many economic and social gains to women, helping them to overcome society’s taboos and restrictions on women’s behavior. However, declining economic and social conditions worldwide have forced women to work in low-paid jobs with little security, benefits, or future. This type of industrial setting can often replicate the patriarchal control that women work to escape from, often being exposed to sexual harassment, poor conditions, and little health care or education opportunities. In addition, women are expected to maintain their household and child-rearing duties.
India: 17% of working women in India report having experienced sexual harassment at work places, according to an Oxfam opinion poll, ‘sexual harassment at work places in India 2011-2012’,
Most of these women reported to have faced incidents that were “”non-physical.”” At least 66 of the 400 respondents reported having faced 121 incidents of sexual harassment. Nearly 102 out of 121 incidents were reported to be non-physical, whereas the remaining 19 incidents were physical in nature.
(In India 80% of working women emphasize need of separate law on sexual harassment at the workplace) The top three industries that have emerged unsafe for women are labourers (29%), domestic help (23%) and small scale manufacturing (16%).
Sexual harassment has developed into one of the most controversial, complex and perhaps widespread HR problems in the world. One of the first attempts to measure the extent of sexual harassment internationally was undertaken by
Redbook magazine in the USA. Of the 9000 women workers who responded to the survey, 80% reported that they had experienced some form of unwanted attention on the job.”
A national study also undertaken in the USA of over 14 000 workers found that 42% of the women and 14% of the men had experienced some form of sexual harassment in a three-years period. The study also found that only 5% of the men and women who had experienced harassment chose to report it. The primary reasons why the other 95% did not report their harassment include the following:
> Absence of any complaint mechanism at the workplace
> Fear of loss of reputation
> Not aware of redressal mechanism of sexual harassment at the workplace.
> The fear of losing one’s job; if she’s sole earning member of their family.
> The need for a future job reference;
> The possibility of being considered a troublemaker;
> The assumption that nothing would change if harassment was reported;
> Concern about being accused of inviting the harassment;
> A reluctance to draw public attention to private lives;
> The prospect of emotional stress for filing a lawsuit and undergoing long, costly legal procedures.
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