Positive Actions For A Safer Future Through Legal Frameworks

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead

In India, section 354 addresses any assault or criminal force used against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. It is punishable with a minimum imprisonment of a year and maximum up to 5 years. Section 354 A within this, addresses the sexual harassment of a woman at the workplace under the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Act. Up until 1997, there were no laws in India to safeguard women at the workplace. It’s only after the horrific gang-rape case of Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan reached the Supreme Court, that guidelines to cover sexual assault and harassment at the workplace were brought about in India for the first time. They served as law for almost 16 years. It’s only in 2013, just 6 years back, that the POSH Act came into force which covers and provides a redressal mechanism,  comprehensively all cases & situations of harassment against women at the workplace. Under this act, all companies employing more than 10 employees, are mandated to have an ICC (internal complaint committee) in the prescribed manner to receive and redress complaints in a time-bound manner. However, according to a KelpHR, 23% of companies are still not compliant with the Sexual Harassment Act, 2013. However, 77% of the companies have made the law gender-neutral - sharing the underlying message as an organisation they want to give. 

A stricter implementation and most importantly, workshops and sessions to build awareness amongst employees is the need of the hour. We firmly believe that building support groups amongst colleagues is one of the quickest ways to stop harassment and unsafe situations at the workplace. Just as bystander intervention and naming the act works very well in a public and social scenario, similar proactive actions in the workplace will yield positive results. One needs to be able to stand up for what’s wrong, whether done to yourself or your colleague to stop the vicious abuse cycle that perpetuates. 

While a lot of awareness-building activities will help the current generation, in order to change the future, we need to address gender-based change at the root. Research shows working with adolescents, through empowerment-based self-defence for girls and programs of gender equality and positive masculinity for young boys yields significant positive results in a time frame of less than a year. An open-minded boy of 12 will go on to become an open-minded adult man and be a changemaker. An empowered girl of 12, coherent with the importance of speaking up and self-defence tactics, will be an empowered adult woman, less likely to face and suffer abuse. A sustained change such as this can best be propagated if these empowered programs are a part of and implemented through the school system. 

A safe and abuse-free future for every boy and girl of today is the only future we should work towards.