Sexual Harassment And The Charade Of The Zero-Tolerance Policy

It’s a normal day. You are at your workplace, sipping coffee, and trying to concentrate on your work. You push yourself to think about the possible scenarios to meet today’s deadlines. Your phone chimes as you get a text. You hear the blood rushing in your body. You quickly scan your surroundings and have a look at the message. You put the phone away in haste, and it falls to the floor with a loud ‘thud.’ You feel like a thief as if it’s not your property to use.

Suddenly, you hear the same voices. They are laughing at a joke or probably you. You grab the nearest file and try to use it as a shield so that no one notices your odd behavior, heavy breathing, and shaking body. You keep going over files, turn pages over and over but without reading a word. What you only see is the gruesome flashbacks running in a loop. You get up. Pack your things, take your bag, and leave your workplace. The calm has been lost. The switch turned, and everything went off.

You go home watching each face and all the turns that the cab took. You take the paper and your favorite pen out. You pour every gory detail into words, remembering all the torment, disgusting comments, and pain one last time.

Finally, sign off!

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Why do women have to resort to this extreme step? 6 Years! 6 Years have passed since the PoSH law came into force. Those who know the gravity of such incidents have been shouting from the rooftops. That is, how to prevent it from happening at the workplace.

Once again, the ugly face of our society stands exposed. Neha K, a 33-year-old female employee of BHEL, Hyderabad, committed suicide as she faced many instances of harassment by her senior and colleagues.

In her last words, she wrote about how the DGM and six other colleagues harassed her mentally, which forced her to resort to the extreme step. It was suspected that her senior and colleagues were spying on her by tapping her phone. Not just this but they were also following her and passing vulgar comments.

Until when do we have to hear about such tragic incidents? When will it finally stop?

According to a news article in The Economic Times,

“Indian companies reported more cases of sexual harassment in FY19 compared to a year earlier.”

Suresh Tripathi, vice president, human resource management, Tata Steel said that women are more prompt these days to report any case of sexual misconduct, and it is the responsibility of organizations to take speedy action. Based on such testimonials, the ones working to provide a safe working environment to the women, feel that they have possibly stepped up a notch. That women are finally coming forth to lay their trust in the Internal Committee (IC).

But the recent incident that happened in a prestigious PSU has shaken everyone to the core. And once again, the realization has hit us hard. We cannot say that we have stepped up, as long as such incidents of harassment keep happening. What should we do in such a situation?

The solution doesn’t rest in playing the blame game with the government. Because the government does have strict laws against incidents of sexual harassment, and they are prescribed under the PoSH law. The responsibility comes on each organization, each manager, each employee, and the respective HR teams to ensure a safe working environment, to have a proper and robust Internal Committee (IC).

This incident should propel us to think about the state of workplace harassment today. After the massive reach of the #MeToo movement and awareness about the PoSH law and the consequences of its non-compliance, what is the actual status of a safe working environment? Why is the zero-tolerance policy just on paper and not in spirit? Why are the organizations not implementing PoSH guidelines with full-force and in all seriousness? And it doesn’t happen overnight. It requires time and understanding to change the workplace culture and make it safe for each working woman.

There are still numerous organizations that are not PoSH compliant, be it MNCs, shopping complexes, gyms, PSUs, etc. Each employee must undergo anti-sexual harassment and gender sensitization training to make sure that no women suffer from anything that Neha experienced. Because when such incidents happen, the effects can be devastating. Both on the organization as a whole as well as the employees.

The process of building or rebuilding a safe work culture is crucial. Irrespective of the intention of the accused or the level of impact, every incident has to be taken seriously and investigated by the IC. Even a single instance of forwarding an indecent joke or picture on social media platforms can trigger a complaint. Harassment does not disappear on its own. If not addressed, the harassment will worsen and become more difficult to remedy as time goes on.

Rainmaker helps employers in conducting educational and sensitization programs to develop policies against Sexual Harassment under the PoSH act.

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