Opinion | Sexual Harassment: A Malaise in our Society

Sexual harassment is a malaise for society and steps should be taken to curb and control it

Sexual harassment is defined as an unwelcome behaviour of sexual nature. It is a form of discrimination that is specifically prohibited by law and courts. Sexual harassment takes many different forms: it can come from a supervisor, or a customer or client, colleague and ranges from unwanted touching; inappropriate comments or jokes. It does not have to be “sexual.” It can also look like teasing, or offensive comments based on stereotypes; e.g., about how certain people “are” or should act; or bullying someone or a group of people based on their gender identities (male, female or transgender); and sometimes is about race or ethnicity as well. Few examples of behaviour that are considered harassment include saying bad things about or making fun of someone or all people of a certain gender or sexual orientation; making vulgar, offensive, or explicit jokes about sex or sexual acts; sending or sharing emails, texts or messages of a sexual nature; unwanted or inappropriate touching of any body part, clothing, face, or hair, including hugging , kissing or assault.
For something to be considered as sexual harassment, depends on what the harrased person thinks or how much uncomfortable he/she feels. It does not matter if the person, who is harassing, thinks its okay, harmless, not sexual, or welcomed. It is still harassment, if the behaviour is something you don’t want or find offensive.
In order to control and curb any kind of harassment of above mentioned categories, many laws and acts have been formed in India and at international level as well; some of them are: (1) The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplaces (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, passed in 2013, defined sexual harassment by laying down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry and the action to be taken. (2) Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in 1948, was adopted by the United Nations Genral Asembly. Article 3 of the UDHR states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person”. This right was reaffirmed in by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), which protects the Right to Life (Article 9). (3) Indigenous and Tribal People’s Convention, of1989, is the only convention that specifically refers to the offence of sexual harassment at workplace. It provides that government shall do everything possible to prevent any discrimination between workers belonging to the people’s to whom the convention applies and other workers, including taking measures to ensure that they enjoy protection from sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is not only banned by the government, but it has also been described as a sin by all religions of the world. We must try to stay away from the sin which creates problems for the upcoming generation. We (as adults) should try to include new values in our society for transmitting into the upcoming generation.
From the above passages, it can be easily inferred clearly what sexual harassment is and what acts or actions come under it. Moreover, there are laws and acts which are specifically meant for curbing and controlling the acts of sexual harassment. Therefore, the need of the hour is to create awareness about these laws and acts so that if a person faces any problems or issues related to sexual harassment, he or she can bring it in the notice of the concerned authorities, so that the culprit be punished as per the laws. Moreover, we should try our utmost to stop sexual harassment in our society (if we witness it in any form or if any person brings it in our notice) so that this malaise is removed from the society–for it is no less than a malaise and it is better to “nip the evil in the bud”.

(The author is BA 6th semister student at GDC sogam Lolab Kupwara)