Diversity in India Inc: Sexual harassment plaints below pre-pandemic levels

This four-part series examines diversity, equity, and inclusion in Corporate India. Part 3 examines sexual harassment in the age of remote work - and the absence of awareness

Priya and Neha (names changed), who worked in the quality control department of a private company, were pulled up for poor performance. Their male superintendent on the shop floor chose to discipline them by spanking with a rod.

A complaint was filed with the local complaints committee, and action taken against the superintendent, along with changes to the administrative rules. Fewer such instances are coming up after the pandemic.

Business Standard collated data on complaints of sexual harassment from annual reports of the top 100 companies of the last five financial years.

Only eight sexual harassment complaints were filed for every 10,000 women employees in 2021-22. The analysis is based on 61 companies for which continuous data is available.

There is often some hesitation in filing a complaint, observes Pallavi Pareek, chief executive officer (CEO), Ungender — an advisory firm focusing on diversity and inclusion at the workplace.

“In the past month, I had counselling sessions with 20 people, and a similar refrain followed across all conversations,” said Pareek.

‘Will there be retaliation?’

‘Will I still be part of the company after my case is taken up?’

Will I be able to grow in the organisation?’

Only five decided to file a complaint, she rues. Many women do not complain because of the way a case is handled. The experiences of those who speak up often dissuade others from stepping forward, adds Pareek.  

Smita Bharti, executive director of Sakshi, a non-profit organisation working on gender and sexual rights, says the understanding and awareness of what falls within the ambit of sexual harassment at the workplace is amorphous, which is probably the reason for the decline in cases during the pandemic.

“Many companies still believe that remote work and sexual harassment are mutually exclusive,” says Pareek.

The fact that people were not in close proximity made companies believe there wouldn’t be any cases of sexual harassment.

Says Veenu Kakkar, an independent expert on the prevention of sexual harassment (POSH) practices, “In around four-fives cases right off the bat, women needed my opinion on sexual harassment in a case where nothing was physical.”

Sending pictures on WhatsApp, or asking personal questions also constitute sexual harassment, she clarifies. Office-based sexual harassment may be done on video calls and chats. Terms of endearment like ‘baby’ or ‘sweetie’ constitute sexual harassment.

Pareek and Kakkar concur that companies had stopped investing in POSH training during the pandemic.

The trend of falling cases of sexual harassment at work or on office premises in India is also reflected in the National Crime Records Bureau data.

Between calendar years 2017 and 2021, the highest number of cases were reported in 2019. The subsequent two years reported a decline of 3.8 per cent (2020) and 13.8 per cent (2021), respectively.

Says Sadhana Khati, a POSH consultant, “After training, women meet me in the washroom to tell me about their experiences due to fear of reprisal, facing harassment again, or the possible impact on their appraisal and work conditions in the future.”

Sometimes, women choose to quit their jobs instead of escalating the issue to their line manager, she adds. Often the Internal Complaints Committee is absent or not functional, says Kakkar.  

Kakkar shares the case of a young girl from a small town in Rajasthan who was harassed by her company’s CEO. “She did not know who to approach. There was no local complaints committee at her place.”

Bharti says many firms have everything on paper, but a closer inspection reveals discrepancies. “The composition is wrong and companies don’t know who the chairperson is.”

Among metropolitan cities, Delhi had the highest number of cases of sexual harassment in the workplace in 2021, followed by Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. The five cities accounted for 91.9 per cent of total cases in Indian cities in 2021.

Sexual harassment should be seen as a violation of one’s constitutional right to equality and not as a morality issue, adds Bharti.