Letters: Harassment woes

Apropos Veenu Sandhu's article "Tell and suffer" (BS Weekend, April 4), many Indian companies apprehend (wrongly) that a complaint of sexual harassment if investigated or proved would affect their reputation adversely. So, the first attempt is to hush it up or dissuade the victim from pursuing the matter. Besides, the wide-ranging definition of the term in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition And Redressal) Act has made organisations (fearing many cases) defensive of the aggressor rather than supportive of the victim. Then the male mindset that treats a woman as an object of pleasure stands by the aggressor.

An effective way to check sexual harassment is to institute a strong organisational culture that emphasises the need for workforce diversity and mutual respect for the dignity of co-workers. As a punitive measure, this offence should be treated on par with other serious incidents of deviant workplace behaviour such as theft and gross indiscipline.

Besides, organisations should allow women employees to create a forum with the sole objective of voicing grievances about sexual harassment with the senior and top management discreetly, resulting in a warning to the aggressor in minor cases and major punishment for severe violations. This body could also protect whistle-blowers and victims from humiliation or further harassment.

Y G Chouksey Pune

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