This article has been written by Ms.Priya Nahar, a 1st year LLB Student from Amity University, Madhya Pradesh
Introduction
Women in India have progressed quite quickly in the last two decades.They are excelling in probably every field whether it’s IT,medicine, fashion,or law.In terms of growth they have surpassed the men.Women nowadays are doing every possible job that a man can do and with even a better mindset .But with this growth in there career , considering there importance of requirement in the prospective field , their safety concerns are increasing day by day . Since women nowadays are working in night as well due the job needs because of which every other day there is a news on headline about how a woman was molested on job ,was raped,was sexually assaulted and defamed . While the women have progressed by a huge margin in the last two decades, unfortunately the society and it’s people could not. Because of all these concerns ,a lot of women rethink about making a career in a field in which they want.This has probably led to their reduction in number of employments.These issues are just not related to women and there respective careers but also are of national importance,since women are integral part of the nation and bring prosperity to it.
Indian laws on women safety
With the increasing role of women in all the sectors of economy whether it’s primary , secondary or tertiary sector ,the government of India has taken all the necessary steps to provide them protection to perform their jobs safely.
Various laws were passed for there safety by the government.
Laws:
1.Posh act ,2013:This act contains various provision related to women’s protection from sexual harrasment at work.
Under sec 4 of this act there is a provision to compulsory set up a internal complaint committee to deal with the redressal of sexually harrassed women worker’s grievances and complaints.
Under sec 9 of this act where the women can file a complaint is mentioned
Under sec 12 of this act provides for paid leave up to to 3 months to the aggrieved woman and can also transfer her or the harasser to any other workplace.
Under sec 19 of this act describes certain duties of employer to prevent any type of sexual harrasment of women at workplace.
1.The sexual harrasment of women at workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal )act, 2013: This act came after the landmark supreme court judgement of vishaka v. State of Rajasthan ,in this particular case there was a social activist named Bhanwari Devi who faught for the social issues in a village of Rajasthan .
She worked under a social development program at rural level which was about to stop child marriage in a village and this social program was administered/ initiated by the Rajasthan’s state government.
She tried to stop the marriage of Ramkarn Gujjar’s daughter . After making full efforts to stop the marriage ,she was posed to social punishment .She was gang raped by Ramkaran Gujjar and his five friends .
At the hospital in Jaipur she was declined to be surveyed by the male attendent .After that at police station she was constantly taunted by the female constable
The trail court declared the accused not guilty of any crime
The high court pronounced –“ it was a case of gang rape which was conducted out of revengeful situation.
After this the activist filed petition in supreme court
Judgement: The court observed that the fundamental rights under Article 14[2], 19[3](1)(g) and 21[4]of Constitution of India that, every profession, trade or occupation should provide safe working environment to the employees. It hampered the right to life and the right to live a dignified life. The basic requirement was that there should be the availability of safe working environment at workplace.
Court held that women have the fundamental right to be protected from sexual abuse and harrasment and to get the safe working environment.
After this case, the Supreme Court made the term Sexual harassment well defined, accordingly any physical touch or conduct, showing of pornography, any unpleasant taunt or misbehavior, or any sexual desire towards women, sexual favor will come under the ambit of sexual harassment.
Under this act :
The definition of sexual harrasment is defined along with the ways in which a woman can protect and file a complaint .
The act mandates the organisation to necessarily have internal complaint committee at each office or branch, of an organization employing 10 or more employees, to hear and redress grievances pertaining to sexual harassment.
Constitution of committee:l Woman employed at a senior level at the workplace from amongst the employees will be the preciding officer
Members: Not less than 2 members from amongst employees. Preferably committed to the cause of women or who have had experience in social work or have legal knowledge
Interim Reliefs
The ICC/LCC is also empowered to, at the request of the complainant, recommend to the employer interim measures such as:
transfer of the aggrieved woman or the respondent to any other workplace.
granting leave to the aggrieved woman up to a period of 3 months in addition to her regular statutory/ contractual leave entitlement.
restrain the respondent from reporting on the work performance of the aggrieved woman or writing her confidential report, which duties may be transferred to other employees.
Punishment and Compensation
The statute prescribes the following punishments that may be imposed by an employer on an employee for indulging in an act of sexual harassment:
punishment prescribed under the service rules of the organization;
if the organization does not have service rules, disciplinary action including written apology, warning, reprimand, censure, withholding of promotion, withholding of pay rise or increments, terminating the respondent from service, undergoing a counselling session, or carrying out community service; and
deduction of compensation payable to the aggrieved woman from the wages of the respondent.The statute also envisages payment of compensation to the aggrieved woman
The compensation payable shall be determined based on:
the mental trauma, pain, suffering and emotional distress caused to the aggrieved employee;
the loss in career opportunity due to the incident of sexual harassment;
medical expenses incurred by the victim for physical/ psychiatric treatment;
the income and status of the alleged perpetrator; and
feasibility of such payment in lump sum or in installments.
Safety measures for women
Women personally should be aware about all the rights and safety measures they have to protect themselves.Women have been given various rights to protect themselves such as right against being stalked given protection under IPC section 354D, which allows for legal action to be taken against an offender who follows a woman, makes repeated attempts to get in touch with her to foster personal interaction despite obvious disinterest, or keeps tabs on how she uses the internet, email, or any other form of electronic communication.
Second right that they have is right against workplace harrasment ,under sexual harrasment of women at workplace act , women have right to protect themselves from any kind of sexual harassment.The third right that women have is right to free legal aid if they can’t afford it.
Women can’t be arrested at night as they have a right to be protected from arrested at night , woman cannot be detained between the hours of dark and sunrise unless there is an unusual circumstance and the arrest is authorised by a first-class magistrate. The law further stipulates that a woman may only be questioned by the police at her home in the presence of a female constable, her family, or friends.
Conclusion
To protect women at workplace and to provide them with a good and safe working environment,it is utmost important to teach them about the rights they have and various ways to escape from such crimes.But this all will not work untill and unless the mentality of cruel people in society will not change.What could be done at this moment is that the government , NGOs and other people in general who are socially active should provide camps and deliver speeches to change the mindset of people .This can lead to a drastic change in the mentality and mental attitude of such person.To change the mindset of a person is not a quick and easy job but this could be achieved by proper institution of camps and vocal transmission of speeches .This all will indeed change the scenario and women will be getting safer working environment.
Reference
https://www.legalbites.in/topics/articles/indian-laws-on-womens-safety-in-night-shifts-354679
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