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to believe that life without a womb will be easier freer but the reality is far darker these women many of them still in their early twenties are thrust into a life of continuous physical strain emotional numbness and endless work their agency stripped away the psychological scars run deep they lose not just their reproductive capacity but also their sense of self they are reduced to mere laborers valued only for the cane they can cut day in and day out the burden of being womb less isn t just physical it s an emotional weight that these women carry with them every day silencing their voices and breaking their spirits sexual exploitation the unseen horror as if the economic and psychological violence weren t enough these women are also subjected to rampant sexual exploitation living in tents near the sugarcane fields with no access to proper sanitation or safety they are easy targets the lack of privacy the absence of basic amenities these conditions only exacerbate their vulnerability to sexual harassment and assault and yet this dark reality remains largely unspoken the women often from marginalized communities have no recourse no support system no legal avenues to seek justice the sexual violence they face is intertwined with the economic violence the contractors see these women not as human beings but as tools for their financial gain any resistance any attempt to assert their rights is met with further exploitation or threats of being cut off from work work that is their only means of survival a system rigged against them it s easy to blame the contractors the medical practitioners or even the drought but the reality is that these women are trapped in a system that has been rigged against them from the start patriarchal norms deeply entrenched in the social fabric of rural maharashtra devalue women s labor and bodies women cane cutters are seen as expendable their well being secondary to the economic goals of their families and communities despite their crucial role in sustaining the sugar industry these women are invisible to the system they are not recognized as workers they have no labor rights no access to healthcare no safety nets activists have tried to raise awareness but the challenges are immense the district administration largely ignorant of the ground realities has done little to address the systemic issues these women face breaking the silence the lives of sugarcane cutter women in beed district are a testament to the grim realities of gender based violence in rural india it s a violence that is not just physical but also economic psychological emotional and sexual these women are caught in a web of oppression that strips them of their health dignity and agency the plight of the womb less women of beed is a tragedy that cannot be ignored it is time to break the silence to recognize their struggles and to demand change these women deserve more than just acknowledgment they deserve justice radheshyam jadhav is a journalist based in pune he was a recipient of the 2022 prajnya r rajaram grit research fellowship date december 9 2024 author psw team tags 25 blog symposium exploitation forced hysterectomies labour sugarcane workplace sexual harassment comments leave a comment 25 activating the workplace sexual harassment law standard activating the workplace sexual harassment law akila rs the sexual harassment at workplace prevention prohibition redressal act of 2013 with the unfortunate acronym of posh is nearly 11 years old it is time to introspect into whether it has been effective or if it is to be added to the long list of progressive legislations that failed to live up to their potential the act places positive duties on the employer organisation to notify a policy constitute an internal complaints committee and take steps to sensitise its staff and members of the icc the act applies to informal and formal sectors alike the law has given rise to a compliance service industry which looks at employer s duties under the law as a series of check boxes to be ticked off it is not uncommon to find sensitisation awareness programmes being delivered through standardised online modules often created in and for a foreign jurisdiction with little reference to indian law or our social context in the interest of efficiency and cost effectiveness employers often wear their history of zero complaints of sexual harassment at their workplace as a badge of honour whilst it is theoretically possible for workplaces to be entirely safe and free from sexual harassment more often than not this track record is due to a trust deficit at the workplace and that employees do not feel confident to speak up or report violations the key feature of the act which is both its strength and weakness is that the redressal mechanism is internal the aggrieved woman can avail remedies at the workplace without approaching the police or courts which are institutions that can be inaccessible intimidating and expensive to most laypersons however where the process is entirely internal chances are that the organisational biases and priorities could come into play there could be a justifiable apprehension that complaints would not be taken seriously in the interest of shielding certain respondents especially those in managerial or senior positions the main safeguard against bias and interference is the presence of an external member in the icc but such a person is chosen by the employer organisation an institution is only as good as its people and iccs are no exception there have been instances where iccs have refused to entertain complaints because the allegations were too serious and they believed it should be left to the police more common are instances where the committee applies its personal judgment as to what is tolerable and what is not and decline to take up complaints of non physical harassment as not serious enough this stems from an ignorance of the law relating to sexual harassment at the workplace the organisation should therefore constitute iccs wisely and appoint members who have demonstrable experience and expertise in conducting inquiries the importance of conducting effective sensitisation programmes cannot be underscored enough sexual harassment is still a taboo topic and therefore regular sensitisation programmes conducted in batches of manageable size allowing an opportunity to interact with the resource persons and clear one s doubts are crucial further the icc should be visible earn its credibility and proactively work towards implementing the law and policy akila rs is an advocate of the madras high court date december 8 2024 author psw team tags 25 blog symposium legal compliance workplace sexual harassment comments leave a comment 25 evolution of the workplace sexual harassment law standard evolution of the law on workplace sexual harassment and implementation anagha sarpotdar the bhateri gang rape case in rajasthan brought to light the utter disregard of and failure by the state government as an employer to recognise and prevent sexual harassment experienced by women while performing duties in benefit and behalf of them the vishakha ruling 1997 by the supreme court of india was result of a public interest litigation filed by women s groups and organisations that arose from the bhateri gang rape case which was the personal experience of a village level worker employed with the rajasthan state government on contract the ruling aimed at enforcing fundamental rights of working women assisting in finding suitable methods for realisation of gender equality preventing sexual harassment and filling the vacuum in existing legislation the problem of sexual harassment at the workplace was effectively expressed and situated in the language and framework of the constitution of india 1950 and international law prior to the vishakha judgment 1997 henceforth vishakha the language of sexual harassment remained invisible and the sexual dimension of harassment was disabling and unspoken the ruling filled a gap in domestic laws related to violence against women in india and upheld constitutional rights of women it directly applied the provisions of cedaw to enact guidelines against sexual harassment in the workplace in vishakha the supreme court of india recognised that sexual harassment violates the constitutional value of gender equality in all spheres of human activity and fundamental rights of women to live with dignity to personal liberty and to carry on any occupation the court defined gender equality as including protection from sexual harassment and right to work with dignity a universally recognised basic human right vishakha was the first step towards recognising the concept of sexual harassment as a blatant violation of gender equality it relied on the assumption that problems of inequality injustice and discrimination were not only individual and attitudinal but fundamentally structural systemic and institutional inequities accordingly the judgement set out guidelines for employers with prevention of sexual harassment as the primary focus the sole responsibility of prevention and redress of sexual harassment was placed on the employer this was done by directing the employers to create an internal mechanism as a strategy to empower mobilise and organise women the participation of women in the committee enabled them to lead the committees and become an authority that curbed sexual harassment vishakha had an enabling and compassionate approach as it focused on prevention which was missing in the criminal law focus was shifted from convicting the perpetrator to protecting rights of women in relation to work converse to the crime and punishment understanding vishakha envisaged sexual harassment as an issue about equality and loss of dignity vishakha saw engagement with workplaces to assume a shared responsibility to foster change through prevention it promoted awareness by demystifying discomfort through encouraging meetings and discussions on sexual harassment with workers it saw a workplace with increased awareness on the issue of sexual harassment with collaboration between employers and trade unions with the assistance of government and non profit organisations this understanding characterised by vishakha saw a law preventive in its character as well as punitive the objective was to influence mindsets promote changes in attitudes towards women and sex discrimination in the workplace with the help of experts in committees set up to deal with sexual harassment at workplaces it was thought that behaviour changes prompted by awareness voluntarily introduced and advocated by the employer would be constructive compared to criminal litigation against those accused of sexual harassment this would help the complainant to build positive relationships with both men and women at the workplace however in the post vishakha era there was little effort both by the employers and the complaints committees to create awareness regarding the issue and the complaint mechanism this resulted in underreporting of sexual harassment complaints studies across india done in the nineties and next decade confirmed this scenario these studies brought forth that sexual harassment went largely unreported due to fear of stigma loss of reputation victim blaming and disbelief in the complaints amongst all the other reasons the studies identified poor levels of awareness amongst women as one of the key reasons one of the studies showed direct connection between lack of knowledge about the complaint mechanism within the organisation amongst women and low reporting of sexual harassment it concluded that poor levels of awareness about redress mechanisms amongst women were a critical challenge in reporting of sexual harassment more than a decade of prolonged struggle by the women s movement along with dialogue with the government resulted in the enactment of sexual harassment of women at workplace prevention prohibition and redressal act 2013 hereinafter referred to as 2013 act the act came into force on 9 december 2013 as the title suggests it is a legislation for women that recognises unequal power relations at workplaces it is an explicit form of affirmative action under article 15 3 of the indian constitution which allows the state to enact special legislations for women the aim is to empower women as a disadvantaged group due to certain factors in the patriarchal society five years after the act was enacted the metoo movement in india brought to light numerous complaints of workplace sexual harassment triggered discussions about gender inequities at workplace increased awareness at workplaces pertaining to sexual harassment patriarchal perceptions towards complainants attitude of employers lack of evidence in incidents of sexual harassment under reporting of misconduct power disparities at work between men and women as an accelerating factor in sexual harassment at workplace social isolation faced by complainants at workplace after reporting complaint but the me too revelations excluded women from the informal sector where the majority of women are employed almost ten years later court rulings reveal that implementation of the act is poor and fraught with problems the kolkata case wherein the trainee doctor was raped and murdered at her workplace is a glaring example of the same since the employer was unable to safeguard the victim from a person coming in contact with her workplace supreme court took suo motu cognizance of the incident reprimanded the hospital administration for its response after the doctor was found dead and remarked that if women cannot go to a place of work and be safe then we are denying them the basic conditions of equality similarly the hema committee report revealed widespread prevalence of sexual harassment in the malayalam film industry and prompted the kerala high court to orally express its displeasure over inaction by the kerala government on the same for four years it appears that employers are falling short of achieving these objectives thereby failing to uphold the constitutional values the above mentioned examples seem an obvious defeat of the objectives of vishakha and the constitutional values it upheld aiming at furthering dignity and equality at workplaces because vishakha came into existence with an aim of protecting dignity at workplace however taking into consideration the discussion above the task of restoring rights of women seems to be upon the courts as women are compelled to move the courts for protection of their rights at workplace violence prevents employment and blocks access of women to financial resources fear of sexual harassment may force women to make relatively poorer economic choices women are less likely to work away from home in regions where the perceived threat of sexual harassment against girls is higher consequently india has ranked 129th in the total of 146 countries as per the world economic fo...