Women Sexual Harassment Act

 

 

 

 Women Sexual Harassment Act include the following:

1. i) unwelcome sexual advances, requests or demand for sexual favours, either explicitly or implicitly, in return for employment, promotion, examination or evaluation of a person towards any company activity;

1. ii) unwelcome sexual advances involving verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct such as sexually coloured remarks, jokes, letters, phone calls, e-mail, gestures, showing of pornography, lurid stares, physical contact or molestation, stalking, sounds, display of pictures, signs, verbal or non-verbal communication which offends the individuals sensibilities and affect her/his performance;

• iii) eve teasing, innuendos and taunts, physical confinement against one’s will and likely to intrude upon one’s privacy;

1. iv) act or conduct by a person in authority which creates the environment at workplace hostile or intimidating to a person belonging to the other sex;

1. v)      conduct  of  such  an  act  at  work  place  or  outside  in  relation  to  an

Employee of SME, , or vice versa during the course of employment; and

1. vi)     any unwelcome gesture by an employee having sexual overtones

If you see above definition, it provides much clarity than whatever mentioned in the government passed Act.

Why such Act is need of the hour in our country
Sexual Harassment at workplace is a violation of women’s right to gender equality, life and liberty. It creates an insecure and hostile work environment, which discourages women’s participation in work, thereby adversely affecting their economic empowerment and the goal of inclusive growth. Further, it is violation of fundamental rights of our constitution. Under article 14 and article 15 and 16 of the constitution of India, it emphasis in right to life and right to live life with dignity. Section 16 also emphasis on equal opportunity in public employment. Such discrimination take away these fundamental rights

14. Equality before law.—The State shall not deny to any person

equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.

15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,

sex or place of birth.—
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of
birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or
condition with regard to—
(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or
(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of
public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated
to the use of the general public.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any
special provision for women and children.
(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the
State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially
and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and
the Scheduled Tribes.
(5) Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19
shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the
advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or
for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special
provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private
educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the
minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.

16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.—(1)

There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to
employment or appointment to any office under the State.
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent,
place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against
in respect of, any employment or office under the State.
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law
prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an
office under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State
or Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union
territory prior to such employment or appointment.
(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any
provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any
backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately
represented in the services under the State.
(4A) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any
provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority,
to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
(4B) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from considering any
unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved for being filled up in that year
in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or
clause (4A) as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeeding
year or years and such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with
the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for determining the
ceiling of fifty per cent. reservation on total number of vacancies of that year.
(5) Nothing in this article shall affect the operation of any law which
provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any
religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body
thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a
particular denomination.


For more info about Sexual Harassment Law In India & Workplace Harassment Policy India contact ComplyKaro : Corporate Compliance Program