Why we fail to report sexual harassment at work

Often employees are confused about what constitutes sexual harassment. And in places where HR doubles up as a grievence cell, lines are murkier

CHENNAI: Does a purposeful nudge equate to groping? Or does a snide remark on someone’s clothing result in verbal abuse? Does a constant uncomfortable stare serious enough to be reported?  Do consistent ‘accidental’ touches and tongue slips come under the definition of harassment? These are questions that employees ask themselves before they decide to file a complaint. But do employees have to ponder over how ‘serious’ the incident is before they go ahead and report it? Isn’t it enough that it made them uncomfortable?

Since the 1997 Vishaka committee made it mandatory for all organisations with more than 10 employees to have an anti-sexual harassment cell or committee, most companies do have one to deal with such complaints.
Some companies also want to form a separate policy for the company, and they hire people like HR manager Priya Sriram to execute it. “I just joined a new company and the first thing I did was to put together a new sexual harassment policy,” she said.

Most IT employees also agree that they have committees and are sent flyers and e-mails about it regularly. Women employees claim they haven’t heard their colleagues complain especially since the consequences faced by the perpetrators are grave. Aarthi, working in an  IT company in the city, said that nothing happened to her or her colleagues, “My colleagues have admitted that sometimes some remarks or touches seem inappropriate but they don’t want to let things escalate; so they just keep mum and bear with it.”

But Aarthi also said that this is something that happens in every woman’s life. “Whether it was a mistake, or a deliberate action, you can never tell the difference. And by the time you realise it was indeed harassment, it’s too late. It is because we try to believe that it’s a mistake. However, in an office of course, it’s constant but since it might be subtle, the employee might not be able to decide whether or not to report it.”
Priya shared that in her 20 years as HR personnel, across different companies in the city, “There have been a large number of sexual harassment cases that have not found their way to a complaint or grievance cell.”

In smaller organisations, the admin department does not necessarily set up a committee but they out HR in charge of such issues. They also repeatedly let their employees know that the HR can be approached for any problems. “We had a clause in our contract that said we would be able to approach the HR but since it is a small company we don’t have any committee as such,” said, N Sanjay, working with a private publishing company.
Shalini Parrek is part of the HR of one such company. “We have kept our communication open and haven’t had any such issues yet. We have no policy as such or a protocol but employees are told that if they have any problem, they can approach us.”

However, Priya said that while it’s essential to have an anti-sexual harassment policy, it’s also important for it to cover men as well. “Our country has still not come to terms with the fact that men can also be harassed, raped or sexually assaulted. Since the law itself is not kind to such victims, companies are far from recognising this as a problem and protecting their male employees,” she averred.

She and other HR officials also agreed that there were instances where the policy was misused by women. “Women realise that it’s a powerful weapon to destroy someone especially if they’re able to prove the crime with false evidence. So those in charge have to take extra efforts to investigate and find out the truth.”
However, there are many companies that do not educate their employees on how to identify and handle any kind of sexism or harassment in workplaces.

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