In addition to creating a hostile and insecure environment, sexual harassment had an impact on the woman's performance at work. Additionally, it hindered their social and economic development and caused them a great deal of physical, emotional, and mental stress. Thus, the Vishaka Guidelines were established by the Supreme Court of India in its 1997 Vishaka Judgment.
The supreme court recognized workplace sexual harassment as a breach of human rights for the first time in the guidelines. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which India has signed and ratified, was enacted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. The Sexual Harassment Of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition And Redressal) Act, 2013, was passed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development after 16 years of Vishaka.
The Internal Complaints Committee, the Employer's role and responsibility, the complaint processes and procedures, penalties and redress, and actions for preventing such cases by holding training and workshops were all specified in this Act. All businesses with ten or more employees are required by law to establish an internal complaints committee to handle sexual harassment claims. The protection of women at work is the primary goal of this act. It makes sure that workplace sexual harassment of working women is avoided and that those responsible for it face stern punishment.
The article then focuses on the necessity of extending the protection of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to digital workspaces by analyzing the scope and ambit of the provisions of the POSH Act in light of pertinent judicial pronouncements, thereby providing victims with a similar level of protection to that which is offered in physical workplaces.
Applying the POSH Act's provisions to every difficulty experienced by women in remote work may be the best method to respond to this dilemma. Three bullet factors need to be considered before responding to the question above:
- Whether or not the setup for remote or home-based work falls under the POSH act's definition of a "workplace"
- Does the law recognize the different types of verbal and psychological abuse that take place when a person works from home?
- The existence of a virtual working environment in the redressal mechanism?
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, which specifies what sexual harassment is, contains the answer to this question in Sections 2 and 3. The unwelcome acts or behavior that can happen while working in remote locations, such as "(1) demand or request sexual favors (2) making sexually coloured remarks (3) showing pornography (4) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature," are covered by subclauses (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) of Section 2(n).
The definition of sexual harassment has also been expanded in Section 3 by stating that any of the following instances may also be considered sexual harassment: implied or explicit "(1) promise of preferential treatment in victim's employment (2) threat of detrimental treatment in victim's employment (3) threat about the present or future employment status (4) interference with work or creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment.
Thus, this wide definition encompasses some of the issues that women have when working from home, including: sending inappropriate or intimate messages; sexist quips, forwards, videos, drawings, and photos, telephone or video conference sexual descriptions, continuous sexually explicit idle phone conversation statements that aren't welcome when communicating, Internet stalking (stalking in all forms of social media), sexist rumours about colleagues' relationships, sexual preferences, and virginity using crude language or humour when speaking, persistent requests for physical contact, asking improper inquiries or making sexual remarks about someone else's weight, body shape, size, or figure invading their personal space. As a result, with regard to the issue at hand, it may be said that the act itself offers the instances of sexual harassment one may run into while working from home online.
Subsequently, according to Section 2(o) sub-clause (vi), includes the phrase “a dwelling place or a house.” Although the initial meaning derived from this phrase refers to domestic workers and house helpers, yet the intention of the act emphasizes that it should logically apply to everybody who is working from their own home, leased/rented home, a company leased home or any other form of accommodation. Hence, every place of work becomes the workplace.
The formal process to make a complaint concerning sexual harassment experienced by aggrieved women is outlined in Section 9 of the Act. Women who work online also have the option of complaining online during this time. "she-BOX," a single-window complaints portal, was introduced by the Indian government. Any woman can report harassment through this portal, regardless of her employment status, and the report will be sent directly to the relevant authority with the authority to take action. In the event that any women experience harassment while working from home, using this portal to file written complaints is an effective option.
Call for action :
The POSH policy should be updated to ensure that any passing remark or advance of sexual nature on an electronic medium is still sexual harassment even in the WFH situation.
Training and Awareness session must explicitly talk about remote working and POSH Act applicability
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