Sexual Harassment at Workplace-Interpretation, Consequences and Legal Control

Within the last decade, more women have entered the work force. As their numbers surge, their vulnerability to harassment has also increased. Often reported in the media are criminal acts of rape, assault and molestation, while the ‘less severe’ forms of harassment like verbal abuse, repeated lewd emails or messages, physical touching, or unwelcome comments on behaviour or dress are given free reign because they do not qualify as criminal acts. Sexual harassment is a clear form of gender discrimination based on sex, a manifestation of unequal power relations between men and women. In this paper, the main causes due to which sexual harassment takes place has been discussed. Also, the view of judiciary in India and the steps taken by legislature to curb this menace have been discussed. The problem of sexual harassment needs to be curbed in order to protect the basic human rights that they possess. Sexual harassment at workplace not only infringes their basic rights but also demoralises them, but also largely shakes their confidence. The research methodology of this paper is largely analytical and descriptive. It is largely based on electronic and secondary sources of data. Data has been collected from various books, articles, papers and web sources.