On
13th Aug 1997 the Supreme Court of India issued a landmark judgment
that recognised and addressed sexual harassment at the workplace as
a human rights violation. The court brought out guidelines defining
sexual harassment and directives for employers/organisations making
it mandatory to institute sexual harassment complaints committees at
workplaces.
In 1999 HHS began to actively campaign on sexual harassment at the
workplace. This work grew from our campaign against sexual
harassment in public places, which also was the focus of the
initial initiatives of the communication cell.
In 1999 we also began actively advocating the setting up of Sexual
Harassment Committees by our trainings to not only bring about
attitudinal change in participants but to also have the potential to
bring about structural change in organisations/institutions. We did
this by not only defining sexual harassment, but also facilitating
and working with organisations to set up Sexual Harassment
Committees.
Information on the issue has been compiled into two brochures and
continues to be widely disseminated not only to specific
organisations but also through the Post and Telegraph Department,
shops and business outlets, doctors' waiting rooms and through
insertions in newspapers.
In 2001 HHS decided to undertake a study on this issue in
collaboration with SAKSHI. The report was released in 2002 and has
been compiled into a booklet form for wider dissemination of
findings and analyses. The brief about the research can be accessed
from the link below:
Sexual
Harassment at the Work Place: Perception of workers and
prevalence of sexual harassment in different work sectors in
Bangalore city. 1999
We have helped set up 30 sexual harassment committees and are a part
of 12 of these committees, which includes state and central
government departments.
Our two brochures on sexual
harassment can be accessed from the links below.
