In these times of pandemic when states are under lockdown and working online from the comfort of home has become an acceptable practice for most of the companies and organizations and due to this the dynamics of digital social status are also changing from day to day, the workplace has shifted online which enables people to easily work from the accessibility of their houses but there are some issues which can never be ignored while working online and there are some people who are always present to exploit and to show how deceitful and disgraced they are.
With a rise in the number of women working professionals and their active participation in all the fields have now shifted more towards online mode and due to this the cases of sexual harassment at the online workplace has also begun to rise and it is also possible that many women have already faced it, many would-be still facing it and many may face it in near future, as this mode of working is going to be the substitute mode of working and it is also possible that a woman who may be subjected to the same may not lodge any complaint about the same due to various reasons, and “Job security” being one of the most important of them, as this phase of pandemic took jobs from the hands of many working professionals and left them unemployed this may scare them and they may choose being silent rather than speaking up and losing their job also the scare of society stops them from doing this, But one thing that everyone should understand that the silence will only give an edge to the perpetrator and it will give them strength to continue doing the same with others.
“THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE (PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT, 2013 which was introduced to ensure that women have healthy working conditions and to create enabling work environments that support working women’s rights to equality of status and opportunity.” , Provides the following under section 3:
“Prevention of sexual harassment-
(1) No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace.
(2) The following circumstances, among other circumstances, if it occurs, or is present with or connected with any act or behaviour of sexual harassment may amount to sexual harassment:- (i) implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment; or (ii) implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in her employment; or (iii) implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment or status; or (iv) interference with her work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her; or (v) humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety.” Which can also be made understandable as: ‘such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour, whether directly or by implication, such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.’ Is defined as a case of sexual harassment,but being more specific on sexual harassment which may take place online without any direct physical contact and that may include: Making sexually provocative remarks or overtones during work calls; serious repetitive offensive remarks or teasing about a person’s body or appearance; indecent behaviour during video calls; sexually coloured remarks in chats; lewd calls, texts, or emails; offensive comments or jokes; improper questions, suggestions, or remarks about a person’s sex life; indecent behaviour during video calls; sexually coloured remarks in chats; lewd calls, messages, or emails; offensive comments or jokes, displaying sexiest or other offensive images, texts, or e-mails; coercion, threat, or blackmail in relation to sexual favours; threat, intimidation, or revenge against employees who speak out against harassment; unwanted online invites, flirting; unwelcome advances with promises or threats overt or implicit; persistently asking someone out; online stalking; comments or rumours about employees who speak out against harassment and also spreading anything about the personal sex life of the victim., therefore any behaviour or words with a sexual connotation that interferes with an employee’s ability to work or build an unpleasant environment when working remotely can also be called sexual harassment. and this can be more accurately understood by going through the Judgement of the Rajasthan High Court which recently expanded the concept of “workplace harassment” to include online harassment in the case of Sanjeev Mishra vs. Bank of Baroda and observed “In the present digital world, workplace for employees working in the bank and who may have worked in the same branch of the bank and later on shifted to different branches will be treated as one workplace on a digital platform regardless of the employees being situated in different branches/States. With the global shift to the work from home model owing to the ongoing pandemic, more individuals and particularly women are finding themselves vulnerable to online sexual harassment.” there are several other judgements which are enough to tell that the scope of a workplace is very wide and is open to interpretation by the courts for reference in the case of Saurabh Kumar Mallick v. The Comptroller & Auditor General of India & Another, the court observed that a narrow definition of ‘workplace’ cannot be accepted and the court laid down a test to determine a particular place as “workplace”, which tests a place as workplace on measures such as “Proximity from the place of work; Control of management over such place/residence where a working woman is residing; and such residence has to be an extension or contiguous part of working place”Also, it has been seen that the courts have refrained from restricting the meaning of workplace and have not given any bound limit as to what is a workplace, which means it is open for interpretation and this is very beneficial for the female employees in these times, last year the Supreme court of India has also held that sexual harassment of a woman at the workplace is an affront to her fundamental rights of equality, right to live with dignity and right to practise any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
Though this act doesn’t specifically mention the sexual harassments in the Online workspace, the changing dynamics of laws and its implications in the present society coupled with the judgements of different courts have interpreted this online workspace as a workplace and sexual harassment on the same are also seen as sexual harassment at workplace, and Under the POSH Act, it is the employer’s primary responsibility to have a healthy working environment. The employer is required by the POSH Rules to develop an Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy. But I think that organizations and companies should regularly organize seminars and workshops for their employees and they should be encouraged to report any instances of virtual workplace abuse to HR or the ICC. HR managers and superiors must be specially qualified in dealing with grievances and maintaining clear lines of communication with employees. Furthermore, the organisations must have an online advisor more specifically should be a woman who can provide advice and assistance to those who are in need. Further, the employees should also be made aware of legislations like the IT Act which provides punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene content on an electronic platform. Publishing or transferring material depicting any sexually explicit act in an electronic form is punishable under Section 67A also Online harassment charges may potentially be prosecuted under Sections 354A, 354D, or 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
It should also be everyone’s moral responsibility to provide a safe and workable environment, but forget about morality because if it had been, these situations would have never emerged and in these present circumstances when all the works have shifted online and this mode of working is seen as a potentially sustainable option and many big corporations are also in a view to keep carrying on their workplace on digital mode even after the pandemic ends because the online workspace is more feasible and cost efficient for the organizations, so the current circumstances and situations require something more pertinent which deals with the dynamics of the internet and digital era where some perpetrators are hiding their details and sharing obscene images and videos also efforts should be made to aware women and also men about the present legislation and it should be on high priority to get every case registered which will happen only and only if transparent, efficient and most important anonymous reporting through online portals is made swift and accessible for all.