THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK PLACE BILL, 2010
https://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Sexual%20Harassment/s*xual%20harassment%20bill.pdf
The Bill on the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace [The Sexual Harassment ofWomen at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2012] got passed by the Lok Sabha on 3rd September, as news sources put it, ‘amidst the protests over Coalgate’. India did not have any legislation to deal with s*xual harassment at the workplace and in that sense, the bill is a welcome addition. So far the ‘law’ for the purpose of dealing with ‘s*xual harassment at the workplace’ emanated from the operativeGuidelines on Sexual Harassment at the Workplace, issued by the Supreme Court of India in 1997, in the case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan. Under Article 19 (1) g of the Indian Constitution, all citizens have been granted the right to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. Vishaka established that a logical consequence of incidents, which result in violation of the fundamental rights of ‘Gender Equality’ and ‘Right to Life and Liberty’, is that it causes a violation of the victim’s fundamental right under Article 19 (1) g. The Vishakha guidelines recognized that s*xual harassment is not just a personal injury to the affected woman but violates a woman’s right to equality at the workplace. The guidelines shifted the onus for ensuring employees’ safety and gender equality to the employer and institutions, whether it is in the government or the private sector and the employer was made responsible for implementing both preventive and remedial measures to make the workplace safe for women
