Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

Name: Gurpreet Kaur Sethi (2008 -2010)

Title: Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace

Executive Summary

My report is based on detailed study of sexual harassment of women at workplace. As now a day’s
numbers of women are increasing in the work place, sexual harassment has become more
commonplace. My work is to identify through case studies and survey of women worked in MNC`s.
Through this opportunity I am privileged to express my views on sexual assault of women in MNC’s.

Through this opportunity I have highlighted various drawbacks of popular MNC”S. This topic
includes causes, solutions disadvantages of sexual harassment of working women class. Through this
detailed study and survey I came to know that status of Indian women still needs to improve. No
doubt, India is almost a developed country which possesses hi-tech systems throughout. I was glad to
know India is counted in first top ten countries to serve with multiple BPO’S and telecommunications.
It was also elaborated that Indian people are more laborious and cultures as compared to other
countrymen. It was been found through a survey that Indian women are popular for housekeeping as
well as for advanced working with BPO’S. For a while I thought that this great Indian woman is
facing menace of sexual harassment at her work place.

To keep a check over it I suggested some of the solutions, this includes the behavioral altercations of
victim and psychology of the criminal. This altercation indicates victim should be strict in her
approaches, she must say a strict no in case of certain responses. It was also advised that working
women must keep a strict check over her body language . One should maintain a physical distance
with her colleagues. Eye to eye romance and time pass should also be avoided because it may
provoke the criminal and provide an opportunity to come closer.

Advantage of this detailed study provided many facts and special provisions which Indian
government has provided. Laadli, servsiksha abhiyaan, seva and many more are the several institutes
for upliftment of rural girl child. In my opinion sex education must be imparted to children above
fifteen. This new education will relate to various other health related topics. It would aware the
upcoming youth with AIDS, HIV and many other STD’S.

In India , women is worshipped in the form of various goddess like ma Durga, SARASWATI,
LAXMI, but question arises , if women is sexually harassed then there is no use of going to temples
and attending for hours in ques…it’s all useless.

Objectives:

Through this opportunity, I am privileged to throw some light on sexual harassment of women in
MNC's. Being a corporate lady few of the questions knock my ideas of safety doors. After
listening news, reading newspaper, sometimes, I am horrified that the cases I read and listen can also
happen to me. I want to raise my voice against this menace. Few of the common examples are rape
of a working lady by her cab driver. Gang rape of lady on her official tour by her office colleagues.
Though, according to Indian culture, except once wife every lady is considered as mother, daughter
and sister. But UNFORTUNATELY, cultural values are eroding day by day because of
westernization.
Government is planning number of development schemes for upliftment of women. It’s providing
vocational, Industrial training in many rural areas to put her into better position. Above mentioned
activities would be useless if a qualified woman is sexually harassed in her workplace. Ultimately, she
would be compelled by her circumstances to stay indoors and to watch “saas bahu” programmes.
Success of our nation lies in hands of a successful lady. But my friends if lady being accused sexually
or molested, she gets demotivated. With efforts of women upliftment, rules must be made strict so
that women may enjoy her peaceful life.

It’s usually observed in MNC's and various professional universities; Females have 10 times more
patience and intelligence as compared to men. This may be the factor of their harassment. If we look
at the ratio of women and men in MNC`S, its clear men are more.

You may think maternity factor, Physical weakness may be reason behind low number of working
ladies in society. But my friend’s truth is that they are sexually harassed.

Recommendations:

Tell the offender their attention is unwanted.

Set clear, verbal boundaries. Ignoring the behavior actually encourages it to continue. Don't expect
the person to read your mind to learn how you feel about what they are doing. The only way they
will know the attention is unwanted is if you tell them it is
unwanted. Be firm and direct.

• Tell the harasser what they have done--name the behavior. Be specific, straightforward, and
blunt.
• Demand that the behavior stop.
• Say No! like you mean it. Don't be wishy-washy. Don't say "I have a boyfriend or I have a
girlfriend," or “I'm married," as this is not the same thing as saying "No." It implies you
would welcome the attention if you were not in a relationship. Plus, many harassers will be
encouraged by the prospects of cheating with you.
• Hold the harasser accountable. Don't make excuses for them. Do not pretend nothing has
happened. Don't fret about protecting their feelings, or protecting them from feeling rejected.
• Make it clear that everyone has the right to be free from sexual harassment. Objecting to
harassment is a matter of principle.
• Stand your ground and stick to your own agenda. Don't respond to the harasser's excuses or
diversionary tactics. Harassers will often try to draw you into a dialogue or argument about
why you should submit to their demands. Refuse to discuss the issue with them as this can
become a power game in itself. Also, do not allow yourself to be manipulated by others into
backing down.
• Remember, the harasser's behavior is the issue--not your behavior.
• Reinforce your statements with strong, self-respecting body language: eye contact, head up,
shoulders back, a strong, serious stance. Don't smile. Timid, submissive body language will
undermine your message. If the harassment continues, repeat yourself if you have to.
• Respond at the appropriate level. If the harassment was physical, combine your verbal
response with a physical one (i.e. grasp their arm firmly while saying "No!")
• Talk about the harassment to others. Staying silent protects harassers.
Limitations:

• The biggest limitation under this project was the time limitation.
• Lack of proper knowledge among the employees.
• There was lack of data accuracy.
• Due to time limitation most of the data collected was secondary data.
• The employees usually don’t have time to share the information.
• Due to lack of time it becomes impossible to visit each n every MNC.
• The employees were scared of sharing information as they were not aware of the project.

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The above article was extracted from dissertations in Marketing, Finance, Human
Resources, Strategy, Information Systems by the students from Skyline College.
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(NCR).

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