In 2011, when Ashish (name changed) landed a high-paying government
job, his parents were on cloud nine. Little did they know what the
future had in store for him: Hikes and promotions being denied because
of a 40-year-old divorcee. A married man, Ashish initially could not
understand why his boss would often invite him home for dinner, call him
to her cabin or ask how she looked?
“It was when she started
abusing me in public did I realise that she was angry as I had refused
her overtures. She made my life miserable after that. I was loaded with
work. And when the time came for hikes and promotions, I was given a bad
rating. My hard work turned to dust,” he lamented. Talking to the H R
department or other authorities yielded no results. “People would laugh
at me. Men being harassed at work places is unheard of. Many presume
that a man would actually enjoy it. I had to quit my job when all
options were closed,” he adds.
The Ministry of Women and Child
Development, in order to implement the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, which came
into being in February, defined some finer details. These state that
sexual harassment at a workplace may lead to termination of service of
the accused, withholding of promotions and increments, and payment of
reasonable compensation to the complainant. However, the Act only
provides for aggrieved women, although the offense itself is gender
neutral.
“The government is failing to recognise that sexual
harassment is not a crime of passion, but a crime acted out to show
dominance. In many cases, the aggressor may even be of the same sex,”
explains Arnab Ganguly, a member of INSAAF (Indian Social Awareness and
Activism Forum), an international NGO specialising in gender and social
research, with branches in the United States and India. “The Act,
however, does include a provision on “misuse” of the legislation, but
it’s a very watered down version. The fine against people who misuse
this Act is only `500 or 5 per cent of the aggressor’s salary, which
doesn’t really act as a very serious deterrent to perpetrators,” informs
Arnab.
The Save Indian Family Foundation along with INSAAF have
tirelessly campaigned against the bill, so as to make it gender neutral.
The fact that in India the definition of sexual assault incorporates
men but the definition of sexual harassment refuses to consider men as
victims seems preposterous, especially in the light of the research
conducted by Synovate, a market research firm, across six Indian cities.
The research states that in Bangalore alone, half of those who
confessed to being sexually harassed at work had been harassed by women.
Only 32 per cent said they were harassed by male colleagues.
“Although
the new Act doesn’t provide for men as victims, most of the internal
committees set up by companies to investigate sexual harassment are
gender neutral. I usually sit in on many of these meetings as an
external adviser and a lot of these cases have been filed by men as
well. Companies now are being very open to issues faced by men at the
workplace and take them very seriously,” says Kanti Joshi, an advocate
who works with SASHA ( Support against Sexual Harassment), the
consultancy arm of the NGO, IDEA (Integrated Developmental Education
Academy) established to raise awareness and provide support services
against sexual harassment.
Mohit Sharma (name changed), a senior
architect who was working with a prominent design firm in the city, was
fired unceremoniously because of allegations raised against him by a
junior designer. “She wanted me to recommend her for a senior position
when she clearly wasn’t ready. She flirted excessively and asked me to
accompany her on coffee dates and when I didn’t comply she immediately
complained to the HR, saying I was mistreating her and also alleged that
I had made unwelcome advances towards her, when it was the other way
around,” rues Mohit. His complaints simply echoed up the chain of
command and were ignored in favour of the woman’s allegations, and after
three months of fervent discussions back and forth, he was asked to
leave the firm.
Atit Rajpara, president, Men’s Rights Association
said that he gets more than 40 calls a month by men recalling horrifying
incidents of sexual harassment at workplace.
Recalling a recent
case, Rajpara said,” Shashi (name changed), an MNC employee was
continuously harassed by his colleague, who wanted to marry him. When he
stopped responding to her calls or messages, she landed at his doorstep
and created a big scene.” Frustrated by this, Shashi filed a formal
complaint with the HR. The woman was let off after a light warning but
the harassment continued. She even blackmailed him that if he complained
again, she would file a case against him for harassment. Despite
repeated complaints, the woman continues to work with the company but
Shashi was forced put in his papers. Rajpara added that in most cases
men are mocked at when they talk about harassment. He said, “Sexual
harassment should not be based on gender. It can happen to anyone,
anytime. That’s why men never get justice.”
Women often misuse
their rights and blame people at work places to get their way. In 2012,
Shrishti Saxena used the same tactics. Being handed too much work by her
boss, she decided to teach him a ‘lesson’. Instead of discussing the
issue with him, she approached the HR and filed a sexual harassment
complaint against him. Serious action was taken against the manager and
Shrishti sighed a breath of relief.
Virag Dhulia, head of gender
studies, Confidare India, a Bangalore-based research centre said that he
gets more than three calls a month by men who have been harassed at
work. “Gone are those days when offices were male dominated. These days a
lot of women are handling top positions,” he said.
The centre has
received calls on cases where women have tried to make advances towards
their junior or colleague, asked them to stay back late at work,
threatened higher work burden and used lewd comments or abusive
language. “The worst part is that companies don’t take these complaints
seriously. The attitude is very insensitive towards men,” he said.
Confidare runs a helpline, 9008302822, for those who are victims of
sexual harassment.
