Let's talk about sexual harassment in the workplace

Sexual harassment was often taken as part of the job description till a few years ago. And it's still something that most people are fearful of either confronting or condemning... it's a boys world, after all. But now we have a generation of women who simply will not accept the unwelcome advances of a boss, no matter what favours the flirtation signals. Is this simply the effect of the changed law, is it better awareness, or is it that the women now have more respect for themselves? I would prefer to think that 90 per cent of the reports on sexual harassment are due to the latter phenomena.  Women are no longer minions serving coffee in the board room... they do more than that. They actually run the office to prove a point that they can do it better than most men.

They are in the office thanks to their hard work, their dedication and often their ambition. Women, if left unfettered, would rise faster than their nearest male competitor. It depresses me to think that there are still men out there who think that women take up jobs so that they be used and abused by them. That women who work in offices or outside their homes are easy prey. Or that they would be willing partners for a little nookie under the desk.

I often think I was lucky that nothing untoward ever happened to me, in all the years that I was working in the office space. Most of the mild flirtation, if it ever surfaced, went above my head, and as far as I knew, those women who were in a relationship were there out of choice and not coercion. And not because they wanted a promotion. There were reasons behind that stereotypical office romance and perhaps I was too naive, too innocent or too stupid to think that some kind of exploitation was happening.

And then, of course, we also imagined that most men we knew were respectful of a woman's space... but today's woman is smarter. Women in the workspace are mistresses of the survival technique. Only, they no longer survive by pandering to the male boss. They survive by recognising how foolish he is, and doing their best to make him look passably intelligent. They survive because they are competent and clever, and not because they have mentors.

And yet the men continue to believe they hold the answer to women doing well. This culture can only change if we all get rid of the men who don't allow women to work peacefully, especially from office areas.

One wonders why it's taken so long for the whole idea of sexual harassment to permeate into the HR departments of offices. They should be sending out regular messages to their employees so that people understand the difference between “love” and sexual exploitation. And besides, unlike the old days, there should be a clear understanding what is permitted and not within the office space. Or within any working relationship. All progressive organisations should make these guidelines part of the induction process and daily discourse.

As the TERI case has proved, shockingly, this is still not happening. Shouldn't some legal action be taken against organisations which don't comply, or haven't followed the Vishakha guidelines?