Space and Culture, India (Nov 2019)
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace in Assam: The Present Scenario
Abstract
The United Nations General Assembly has delegated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (VAW). This issue of the journal Space and Culture, India is dedicated to raise further awareness against VAW, inequalities and discrimination. Now I turn to discuss the abstract of this editorial. Greater access to public spaces, entry into the professional space and engagement in different sectors of labour forces are the diverse forms of opportunities urbanisation and modernisation is supposed to provide to each individual including women. However, one could argue that both urbanisation and modernisation have begeted gender discrimination. And the degree of discrimination is faced mostly by women putting them in a vulnerable position by generating women-centric workplace violence—mainly sexual harassment of women at workplace (SHWWP). This paper highlights the findings of two research studies: Workplace Safety and Dignity for Women in Assam and Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment at Professional Places in Assam: Post 23rd April 2013 carried out by the author during the period 2017-2019. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 2017, the state of Assam contributes 6.4 percentage points of state-share to all-India share of crime against women; its overall crime rate against women when calculated as a crime per one-hundred thousand of the population stands at 143.6. Evidently, the state of Assam also has high occurrences of SHWWP, which stands at 44% but only 2.7% complaint cases were lodged. The findings also uncovered that there exist weak and inadequate complaint mechanisms in the state even after the existence of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
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