Date
26-Nov-2015 to 26-Nov-2015 |
Location
Raipur, India |
Format
Sub National |
An open forum discussion on prevention of sexual harassment at workplace was facilitated by PRIA in the Chhattisgarh Training Academy in Nimora, Raipur on 26 November 2015. Participants at the discussion were district level officials of the Chhattisgarh government.
Discussions at the open forum centred around the responsibilities of the employer as mandated by law. Two officials shared that they had an internal complaints committee in their workplace. The existence or non-existence of sexual harassment in the government sector was a topic of heated debate. Some participants were of the opinion that as they have never seen nor heard of any such case, and since work in government offices only happens during the day, sexual harassment in government workplaces does not exist. Others were of the opinion that it exists but not to the extent it exists in large corporations, or in big cities like Delhi.
It was a female participant who opened the participants’ eyes to how common it is for Indian women to face sexual harassment. While travelling by bus on her way to the training centre, a BSF cadet (“I have noted his name,” she says) boarded the bus and sat next to her. In due course, the cadet asked her to share her mobile number with him. She refused. He persisted, adding that they could WhatsApp each other when free. When she told him she was married, he told her it doesn't matter. Since her face was covered, he asked, and then insisted, she take off her scarf and show him her face, or she could show him her photograph on her phone. This female government employee clearly stated that since she was on her way to attend this open forum through an official order, (1) that this was her workplace; (2) she was a government servant; in fact her harasser was too; and (3) this incident had happened during the day. How then can we say that sexual harassment in the government sector does not exist?
