The heinous sexual assault on a 36-year-old Bhanwari Devi, an auxiliary nurse midwife from Rajasthan, in the year 1992 brought to light the risks women face at the workplace. Bhanwari Devi — an epitome of resilience — became the reason for millions of Indian women now being legally protected against sexual harassment in the workplace. Her case paved the way for the need for a legal framework to address sexual harassment in the workplace, leading to the formulation of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (the POSH Act) 2013.
This Women’s Day student reporter from The Voices brings a guide for women to be safer at their workplaces and delves into the intricacies the law has laid for them through the POSH Act. In sync with the UN theme for this year, “All Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” here is an easy-to-comprehend guide that decodes the POSH Act.
To create safe and more inclusive workspaces that foster trust, innovation and talent attraction, this explainer addresses myths associated with the act.
POSH Act 2013: Relevance in Today’s Time
The POSH Act mandates to provide a safe working environment, all organisations (regardless of size) constitute an Internal Committee (IC) and promote awareness around sexual harassment. However, the mandate awaits resonance in all organisations, and many continue to run without proper POSH committees.
The POSH members working across various sections of society have observed that those men who are promoted from lower to higher grades abuse the power of the post primarily women. There are also cases of female employees maliciously accusing male colleagues/superiors to gain ulterior motives.
This is a case wherein a female employee sent messages to her male superior late at night and falsely accused him of harassment by putting the replies to her messages as evidence. This explainer is an effort to educate all genders on the POSH Act.
POSH Act 2013 Myths Busted
MYTH 01: POSH Act accords protection from sexual harassment only for women
Though the law protects women from sexual harassment only, the organisations are free to bring a gender-neutral policy as part of their service rules, allowing them to handle sexual harassment complaints of all genders.
MYTH 02: A complaint can only be made when a man harasses a woman
Since the complainant is an aggrieved woman, many believe that the respondent, who is accused of harassment, must be a man. However, the respondent can be a man, woman, or person of the third gender. So, an aggrieved woman can file a complaint against a man, a woman or a person of the third gender.
Aparna Rajhans, Assistant Professor, Sanskrit & Head, Department of Second Languages, NSS Programme Officer, St. Joseph’s Degree & PG College, Hyderabad and Joint Secretary, Public Relations Society of India PRSI, Hyderabad Chapter, says that in a patriarchal society like India, women empowerment remains an enigma. Women from all walks of life — from organized to unorganised sectors—must be educated on various protection laws, including the POSH Act. Making it a part of the NSS programme, she has regularly created awareness at all levels.
MYTH 03: POSH Law does not apply while working from home or when working remotely
This is a common misconception. POSH defines workplace as “any place visited by the employee arising out of, during employment, including transportation provided by the employer to commute to and from the place of employment”.
Employees who work from home carry out their work and have official interactions according to the POSH Act; this makes “home” a workplace. So, POSH applies to remote workplaces and employees working from home.
MYTH 04: If my intention is not bad, my actions will not be considered sexual harassment
As POSH law states, any act or behaviour perceived as unwelcome by a woman is considered sexual harassment; it is the impact of the act that matters, not the intention behind the act. The effect of the act depends on how the woman perceives the action.
Dr. Keerthi Bollineni, Change Maker and President, Vasavya Mahila Mandali, who has been an external member of the internal committee in many government organisations for the past 20 years, told The Voices that the intention of the accused does not matter. When questioned during the hearing of various cases, many men say that they did not intend to harass the woman sexually. However, the Act specifies that if the woman feels discomfort, it will be accounted as sexual harassment. Be it just a word or gesture, all can be accounted for in the POSH Act. Women need to know that they should feel secure at all times and must openly speak about any discomfort to their superiors or colleagues immediately and not wait for something big to happen; bringing such people under notice would stop the hostile work environment, she added.
MYTH 05: POSH Law does not apply to organisations with less than 10 employees
As per the Act, any organisation with more than 10 employees should compulsorily constitute an internal committee. Smaller organisations, irrespective of the strength of the employees, must educate all employees about the POSH Act as it applies to all organisations. They must be aware of the Local Committee (LC) formed by the District Collector. The LC will handle sexual harassment complaints with fewer than ten employees. In such cases, the organisation is still responsible for supporting the employee in drafting and giving the complaint to LC.
MYTH 06: For MNCs headquartered outside India, the companies’ global harassment prevention policy and grievance redressal mechanism would suffice. They need not constitute IC for Indian employees.
Any organisation in India with 10 or more employees must form an IC for Indian employees. The organisation also has to conduct sensitization sessions and explain to employees how to complain if they face sexual harassment.
MYTH 07: Under POSH law, only women who are employees of an organisation can file a sexual harassment complaint.
POSH defines an aggrieved woman in relation to a workplace as a woman of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment. She can be an employee of the organisation, a visitor, a customer, a contractor, or an interviewee. So, any woman aggrieved by sexual harassment can file a complaint.
MYTH 08: There is no penalty or punishment for a false sexual harassment complaint
POSH empowers IC to act appropriately against the complainant or witnesses for false complaints and testimony. If a false testimony is filed, the complainant does not receive monetary compensation, and the respondent does not receive compensation if the complaint is false.
Y. V. Rao, Company Secretary and speaker on career awareness programmes for ICSE, said that awareness was the key to keeping women always protected. He called upon multi-pronged strategies and initiatives to create awareness.
MYTH 09: Women cannot complain simultaneously to the IC/LC and the Cyber Crime Cell
Yes, they can complain about the same cyber crime, too, along with the IC/LC. The complaints committees do not work with cyber experts. If IC/LC find in the complaint that there is any component related to cyber sexual abuse, the aggrieved women can certainly complain to the cyber crime police station.
Amina, a District Court practising lawyer from Hyderabad, told The Voices that on 2nd February 2024, a Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha to amend the POSH Act 2013. The Bill seeks to remedy the reconciliation clause in the Act. The Bill tabled before the Parliament states that this provision (reconciliation) is highly problematic since it fails to consider the possibility of influencing, coercing, pressuring or intimidating the complainant to arrive at a settlement. Once implemented, women would be more secure as the respondents would not have a chance to ask for reconciliation.