The landmark Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force against the backdrop of a growing national reckoning with sexual violence. Sexual harassment is a serious offence. The Act is a definitive effort to protect the wellbeing of women employees, requiring every employer to have a clear policy against harassment and to constitute an Internal Committee (IC) to resolve complaints within 90 days.

The Bill on sexual harassment was drafted as far back as 2004 and took nearly a decade to be passed in Parliament — a long and costly wait for survivors. Women facing sexual violence over the decades have compelled successive legislative reforms. Recent amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 reflect the weight of that advocacy. These reforms came with frustrating delay, but they came because women fought tirelessly for change.

Survivors have themselves been the harbingers of change — in life and in death — protecting all who come after them, so that future generations may live and work in spaces that are safe, humane and respectful of their fundamental right to dignity.

When examining sexual violence at the workplace, it helps to interrogate the core terms carefully:

Violence: What does violence mean in this context? Who defines how severe an act is? Does the experience of violence differ across gender lines? What are the roots of violence, and where does it begin?

Sex and gender: How is the gender debate understood in Indian culture? Does our society genuinely celebrate diversity? The scope of the Act does not extend to sexual harassment against male workers — raising the ongoing question of whether the law should be made gender-neutral.

Workplace: What constitutes a workplace under the Act? What about the unorganised sector, where a substantial proportion of women work? How effectively does the law protect migrant and contract workers from harassment and wage discrimination?