Women are there to do their job and their careers in places where workplaces should be safe and safe. But so often we are confronted with harassment and assault. One recent case in India makes again evident that more robust safety measures and a swift response to their abusers must be implemented.
Video cameras in a warehouse recorded a disturbing episode. The man grabbed his female employee and tried to kiss her so quickly; he held her as he had for nearly 100 minutes. But the witness escaped and the woman had fought bravely for herself. This is a shocking image and the same is a vivid reminder to women from workplaces around us the dangerous places in which women can be forced to work under attack is also a painful picture of how bad it is. Violations not just of their privacy but crimes under the law. They breed fear, trauma and mistrust in professional situations. Again, it is for most women not that this is a one incident, but a major piece of a bigger pattern of harassment which is so prevalent, it is seldom reported ever.
The women in India still go through issues of workplace safety throughout that country. The government ignores and denies or even ignores evidence in many cases like the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. Victims often fear losing jobs, social stigma, or getting blamed or blamed for the thing happening. This culture of silence leaves offenders in an easy path to their wrongdoings without any consequences. The warehouse incident can not be dismissed solely as a one-off incident, but in the context of a systemic failure that is just as much as the problem and one that needs to be tackled.
In particular, strong measures should be taken against the accused and make it clear harassment will not be tolerated. Companies should have robust policies for harassment and reporting procedures with strong disclosure mechanisms in place. CCTV monitoring and security staff in sensitive areas would have to be placed at the helm of incidents. Organizations must also train staff in consent, respect and workplace ethics training and we must also have support for victims including counselling services and legal help. The police are duty to quickly investigate and penalize offenders. The delay is justice delayed is justice denied and each delay we witness only exacerbates the victim's pain.
The warehouse assault was a wake-up call. Women deserve safe workplaces, respected and valued. It is the job of both these workers and the whole society to make sure such incidents can never happen at all. Safety in work is not a privilege, it is an indispensable human right, no.
