Law Against Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place -a Study

Abstract

In the beginning, the courts treated sexual harassment as either a criminal violation such as assault or as a civil violation such as a violation of privacy. The first decision in the USA to grant relief for sexual harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was William v. Saxbe1. In 1980, the first prohibitory statute was drafted by EEOC, which issued guidelines for the prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace. Other countries followed either through judicial decisions or statutes - though many of them have only been introduced in the 1990s. The debate on where to situate the legal remedy to sexual harassment depends to some extent on the accepted definitions of sexual harassment, as well as on legal traditions such as statutes enacted if any, or case law in that country. Broadly sexual harassment is covered under four types of laws internationally, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive i.e., a country can have more than one type of Law. Criminal Laws FrameWork This framework holds the accused liable irrespective of the context, workplace, or general. It is necessary particularly for cases of sexual harassment that do not fall within the employment context. The disadvantage of such a law is that it generally implies a fine levied on the accused rather than compensation for the victim. Further, it does not take into consideration the discriminatory aspects of sexual harassment in the workplace, and consequently, there is no employer liability. France is a country with criminal law prohibiting sexual harassment. Until the enactment of Supreme Court guidelines, India too only had specific criminal statutes. Sexual harassment at workplace is a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in part-IH. Accordingly, a woman who has been sexually harassed can access to certain Constitutional remedies provided for the violation of fundamental rights. Instead of leaving it to the general law of remedies under civil law, the Constitution of India has provided certain special remedies for the enforcement of the rights created by the Constitution. Article 32 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to move the Supreme Court through appropriate writ petitions for the enforcement of fundamental rights in part-III. Similarly, Article 226 provides for the right to move the appropriate High Courts for the enforcement of fundamental rights and other legal rights. The right to approach the Supreme Court for the enforcement of fundamental rights under Article 32 is itself a fundamental right.