Sexual Harassment Of Women At Workplaces - Genesis And Evolution
- IJLLR Journal
- Aug 23
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 25
Nasheman Farozan Nazir, Research Scholar, Department of Law, University of Kashmir
ABSTRACT
Violence against women remains a widespread violation of human rights across all regions and continues to be a major barrier to achieving gender equality. Throughout history, such violence has often been accepted, condoned, and even legitimized by law. Women have long been exploited, abused, and victimized in every society, regardless of advancements in science, technology, and other fields. Over the past century, the world has witnessed profound transformations through urbanization, industrialization, technological progress, and modernization. These changes have altered social values and prompted many women to step beyond the confines of the home, contributing to their family’s income. Women’s empowerment has now become an established reality in modern society. However, with these shifts, women entering the workforce have encountered new forms of mistreatment, from employers, supervisors, and colleagues, the most important being, sexual harassment ranging from inappropriate remarks and unwanted advances to outright sexual violence. Today, sexual harassment in the workplace is recognized globally as a form of gender discrimination, a type of violence against women, and a violation of human rights, as affirmed by numerous international bodies and conventions.
Despite its long history, the term “sexual harassment” only began to appear in public discourse in the mid-1970s, even though women have faced such abuse for as long as they have been part of the workforce. In the Indian context the concept of sexual harassment gained attention in the late 20th century. It was the case of KPS Gill V. Rupan Deol Bajaj in which a need was felt to reform the law so as to cater to cases of sexual harassment specifically. But, India’s innovative history in tackling workplace sexual harassment actually began in 1997 with the Vishaka Guidelines given by the Supreme Court in Vishaka V. Rajasthan and afterwards the subsequent legislation on it has given critical visibility to the issue. The present paper will analyze the genesis and developments in the evolution of sexual harassment at the global level and in particular in India.
Keywords: Sexual Harassment, Working Women, Workplaces, Vishaka,
