According to the Bill, Sexual Harassment is comprised of “one or more unpleasant behavior i.e. call for sexual privileges, Physical interaction and encouragements, Showing pornography, Building sexually colored comments or any unpleasant verbal or non-verbal behavior of sexual nature.”
Advocate Aruna Nafday said, “This bill is for the goodness of women so that they can work in a comfortable environment which can become unhealthy if item ringtones are played with malaise intentions. They can be perceived as salacious gags”. “This law is derived from the IPC section 354 i.e. Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty”, according to a High Court Lawyer.
Mrunalini Deshmukh, a lawyer, strongly opposes the bill by saying “Firstly the censor board should be pulled up for clearing what is objectionable. This part of the bill is revolutionary, primitive as well as sexually colored.” “Logically, we have access to all kind of stuff through the internet. Why do we have problem with the desi item numbers when we have no problem with the Shakira shaking her hips?”.
Corporate lawyer S Mahesh said, “This bill is a grey area as it is passed recently and interpreting or analyzing it will be too early”. CEO of Cybage Software stated, “If someone is pressurizing you (not consensual), then it is harassment e.g., if I am travelling with my coworker and I play an item song, if that is discomforting her, it will stop or change it. So such laws should be constructed with great care.”
A delivery manager Anthony Fernandez added, “I am very happy about this rigorous law as my team members approaches me for any kind of sexual harassment being happened in the workplace. However, talking about someone’s ringtone is a personal matter of that person”.
I think a woman is quite empowered in today’s work environment. Nowadays companies have strict policies regarding sexual harassment cases. These policies detail when the line is crossed or not.
