Workplace safety is not negotiable at any level

livemint.com:

In an advancing world of empowerment talk and increased awareness of personal rights, conversation around one topic has stayed largely hushed, restricted to admissions within close family at most: Sexual harassment at the workplace. Even if little is apparent amid cubicles and cafeterias, the murky truth thrives beneath a shroud of silence. A 2022 report by the International Labour Organization revealed that more than one in five people employed—almost 23%—had experienced violence and harassment at work globally, physical, psychological or sexual.

Gears are shifting against it, albeit slowly. An analysis by Mint found that India’s top publicly traded companies saw a 70% surge in sexual harassment complaints in 2022-23, up from 451 the previous year. The count of reported cases in this sample of 23 large-cap firms is topped by big employers of office workers in large sectors like infotech and banking.

Last fiscal year saw many employees return to work on hybrid models after the pandemic home shift. Online stalking—and worse—taking in-person forms of harassment may possibly explain the higher case-load. On the other hand, given the hush over it, the rise could be explained by enhanced reporting in response to clearer codes laid down and greater confidence in redressal.

Either way, what’s undeniable is that the problem is all-pervasive and remains a menace at every level. Justice demands that it be stamped out. If doing this helps raise the participation of women in India’s workforce from dismal levels, that would be an economic bonus.