EMPLOYER BEWARE- A STUDY ON LAW RELATING TO WORK PLACE RELATED SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN INDIA

Gender equality as generally believed is not a ‘women's issue', but refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys, and should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Gender equality includes protection from sexual harassment and right to work with dignity, which is a universally recognised basic human right. An undisturbed, safe and secure place of work is therefore a woman's Human and Constitutional right[1]. The trigger to the development of law on sexual harassment in India was in the case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan. Sexual Harassment of Women At Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013[2] aims to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace throughout India and to prevent and redress complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith. In this background, this paper aims to trace the historical background of the act, put forward a detail description of the enactment and the implications thereto, and analyse the merits and demerits of the Act. The Act uses a doctrinal research methodology to arrive at the research findings.