Society should uphold spirit of law against sexual harassment

Neither homes, work spaces nor other public spaces seem safe for women. Sexual assault and harassment is perpetrated against women and girls of all ages and social backgrounds. The recent news of abduction and alleged sexual assault on an actor in Kerala and the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in an apartment block in Chennai is just the tip of the iceberg. News about sexual harassment of various degrees seem to be portrayed with cynicism or sensationalised on various media platforms. 

India’s criminal laws on sexual assault were fairly weak and it was after the Nirbhaya case that different forms of sexual violence such as voyeurism, acid attack, stalking and gang rape have been made crimes punishable under the Indian Penal Code. In addition, the definition of rape itself has been made more comprehensive. We now have laws against sexual harassment of women at workplace and also laws protecting women from domestic violence in the household. The law now recognises a gradient of offences – from relatively minor offences of eve teasing and outraging the modesty of women to more heinous rape to provide exhaustive protection to women.  

Justice JS Verma Committee that was constituted immediately after the Nirbhaya case examined the predicament of women and dealt with the issue at length. In its report the Committee has given numerous recommendations to make the public spaces safe. In fact, the Commission found fault with the State for “failure of governance” as being the root cause for sexual crimes perpetrated against women. It has found fault with the government, the police and even the public for its apathy and suggested several changes. It also identified that sexual offences are not crimes of passion and are more often expression of power. Thus, the overarching patriarchal attitude that regards women as inferior, weak and below men in social hierarchy is much to  blame for incidents of sexual violence.   

We live in a country where the victim of sexual harassment victim is blamed more often than the criminal who commits the crime and is victimised by the society. Therefore, law provides a safeguard by prohibiting disclosure of female victims’ names. Yet  either due to ignorance or for the sake of TRP ratings and increased readership, identity of the victims are routinely disclosed. Publication of such disclosure is an offence under section 228(A) of Indian Penal Code. Such ‘outing’ of a victim is a serious violation of the victim/survivor’s autonomy in addition to being a criminal offence.  

Non-disclosure of the victim’s identity and the consequent anonymity enables the victim to get along with her life without suffering further harassment from society. The victim’s right to privacy is far more important than the newsworthiness of the incident. Though attitudes about sexual offences are changing, women victims are still not trusted and they are humiliated and further victimised. They also become soft targets and there are several instances where such victims have been exploited further by blackmail, adding insult to injury already suffered. 

Victims of sexual violence are afraid to report crimes for fear that their future may be compromised. Most cases go unreported because the victims do not have adequate support from their families or friends.

However stringent the law is, it cannot be effective unless victim women feel that they will be treated fairly and that they will not face societal backlash or stigma. 

— The writer is Senior  Advocate, Madras High Court