Friday, July 2, 2010

Sexual Harrasment is Gender Neutral the world over , why not India ?

All the western countries have Gender Neutral Sexual Harassment at workplace laws 

1) All employers are committed to maintaining a workplace where EACH employee's privacy and personal dignity are respected and protected from offensive / threatening behavior, irrespective of gender.

2) It is incorrect to presume that only women are prone to sexual harassment. With growing urbanisation, mindless westernization, and an increasing number of employee workforce positioned globally the issue of sexual harassment at workplace has acquired new dimensions. Men are as prone to being sexually harassed as women are.


3) The Sexual Harassment at workplace policies prevalent in most of the nations today take cognizance of the facts mentioned above and are gender neutral. According to a report on Sexual harassment at workplace by United Nations Economic Commission of Europe - Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, The Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom have policies for Sexual Harassment that are gender neutral.
Link :- A Report on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in EU Member States by United Nations Economic Commission of Europe (UNECE), which mentions the relevant Sexual Harassment policies at EU member nations. It is interesting to note that EU nations have a gender neutral Sexual Harassment policy.


6) There are numerous studies which conclude that Men at workplace are being increasingly harassed and victimized:

  (a) In United Kingdom, a survey conducted by the UK Department of Trade and Industry reports that men constitute 41% of sexual harassment victims. 
Link :- Survey conducted by the UK Dept of Trade and Industry, which concludes that 41% of sexual harassment victims are males, as reported in the Observer: 

(b) In Hong Kong, a survey conducted by the Civic Party and Equal Opportunities Commission revealed that one third of sexual harassment victims are males


(c) In USA, almost 16% of all sexual harassment complaints received by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) are regarding sexual harassment of men.
Link:- The US Sexual harassment policy, which is gender neutral and shows that about 16% of all complaints are from males, as published on The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission : http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

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