Get Aware About Male Victims of Sexual Harassment at Workplace

 

Get Aware About Male Victims of Sexual Harassment at Workplace



When one thinks of sexual harassment, one immediately thinks of male workers harassing or propositioning female co-workers. People mistakenly believe that sexual harassment is restricted only to women. How many times do we hear in the media that a man is being sexually abused? It has been portrayed by the media and other sources that women are helpless and are subservient to men. This is accurate to a certain extent as not all men tyrannize or abuse women. 

Sexual harassment is one of the most prevalent social problems that exist today, and it can happen to any individual, regardless of their age, sexual identity or gender identity. While employees have the right to freedom from sexual discrimination and harassment at the  workplace, workplace harassment  has escalated to a great extent in the recent years.

What is sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is an unwelcome advance of a sexual nature which results in unreasonable interference with the individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, abusive, or offensive working environment and can take various forms such as physical, verbal, non-verbal, and visual. Being a social problem, it consequently causes problems such as loss of job, dignity, social status, and in some cases loss of life as well.

The culture of masculinity is so strong, men who are sexually harassed at the workplace face additional challenges because of the stereotypes while some others do not even realize when they have been sexually abused. Stigma and gender norms surely affect how men report sexual harassment, and also act as a barrier to report the crime. As a result, men are reluctant to report the crime or come forward because of the social norms that say sexual harassment is not a male issue. Men are also reluctant to complain due to the misuse of sexual harassment laws by women and the filing of false complaints. 

Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which is our Fundamental Right, specifies the right to equality. But the legislation has a greater focus on the issues that are faced by women. The government has made effective laws for preventing sexual harassment at workplace for women but there has also been a slow rise in the cases of sexual harassment against men. The majority of the laws in India negate the fact that men can also be victims to sexual harassment.

Hence, it is the need of the hour that we acknowledge the fact that men can be victims of sexual harassment too and people should become aware of this harsh fact. There is a need for laws where men will be given equal protection as women since everyone regardless of their gender is entitled to the right to live free of harassment. 

Counsel Quest is one of the leading consultancy firms in Delhi. The lawyers of Counsel Quest have in-depth knowledge of workplace harassment law, and can work with you to ensure that you are protected and get the compensation you deserve.  Contact our office today at (+91-9953320521 or https://counselquest.co.in/contact/  to schedule an initial consultation about your workplace harassment case.


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