Gendered Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in The Workplace in India
Gendered Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in The Workplace in India

Author(s): Naureen Bhullar, Chryslynn D’Costa, Ishani Roy
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Psychology, Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life, General Reference Works, Geography, Regional studies, Library and Information Science, Sociology
Published by: Transnational Press London
Keywords: Sexual harassment; gender; workplace; India; complaints
Summary/Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions about sexual harassment among employees in the workplace in Indian companies and also examine gender differences in their responses. Prior research in the Indian context has shown that women have not reported incidences of sexual harassment at work. The main question is whether people in the workplace understand what is included in sexual harassment. Earlier research in educational institutions and workplace show that there are large gaps in the understanding of sexual harassment and what it entails and what it doesn’t. It is vital to investigate the perceptions about sexual harassment because if the individuals are not aware about it, there is a less chance of reporting related incidents. The current study surveyed employees (N = 1222; 71% men; 25% women; 4% unknown) anonymously from 12 Indian companies before a mandatory awareness and prevention of sexual harassment training session. Male employees reported a greater understanding of sexual harassment than females. However, more female employees reported greater accuracy for some of the questions related to false complaints and friendly flirting and consent. Nearly 50% of men either think that sexual harassment complaints are usually false or unjustified or they are not sure about it, compared to 26% of women. This is alarming and calls for better education with provision of statistics of complaints and false cases. It also seems that the women are more aware of the boundaries between flirting and sexual harassment than the men.

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