Sexual Harassment of Women in India - Essay Example

Sexual Harassment of Women in India In the second decade of the 21st century, women’s issues have sustained in different forms throughout the world,ranging from AIDS in Africa (Annan) to sexual harassment in India. Sexual harassment of women is one of the most serious contemporary issues. It is an issue that is frequently encountered by women all over the world in general and in the developing countries in particular. This may be attributed to flexibility of laws that prevail in the society and the workplaces as well as lack of accountability.

One such developing country in which thousands of cases of sexual harassment of women surface every year is India. This paper discusses this threat to Indian women. India is predominantly a society where men are far more empowered than women. In spite of the fact that India is a rapidly developing country, yet most of the development is limited to few big cities. There are many regions within India where the cultural norms and lifestyle of people is very different from what is covered by the media or is known to people.

India is largely a conservative society in which men are assigned the role of earning bread for the family and women are expected to take care of the family and look after domestic works. However, as the literacy rate of the Indian people has soared up over the decades, the tendency to let women work shoulder to shoulder with men has grown. Nevertheless, “[t]hese young people do not reject traditions governing relations between the sexes” (Alvarez). Accordingly, men see women as objects of sex even when they are their colleagues.

While this may be considered as a good sign in general, life outside home is not easy for women. Despite the fact that the number of working women in India has increased over the years, work for many women comes as a liability rather than an opportunity. One of the factors responsible for this is sexual harassment of women in India. Women are considered as a show-piece rather than workers that have been hired because of their skills, talents, and competences. These days, sexual harassment in India has started to gain increased attention of the media and the world as women have started sharing their experiences on social media and the Internet in general.

As one of them wrote, “Once a guy sees you travelling alone, he will come and stand right behind you. Then, he will lean in and press his body against yours and try to touch you” (Misarvan cited in “India’s women commuters”). While sometimes, victims of sexual harassment do retaliate and respond in an insulting manner, a considerable population of women exposed to sexual harassment are in a compromising position and thus cannot risk responding to the offender the way they would like to; as Misarvan continued to tell, “It’s upsetting, but what more can I do?

If the guy gets even more aggressive or violent, no one on that bus is going to help me… so I just put up with it and wait for my bus stop” (Misarvan cited in “India’s women commuters”). For the most part, sexual harassment continues to be a potential threat to the women in India because despite the existence of laws, their enforcement is not effective. In one case that has recently happened, the radio presenters of a popular channel in India alleged sexual harassment (“Women staff allege”).

A complaint was filed with the Delhi Commission for Women. However, the victims are not very optimistic about getting justice because the government body has not established any committee to deal with such issues according to the mandate issued by the Supreme Court in the judgment it passed in the Vishakha case. “[N]othing has so far been done though more than four months have passed since the union had given the letter to the director” (“Women staff allege”). Concluding, sexual harassment is one of the biggest hurdles in the way of women empowerment and well-being in the Indian society.

Causes of sexual harassment in India mainly include domination of men and poor enforcement of laws. The growth of women workers in different industries in India has served to increase the number of sexual harassment incidents. Mostly, women are in a compromising position because either their job is at stake or their self-respect is at stake. Considering the detrimental impacts of sexual harassment on the lives of the victims, the government of India should take serious measures to stop it. Works Cited: Alvarez, Lizette.

“Arranged marriages get a little reshuffling.” Annan, Kofi. “In Africa, AIDS Has a Woman’s Face.” “India’s women commuters face daily sexual harassment.” DAWN. 21 Jan. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. . “Women staff allege sexual harassment at All India Radio.” Indian Express. 6 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2013. .