In IT Jobs, you either cosy up or lose job

By Prathima Nandakumar

Bengaluru

The city’s booming IT industry, which is not without its pitfalls, has of late seen a host of sexual harassment charges being levelled against its managerial staff.
As many as 125 cases of sexual harassment involving different IT companies have been registered with the Karnataka State Commission for Women over the last eight months alone.
One woman employee of a leading software company, Jyothi, has charged that she was unceremoniously removed from her job after she complained to the management about her manager demanding sexual favours from her. There are many more like her with women from the IT-BT sector too now coming forward to register complaints of a similar nature.
Chairperson of the commission. C. Manjula describes the trend as alarming, especially as women in BPOs have little security due to their odd working hours, the erratic lifestyle and the world within a world concept of the MNCs.
“Many girls come to us only after their services have been terminated. Even in these cases, they want only a salary settlement and not compensation for mental or sexual harassment. Filing a criminal case doesn’t even enter their minds,” she says.
“Although we have only a handful of cases from the IT-BT sector, I suspect the numbers are greater. Not all the girls come forward out of fear of losing their jobs and lucrative salaries. They may also be afraid that their chances of getting a new job could be scuttled by their employers if they made a fuss,” observes a counsellor with the commission.
Only recently, although a group of women BPO employees complained of sexual harassment at the workplace during a phone-in programme organised by the commission, they refused to identify themselves for fear of losing their jobs.
The commission does not intend to give up however and plans to hold a sensitisation seminar in cooperation with the police on the issue of safety of women working night shifts.
“We plan to do a reality check through surprise visits and establish a better network of the in-house anti-sexual harassment cells of the MNCs. We also want to encourage informal chats with women employees to help them open up about their problems,” says Manjula.
What is sexual harassment?
Any unwelcome physical contact, demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, display of pornography or any other unwelcome physical, verbal and non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature amounts to sexual harassment according to the Supreme Court.
What did the apex court say?
* The Supreme Court recognised and addressed the issue of sexual harassment at the workplace in 1997.
* The judgement led to the framing of mandatory sexual harassment prevention guidelines at the workplace, applicable all over India.