India’s Sexual Harassment Law Comprehensive, Wide-Ranging

Keith Read, blogging on the Convercent site, says that the POSH Act, India’s first piece of legislation that specifically deals with workplace sexual harassment of women, is wide-ranging and comprehensive but faces challenges around implementation. The Act recognizes that sexual harassment amounts to a fundamental violation of women’s rights, including their right to live with dignity in any profession, trade, or business. It only protects women, leaving men under whatever policies a company might have in respect to harassment in general. It defines sexual harassment widely, including, for example, protection against things like sexual remarks, explicit pictures and inappropriate advances, which rarely fall under the “severe, pervasive and unwelcome” definition in U.S. law. However, some multinational companies with business dealings in India have had difficulty figuring out how to become compliant with the reporting requirements.