Female journalists encountering sexual abuse at work is nothing new in this growingly intolerant world. Most of them, however, fail to replicate the courage that they display professionally to speak out about the harassment they often fall victim to while on assignment.
The reason — female scribes do not want to lose any opportunity to be at ground zero to cover sensational events. Sharing such predicaments with their bosses or even peers would make them look vulnerable to physical assault or abuse in critical situations. Hence, the management might be tempted to jettison lady journos in favor of their male counterparts whenever something major happened. Organizations working to protect the rights of media persons might be keeping detailed records of the number of journalists — of both sexes — killed on duty; they certainly are oblivious of the growing cases of sexual crime against women journalists. Ironically two-third of working lady journalists is at risk at their own workplaces. But what happens when the boss himself turns into a tormentor? Indeed, India today is searching for that elusive answer after the infamous Tehelka sex scandal rocked the headlines at the fag end of November last. The saner elements of a dumbstruck nation are absolutely agonized by the allegation of sexual abuse lodged against an editor of a reputed newsmagazine by one of his female colleagues. That the sordid affair has drawn so much attention and has been a cause of concern to many is because the senior editor who stands accused today of committing a heinous crime has been a loyal foot-soldier, fighting consistently to preserve progressive values over the years.
In fact, the editor is known to be a renowned critic of any socio-political transgression. And one rash, despicable act has not only tarnished the reputation of Indian media but also the sanctity of the fourth estate as a whole. Now, it has become difficult for people — who used to be the mirror of society — to use their pen as swords for exposing all forms of injustices occurring in every nook and corner. After all, a brand of repute cannot attract the same attention once it has fallen from grace due to bad publicity. It is ironic that those who are, as part of their job etiquette, required to stand on the side of the victims are themselves stranded at a crossroads today.
The media fraternity unfortunately finds itself in a tight spot because both the perpetrator and the victim are fellow comrades. Hard questions are already being raised about the capability of various institutions to dispense justice in a credible and fair way after the victim’s own organization ditched her.
Given the all-embracing shareholding pattern of the tainted newsmagazine, an impression has somehow gained ground that political actors were deliberately engaged in a criminal cover-up by way of politicizing this sensitive issue. But such scandals, often involving the influential and most unexpected players, should be seen as a manifestation of a larger malaise — that of moral degradation creeping into the veins of a nation. Violence against women has in fact become a cultural problem stemming primarily from the culture of a male-child receiving greater attention and indulgence in Indian household.
The epidemic of sexual harassment also reveals something very eerie about the state of mind of Indian men. Sometime ago, a survey conducted by the International Center for Research on Women had found Indian men to be the least gender equal and most sexually violent with one in every four male committing sexual violence at some point in their lives. So, under such circumstances, can laws alone prevent a woman from being groped or molested or raped at workplaces? Perhaps, India as a nation needs to do some serious soul-searching to find a suitable answer.
After all, whom do we blame for an alarming increase in illegal sexual conduct or for that matter the failure to provide adequate safety provisions for maintaining the dignity of working women? Do we point our fingers at the lawmakers, many of whom carry grave charges of assault against women? Or should we accuse the sloth bureaucratic super-structure for failing the Indian women miserably? Let us not forget that the landmark law against sexual harassment at workplace, enacted by the Congress-led UPA government after much public clamor, was functionless for long because of administrative negligence. Thanks to this now infamous bureaucratic inertia, the relevant rules of the “Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redresal) Act 2013” came into effect only on Dec. 16 even though it received the president’s assent last April. Significantly, a hike in the number of workingwomen in India was accompanied by a proportionate rise in the number of sexual harassment at workplaces. Shamefully, as high as 79 percent of working women are troubled by the verbal form of sexual abuse and except a notable few, all incidents goes unreported. Shockingly, the fear of being discriminated in a male dominated working environment, getting sacked and even a tarnished reputation often prevents the harassed ladies from lodging official complaints. It is therefore time for the society to realize that workplace violence is a hidden menace with tangible consequences. Hence, to ensure that productivity is not hampered by the erosion of decent working conditions, which might create a socioeconomic havoc in the long run, an effective remedial mechanism is needed urgently.
n Seema Sengupta is a Kolkata-based journalist and columnist.
