June 27th, 2010
It is high time the ambitious Indian woman of today is able to articulate her desires and ambitions at the work place. Men have always had the privilege of being ambitious and treating career progression as their territory. Early on in my career, there were times when I was told by male colleagues, in very critical tones, that I was too ambitious for my own good. As if it was wrong for me to be treading on their ground!
The work place is a very difficult space for a woman to tackle because of the power relations that exist. Men still occupy positions of authority and they can use that power to get hold of the woman, which can take the form of harassment and, sometimes, even assault.
Although many organisations have mechanisms to deal with the problem, they do not address the root of the problem. The question we need to ask is, even if actions are taken against the perpetrator, say a loss of increment, a demotion and in extreme cases dismissal, is that justice enough for the victim? It cannot give back the loss of dignity in being treated as a sexual object.
The main problem in Indian society is that a lot of men are not aware that what they are doing is violating a woman’s dignity. This mentality has been naturalised in our society. You can be walking down the road in jeans and a spaghetti top and an unknown man feels it is okay for him to ask you to cover up! What is required in our workplaces are sensitisation workshops that can teach both men and women the red lines and what they must watch out for in the office space.
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