Safety is a right too

Pratibha Srikantamurthy, murdered on the way to her night shift. M.J. Soni, took her life after alleged harassment by managers. Sarika and Durga, hounded to death by eve-teasers. Asst. Commandant Srividya, victimised for complaining about sexual harassment. Stephanie, chased and run over by four men. Soumya Vishwanathan, killed while returning from work. Should women stay home behind bolted doors to feel safe?

The Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s insensitive comments have not helped the issue. “As it is, employers do not take responsibility for providing a safe working environment for women, including transportation facility, particularly if they work odd hours. Ms. Dikshit’s remarks have now absolved the police of their duty to provide safety to the citizens,” says Sudha Sundararaman, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA). She even sought to know whether Ms. Dikshit had ever stayed back late in the office in her 10 years in the office of the Chief Minister.

The war cry that women took away men’s jobs has long been silenced. What you hear now are the nauseating reactions to the question of workplace safety. “She shouldn’t have been out there at that hour.” “Dressed like that, she was asking for it!” “I always thought she was slightly, you know, unstable.” In crimes against women, the victim mysteriously becomes the accused.

The history of law on workplace safety for women makes for fascinating reading. It begins with the Factories Act, 1948 which said, “No woman shall be required or allowed to work in any factory except between the hours of 6 a.m. and 7 p.m.(extended to 9 p.m. for women in fish curing)”. As more avenues of work opened for women, the Act began to look less “protective” and more “restrictive”. Employers, labour unions and individual women campaigned, setting off a yo-yo of safety versus right-to-work debate.

In April 2000, a Tamil Nadu GO exempted Software Industries from the Chapter II provisions of Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act 1947. It meant opening/closing hours did not apply to software outfits. In the 2001 landmark R. Vasantha vs. Union of India case, the Madras High Court judge decided denying nightshift for women would be unconstitutional. He recommended safety guidelines.

“Are these enforced strictly?” asked a senior Jurist. “The judgment has justified IT/ITES work hours. What about others?” Lawyer Sudha Ramalingam wants a separate act to protect women at work. “While it is the duty of the state to protect all citizens, the onus is on the employer to provide a safe place of work,” says Sheila Jayaprakash, lawyer. “It includes her commute to work and back. To deny women work on the ground that they are vulnerable would be discrimination.”

Expressing similar sentiments, Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research, Delhi, says private companies extract as much work as they could from the staff, but do not spend a few thousand rupees extra on providing transport to women working odd hours. This is particularly true of BPOs, Information Technology companies, airlines, hotels and other service sectors. Even going to the parking lots was often scary and unresolved cases added to the fear among the people, she adds.

With an expanding private sector and the government time and again reiterating its commitment to making women equal partners, night shifts and public dealing in hospitality sectors is the order of the day which often leaves women vulnerable to “uncalled for advances.”

“Soumya’s death has shaken us. Now I need to be in touch with my family more until I reach home from office,” says R. Jayalakshmi, an Assistant Manager in a BPO of leading American multinational company in Delhi. For the past seven years, Jayalakshmi has not done a normal office hour duty because her job requires her to be available when offices in the United States open. “Despite some unsavoury incidents while the staff was being dropped back home, we did not feel scared. We took it in our stride but Soumya’s incident has left us feeling insecure,” she says. The office is considerate enough to ensure that no female staff travels alone in the night, and if it does happen, the women are provided a guard. Her father, V. Rangarajan, says he is awake until she reaches home. “I have told her to call before leaving office and be in touch constantly.” Mobile phones do come in very handy.

Kanchan Joshi, working in another multinational company in Delhi, also says that the pressure on her to be back home before dark has increased tremendously after the Soumya incident. “There are polite suggestions that I should look for a more traditional job or at least work during daytime,” she says. At present there are no defined hours in her job. She does not work in the night but does leave the office late and drives back home.

“To be honest, I also feel scared to be out late, even if it is with family and male friends. More so, because earlier one used to hear about these incidents, but now these have started happening closer home and with people one can identify with — people of the same social status and professional profiles,” Ms. Joshi says. Her parents — Sudeshna and Kuldeep Joshi — now feel Delhi is really unsafe for women. “Years back we came here with dreams for our children, but now we think their security is more important,” they feel.

Inside the offices too, there are risks. Internally, businesses are expected to follow the Supreme Court-formulated Vishakha Guidelines. But often women fail to recognise unsolicited attention as sexual harassment. Women journalists in a PII survey said they feared intimidation, victimisation and losing their job. Others said their complaint would be ridiculed as “over-reacting”. No woman wants to be the subject of office gossip. And reprisals could range from social isolation to “punishment postings” and cancelled promotions.

At one point, Uthra, a business consultant, biked home at 3 a.m. from places like Sirsuri and Navalur to south Chennai. “Definitely not the best time to be on OMR, with its wine shops and drunken men,” she admits. “I did take the office cab once or twice, but that means a sight-seeing tour at the end of a work day. They follow pre-determined routes. Why can’t overseas counterparts start work at 8 a.m. rather than keep us back till ungodly hours?” she asks.

Now she insists on leaving at 7 p.m. She drives a car and is generally happy with the police presence en route. “Still, I have my windows up, doors locked and drive carefully on the middle of the road. If there’s unfinished work, I take it home.”

“Women fit in very well with our work,” said Vijayalakshmi Rao, Director, Scope eknowledge centre, listing safety measures in her four-shift, 40 per cent women firm. “We have a formalised anti-sexual harassment policy and redressal system.” Her company had a pick-up-and-drop arrangement, but now accommodates all women in day shifts. When there is work spill-over, women do flexi-time or work out of home. Anyone working late gets dropped. “We are an equal opportunities firm, we will continue to hire women,” she says. “The strategy is to manage their time well, formalise rules regarding safety and communicate them to the staff in unambiguous terms.”

“HCL BPO has stringent safety measures and precautions in place to guarantee protection of women employees,” says A.P. Rao, its HR Executive. These include thorough vetting of cab drivers, escort for women employees picked up first or dropped last, signing of duty slips, checking of vehicles by security supervisors, monitoring of cab radios and connectivity to police stations. Employees carry contact details of transport SPOCs. The firm has lady member councils to address indoor complaints. The rules and measures are “circulated throughout the organisation,” Rao says. “We conduct special audits of safety practices, which are incorporated into our regular audit plan.”

What can women do? After the Pratibha incident, sale of pepper spray went up five times in Bengaluru. In Chennai, martial arts centres have seen enrolments jumping. Till we reach a crime-free Utopia, we can avoid being alone in deserted streets and on company transport. Driving? Never stop for anything. Keep your cell phone charged at all times. And pray hard.

Courtesy:  Date:19/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2008/10/19/stories/2008101950020100.htm