Fear of sexual abuse is a primary reason for women dropping out of the labour sector, among other considerations such as family duties, cultural standards, restricted possibilities, and a lack of supportive infrastructure (broadly categorising crime against women). The declining female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India is a perplexing element of the country’s economy.Over the previous two decades, despite the fact that output has more than doubled and the number of working-age women has increased by a fifth, the number of women in jobs has decreased by 10 million.

Gender Parity Indices Provide the Following Data: Gender empowerment indicators and global indices also depict a bleak picture. India is ranked 140th out of 156 nations in the Global Gender Gap Index for 2021, down from 98th in 2006. The FLFPR in India (24.5 percent in 2018-19) has similarly been dropping, and it is now significantly below the worldwide average of 45 percent.

Reasons

• According to a FICCI research, the workplace has become a lot more varied environment during the last three decades.
• Personal security has become critical to women’s physical, intellectual, emotional, economic, and spiritual well-being in India, where they account for 24.4 percent of the entire workforce.
• Women in India experience prejudice at every stage of their lives: before birth (infanticide), as an infant (malnutrition, murder), as a child (education, domestic labour, rape, child marriage), after marriage (dowry, economic dependency, security), and as widows (dowry, economic dependence, security) (outcaste, inheritance).
• Facilities such as canteens and toilets — generally available in factories where workers are predominantly men — are lacking in the fields. Because of the presence of the mostly male “sardars” (supervisors), women try to seek privacy far away from where their colleagues are working. This makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse.
• A research has been released by the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) and Gender at Work. According to the report, 36% of all respondents had experienced workplace sexual harassment. 53% of those who indicated they had been harassed at work did not tell anybody about it. Only a small percentage of those surveyed sent a report to the internal committee of their news organisations (IC).However, the research indicated that 70% of individuals who filed a complaint were dissatisfied with the outcome.
• Sexist comments, unwelcome sexual jokes, embarrassing gestures or body language, attempts to establish unwanted romantic and/or sexual relationships, and pestering for dates were the most common types of harassment experienced by the respondents, according to the report titled ‘Creating safe workplaces: prevention and redressal of sexual harassment in media houses in India.’
• India ranks 125th out of 159 nations in the UN Human Development Report’s (2016) Gender Inequality Index.
• India ranks 108th out of 144 nations in the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Gender Gap Index. According to government data, the overall conviction rate in the country was 46.2 percent in 2016, but approximately 20% in cases of crimes against women.

Initiatives

• A woman’s legal right to a safe workplace exists.Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Indian Constitution embody the doctrines of equality and personal liberty.
• The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, is in effect, and it is based on the Supreme Court’s Vishaka Guidelines, which were released in 1997. The law was enacted to guarantee that women, in particular, are protected from sexual harassment in all workplaces, public and private.
• Every firm with more than 10 workers is required by law to establish a sexual harassment policy, a trained Internal Complaints Committee with one external member, and mandatory training for employees on what constitutes sexual harassment and how to seek help inside the organisation.
• The National Commission for Women is a statutory organisation tasked with reviewing women’s constitutional and legal protections and making recommendations for legislative changes.
• It gets a huge number of complaints and acts suo moto in a lot of instances to ensure that justice is served quickly.

Way forward

• In Indian society, there is a need to mainstream gender issues. In a patriarchal culture, education and sensitization are just as important as laws and their execution.
• Economic independence, reproductive health control, a strong voice in family concerns, and equitable participation in legislatures are all things that women in India require. Women should be given priority in Parliament and legislative assemblies, according to the government.
• Given the abysmal rates of conviction in crimes against women, criminals break laws designed to protect women with impunity. It is necessary to enhance the social climate and public perception of the judicial system’s efficacy.
• The SAFETY Approach: While violence against women and girls is one of several barriers that restricts their mobility and reduces their likelihood of participating in the labour force, addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive mechanism that includes the state, institutions, communities, and households. Adopting a ‘SAFETY’ paradigm that focuses on Services, Attitudes, Community Focus, Women’s Empowerment, Transportation and other Infrastructure, and Youth Actions can be a significant component in structuring policies and interventions to prevent crimes against women and girls.
• Keeping women kept inside is a bad policy for a variety of reasons, the most important of which is that it fails to achieve its declared goal of protecting them from harm.Staying indoors is not the answer; instead, improved legislation, access to work opportunities, and self-reliance are needed to keep women secure both inside and outside the home.
• Breaking the Restrictive Societal Norms of Women Being Confined to Their Homes: The public focus on external violence is not only wrong in the context of women’s work, but it also entirely obscures the fact that the majority of violence against women is done by people who are familiar to them – husbands, partners, relatives, and friends.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/explained-how-does-the-new-criminal-procedure-identification-bill-2022-propose-to-collect-sensitive-data/article65284506.ece

How to structure:

1. Give a brief intro about female labour force participation in India
2. Mention the issues faced by women in workplaces and stress on the safety part. Give data
3. Mention about Vishakha guidelines and the law that was derived.
4. Discuss the measures needed. Try to also cover about casting couch and practice of soliciting sexual favors from a job applicant in exchange for employment
5. Conclude