Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment
Before starting anything about this topic, we need to understand what this sexual harassment is. Simply we can say any unwelcome or unwanted verbal, non-verbal, physical or visual conduct based on sex or of a sexual nature; and the acceptance or rejection of which affects an individual's employment are considered as sexual harassment.
If the recipients feel uneasy at the way their employers look at them and touch sensitive parts of their bodies or display pornography, then such acts are deemed sexual harassment.
There is no specific legal provision against sexual harassment in public places in Nepal like the UK, Australia and Holland. A bill on Sexual Harassment has been prepared but is yet to be approved by the Parliament. Though the government has drafted legislation, it will only address workplace sexual harassment, while there is no separate remedy for sexual harassment in public places. Also, dealing with sexual harassment issues is a bit tricky. Experts say there is difficulty implementing the laws as sexual harassment can happen in such a way that only the person targeted feels insulted while those right next to him or her do not ever get to sense the harassment.
Although voices are being raised by legal experts for a separate Act to address sexual harassment in different places and forms, so far related cares are being tried under the Civil Offence laws. Ever under Civil Offence laws there are no clear provisions for a penalty. Most importantly, except extreme forms of assaults are hardly reported by victims. Even the police do not pay attention to such cases.
Sexual harassment is troublesome, but without proper legal provisions or a system to deal with it the issue can become grave. Though there is no recent survey available to indicate the trend, a 2004 International Labour Organisation (ILO) survey reported that 48.8 percent Nepali women complained of some form or the other of harassment. Anecdotal evidence suggests that sexual harassment is on the rise, especially in public places. Almost all the women must have some bitter experience of sexual harassment in public places. It's been common experience for many women to hear sleazy remarks in public places, but there are also some cases which leave deep psychological impact on them.
Sexual harassment can be physical and verbal. It can be exhibited through gestures. There is not much awareness among people on the definition and legal provisions regarding sexual harassment of which males easily take advantage. Therefore, awareness campaigns on this issue are needed throughout the country, so that our sisters, sisters-in-laws, mothers, aunts, girl-friends can breathe and move in fresh environment with freedom.