Question

If sexual harassment is illegal and clearly immoral, how can the guidelines against sexual harassment be controversial? What aspects do some find problematic?

Answer 1

Acts of sexual harassment at workplace or other spheres of life are condemnable and against human dignity and moral values. Most organisations have elaborate policies to prevent occurance of such incidents and procedures to investigate such cases to ensure fair justice to the victim. Objective of guidelines against sexual harassment are to create awareness among the employees regarding sexual harassment, laws pertaining to such cases, procedure and channels to take the matter forward if someone feels being victimised and the company's disciplinary stand against the victimiser.

Though the intent of the organisation is fair to discourage such incidents and ensure fair justice to the victim, the policies and guidelines can be misused at times to frame someone with false charges, settle personal scores through such allegations, fulfillment of vested interests etc. A controversial guideline is often heavily biased in favor of victim, where these provisions can be used conveniently against anyone with intention of extorting money, defaming publically or settling old rivalries. This calls for a balanced approach of evaluating the case and finding genuineness of charges to ensure that only those guilty are punished.

The problematic aspects lie in the way the matter is analysed and investigated. It includes the initial response of the company, confidentiality of matter, constitution of the investigating team, timelines for the process, involvement of third parties and nature of evidence sought to come to conclusion. Certain aspects may cause bised opinions, loss of confidentiality and may lead to false conviction.