Beyond the Legal: A Sociological and Institutional Critique of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

Abstract

The lines across which justice is drawn are the mirror of social power structures. It carries along the prejudices of prevalent notions and oppression of social hierarchies. To understand the stigma associated with freedom of women in India, it is important to construct the ideology from a far behind time. The subordinating structures are backed by the discriminatory aspects associated with various forms of graded disciplines that not only control the functioning of oppression but also justify and reproduce it. One factor which lies common in the graded social system is the control over women’s individuality. The patriarchal norms which ensure the both compliance and submission of women, also makes it possible to grade itself on the lines of caste and class. The result is the in the form the multifold oppression faced by the under-privileged. The understanding of such peculiar characteristics of Indian society can help to take a pragmatic look at the social and judicial reform movements. The study is an attempt to analyze the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 in the light of social and judicial prejudices.