Amaan Syed Week 8

Gender and Society Assignment

Week 8

Ratna Kapur’s article Sexcapades and The Law focuses on the Indian Sexual Harassment laws and the how society perceives them. The author visits the Vishaka Guidelines and talks about how it just words on a paper and the implementation is almost none. The author states that the Sexual Harassment laws that we have today are too narrow and do not include many of the situations of how it can occur and also leaving many communities behind. She also looks over the three main concerns regarding these laws. One of them is the implication of sexual harassment laws on women’s rights, the focus on sexual wrongs and the creation of victimization for women in politics. She argues that Indian Sexual Harassment laws see a woman from a very conservative point of view. The incidents where a senior ask sexual favours from the junior ladies in the workplace in return for gifts often see the woman as the ‘prostitute’ instead of looking at the man as the main offender, or a ‘predator’. The author argues that there is need for the growth of these laws to make the work environment safer.