High Court Division
(Special Original Jurisdiction)
Writ Petition No. 5916 of 2008.
An application under
Article 102(2) (a) (ii) of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of
In the matter of
...... the petitioner
Versus
Government
of
.....
the respondents
Mrs. Fawzia Karim Firoze with Mrs. Seema
Zahur, Ms. Rebeka Sultana and Ms. Sathi Shahjahan
..... for the petitioner.
And
Mr. Justice Quamrul Islam Siddiqui
Heard on 16.10.2008, 13.11.2008, 9.3.2009,
11.3.2009.
Judgment on 14.5.2009.
Syed Mahmud Hossain J,
In this application under Article 102 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, a Rule Nisi was issued calling upon the respondents to show cause as to why the respondents failed to adopt guidelines, or policy or enact proper legislations to address the issue of abuse of sexual harassment for protecting and safeguarding the rights of the women and girl children at work place, educational institutions/universities and other places wherever necessary which has been regularly reported in the media, public and other places.
The
facts leading to the issuance of the Rule, in brief, are:
Bangladesh
National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) was formed in 1979 by a group of
women lawyers with an aim and objective to empower the women and children of
their rights.
At present
there are no legislative provisions to address sexual harassment of women and
girl children and in the absence of the legislative provisions the need to find
out an effective and/or alternative mechanism to cater the need is an urgent
social imperative. On 7 July, 2008 “mvgvwRK
cÖwZ‡iva KwgwU,” (Social Resistance Committee), a platform of 47 right
based organizations such as the petitioner, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad,
Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, Bangladesh Mahila Samity arranged a press conference on
the issue and put in sharp focus the acuteness of the problem and highlighted
how the sexual harassment was taking place in different organizations and
institutions. The Committee at the press conference presented a statistics
showing 333 incidents of repressions on women from January to June 2008. The
Committee also adopted seven resolutions including framing of guidelines to
stop sexual harassment and implementation thereof at all educational
institutions and universities. On 1.8.2008, ‘The Daily Star’ brought out in its
weekly magazine, a front page story regarding campus violence on sexual
harassment. The article stated that in the absence of any formal structure of
complaint hearing many
A lady officer of the
A few of the many incidents are stated hereinafter:
On 15.8.2008, ‘The Daily Star’ in its weekly magazine stated that in the absence of any formal structure of complaint hearing, many Bangladeshi students keep incidents of sexual harassment to themselves. Students fear having their identities exposed to social stigma and in the case of a teacher-student relationship the student is usually too aware of the power advantage the teacher has over her. The magazine continued, in 1998, sexual harassment on campus finally exploded as a public issue at Jahangirnagar University (J.U). Since then, a section of progressive teachers have been campaigning for a formal policy on sexual harassment and to date there has been no step in the right direction towards approving such a policy.
In May 2006, the students of the Botany Department of Rajshahi University called a strike on the campus demanding removal of Prof Nurul Aman for alleged sexual harassment of a female student of the department. (The Daily Star, May 8, 2006). Students of Sociology Department of Rajshahi University led demonstration in the campus demanding punishment for, and dismissal of, a teacher of the department for alleged sexual harassment of a female student of the department (The New Age, May 10, 2006).
On 16.11.2006, allegations were brought against a teacher of the Bangla Department of Jahangirnagar University by a first year female student of that department. A fact-finding committee, formed to conduct primary investigation of the allegation against the teacher found her allegations to be true (The Daily Star, December 24, 2006). Transcripts of the text messages sent to the student were obtained and records of how many calls were made to her and at what time were gathered from the phone company. The teacher, Assistant Professor Golam Mostafa, was eventually dismissed from his duties. Just before this, a teacher of the BBA department resigned over allegations of sexual harassment. Authorities of Psychology Department at Dhaka University (DU) temporarily relieved a teacher of all kinds of academic activities in the department for his alleged involvement in sexually harassing a female student of the same department. The student along with her father submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University accusing the teacher of sexual harassment. (The Daily Star May 22, 2008).
An eminent
woman Professor Dilara Chowdhury of
We would like to refer to a few case studies made by Professor Dilara Chowdhury in her book, “Sexual Harassment of Bangladesh Women at Workplace” (Annexure-F to the Writ Petition) as under:
The International
Labour Organization (ILO) report of 2001 indicated that “certain groups of
women workers tend to be at greater risk of being subjected to sexual
harassment notably girls and young women in male-dominated occupation or
training institutions, and more generally in situations where large numbers of
women are supervised by a small number of men who are in position of authority.
This could not be more applicable to any other sector than the Ready-Made
Garment (RMG) industries of
Case Study
from Garments Sector:
Golapi is 18 years old. She is unmarried and has been working in a garment factory for three years. She became the victim of sexual harassment by the manager and one of the supervisors of the factory. The supervisor would touch her shoulder and back while passing by her station. At times, he would bend over her and put his hand on her shoulder and try to reach her bosom. Golapi had no where to go as the manager himself was also the tormentor who would make comments about her figure and appearance. He often commented in her presence that he would like to have her. Subsequently, Golapi was given night shift duty. As usual just like the previous five days she was on night shift duty when she was called by the supervisor into a room where the manager was also present. Both the supervisor and the manager tried to rape her. While the supervisor grabbed her from behind and gagged her, the manager tried to tear her clothes off. At one stage she started screaming and cried for help. When she tried to break free and screamed the manager attempted to choke her with the help of a shirt. She started bleeding in the mouth because of choking. She was taken to the hospital in almost unconscious condition. Salaries of both manager and supervisor of that particular month had been withheld by the owner as a punishment indeed.
Media
Parveen is a thirty years old unmarried
young woman who has been working as reporter for a vernacular daily. The environment of the organization,
according to Parveen is prone to sexual harassment. She herself has become
victim of sexual harassment in her organization and mostly it was done by her
male colleagues. On many occasions, she
faced unwanted touch from her male colleague but she tolerated such male advance
mainly for a number of reasons: lack of sexual harassment policy and sexual grievance
procedure, existing gender ideology, patriarchal socialization and the fact
that the incidents were made to look like accidental one. Sexist comments like
“You are beautiful and you have enormous sex appeal” have been common. Although
she found these male behaviours demeaning, her male colleagues seem to be quite
oblivious about the impact of such language and physical gestures. What was particularly
bothersome was when she became the victim of persistent sexual harassment by
one of her colleagues. He would leer at her and touch her in subtle way. On one
occasion, he told her that he found her very appealing and would like to have a
special relationship with her. She got angry and rebuked him and also told him
to get lost. Next day, during lunch she was looking for her purse in her
handbag and while fumbling she found a strip of birth control pills. She was
shocked and as she lifted her face she found her tormentor sitting right across
the room who was looking at her with a sinister smile on his face. Parveen
fought back her tears and simply walked out of the room. She felt absolutely
helpless.
Non Government Organization
(NGO)
Sima has been working for twenty years. She
reported that male/female ratio is lopsided and the competition is uneven because
of social condition and the way a girl child is treated from her birth. She has
been a member of the Gender Committee for seven years and finds that crude
harassment is much less than before, but it still occurs. She narrated two rape
incidents that occurred at the Field Office. In one case, Selina who was base line
worker in the Field Office used to get harassed by her supervisor. The
supervisor, on various occasions, used to touch her and brush his body against
her. One day she got held up because of rain and had to wait in supervisor’s
office room. The supervisor raped her. In another case a rape incident took
place in Comilla Field Office where a trainee was raped by the supervisor. Both
incidents took place in mid-1990s before the adoption of the sexual harassment
policy but upon complaints both supervisors lost their jobs. However, it is to
be noted that even after the adoption of the policy between 1997 and 2002 as
many as five rape cases have been reported to the Gender Unit of Human Rights.
Academia
The female Professor Mahjabin is also a victim of
character assassination propaganda through leaflet distribution. The professor
is young, outspoken and has an excellent academic background. In traditional
There are as many as nineteen (19) respondents on whom notices were served by a special messenger of the Court.
Respondent No. 3, Ministry of Women and Children
represented by its Secretary entered appearance by filing power but did not
file any affidavit-in-opposition. Mr. Rajik Al-Jalil, learned Deputy Attorney
General appeared on behalf of respondent No. 3. Respondent No. 7, the Vice-Chancellor
of Dhaka University filed affidavit-in-opposition. The case of this respondent
is that the
Mrs. Faujia Karim, learned Advocate for the petitioners, submits that the suffering of the women at their workplaces and educational institutions knew no bounds owing to the absence of any law in this field.
Mr. Rajik Al-Jalil, learned Deputy Attorney General, submits that there are many laws in the country for protecting the women including Nari-O-Shisu Nirjatan Daman Ain and as such, no new guidelines are necessary in this regard.
Mr. Mahmudul Islam, the learned amicus curiae, submits that it is the constitutional obligation of the Government to enact law to protect the women at their workplaces and educational institutions in order to preserve their fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
He further submits that this constitutional Court is competent to give directives in the form of guidelines under article 111 of the Constitution till legislation is made by the Parliament in this regard.
Ms. Sara Hossain and Mr. Probir Neogi learned Advocate appearing as an intervenors, submit that without any further delay directives in the form of guidelines should be formulated to protect the women at their workplaces and educational institutions.
We have considered the Writ Petition,
the supplementary affidavits and the annexures thereto.
We have already discussed some of the
harrowing tales of repression and sexual abuse on women at their workplaces,
educational institutions and other Government and Non-Government Organizations.
Sub-article (1) of article 19 of the
Constitution provides that the State shall endeavour to ensure equality of
opportunity to all citizens.
Article 10 of the Constitution
provides that steps shall be taken to ensure participation of women in all
spheres of national life which is not possible unless we can put a stop to
sexual harassment. Such participation
cannot be ensured unless they are protected from this flagrant and pervasive
vice.
Article
26 occurring in the chapter of fundamental rights states that all citizens are
equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of law.
Article
29 occurring in the same chapter states, amongst others, that there shall be
equality of opportunity for all citizens in respect of employment or office in
the service of the Republic and that no citizen shall, on the grounds only of
religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, be ineligible for, or
discriminated against, in respect of any employment or office in the service of
the Republic. Sub-article (2) of article 28 specifically provides that women
should have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public
life. Sub-article (4) of article 28 provides that nothing in this article shall
prevent the State from making special provision in favour of women or children
or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens.
Article
31 provides, amongst others, that to enjoy the protection of the law, and to be
treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable
right of every citizen and in particular no action detriment to the life,
liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in
accordance with law.
Article
32 provides that no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save
in accordance with law.
The fundamental rights
guaranteed in chapter III of the Constitution of Bangladesh are sufficient to
embrace all the elements of gender equality including prevention of sexual
harassment or abuse.
Protection
from sexual harassment and right to education and work with dignity is universally
recognised as basic human rights. The common minimum requirement of these
rights has received global acceptance. Therefore, the International Conventions
and norms are of great significance in the formulation of the guidelines to
achieve this purpose.
The
responsibility of this Court under article 102 of the Constitution for the
enforcement of the fundamental rights enumerated in chapter III of the
Constitution in the absence of legislation must be viewed along with the role
of judiciary envisaged in the “Beijing Statement of Principles of the
Independence of the Judiciary in the LAWASIA Region [1995] CCJA PRes (19 August
1995)”. Those principles were accepted by the Chief Justices of the Asia and
the Pacific including the then Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bangladesh Mr. Justice
A.T.M Afzal, at
“10. The objectives and functions of
the judiciary include the following:
(a)
To
ensure that all persons are able to live securely under the Rule of Law;
(b)
To
promote, within the proper limits of the judicial function, the observance and
the attainment of human rights; and
(c)
To
administer the law impartially among persons and between persons and the
State”.
On 18.8.2008, we passed an interim order
in the present Rule Nisi as under:
“In this matter Rule was issued on 7.8.2008. On that date instead of passing any interim order, we directed the petitioner to serve notices upon the respondents by a special messenger of this Court at its own cost. Accordingly, notices were duly served upon the respondents. Today, Mr. Mansoor Habib, learned Additional Attorney General, appears on behalf of the respondents and submits that instead of passing any interim order the matter should be disposed of on an urgent basis after the vacation. This Court will go on vacation in two weeks’ time and reopen on 12.10.2008, and thereafter the matter may be taken up for hearing. However, considering the general implication of the issues involved in the Rule from the social perspective, we strongly feel that irrespective of the fate of the Rule some immediate initiatives may be taken by the respondents to address the social menace of sexual harassment of women at their workplace, educational institutions, and elsewhere. These initiatives may include building up of awareness, consultation with women groups, various stakeholders and others. These processes should result in making effective law and proper implementation thereof. This office is directed to communicate the order to the respondents by a special messenger of this Court”.
The interim order referred to above was communicated to the respondents but no effective measures were taken to address the social menace. Meanwhile, eight months have elapsed. In this connection, it is important to mention that the University Grant Commission formulated draft guidelines, namely, “the Guidelines for Elimination of Sexual Harassment and Repression at Higher Educational Institutes, 2008” but ultimately could not adopt those guidelines for various reasons.
In
February, 2008, the Government of Bangladesh in the Ministry of Women and Children
Affairs adopted “S¡a£u e¡l£ Eæue e£¢a” (“National Women
Development Policy” in
short, the Policy). In the first chapter of the Policy, the Government
stated about its confirmation and commitment to abide by different
International Conventions and other International Instruments to safeguard and
uphold the rights of the women in
“e¡l£l
j¡eh¡¢dL¡l ¢e¢ÕQa Ll¡l mrÉ ¢hcÉj¡e BCe pwn¡de J fËu¡Se£u ea¥e BCe fËZue Ll¡” z
Clause 3.7 is as under:
…eNa
¢nr¡l pLm fkÑ¡u, Q¡L¢la, L¡¢lNl£ fË¢nrZ, pj-f¢la¡¢oLl rœ LjÑla
AhØq¡u ØÅ¡¡ØqÉ J ¢el¡fš¡u, p¡j¡¢SL ¢el¡fš¡ Hhw ØÅ¡¡ØqÉ f¢lQkÑ¡u e¡l£l pj¡e A¢dL¡l ¢e¢ÕQa Ll¡z
Even
after adoption of the Policy in 2008, the Government is yet to enact any law to
protect the women at their workplaces and educational institutes.
On
December 18, 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (in short, CEDAW) was opened for
signature. The treaty came into force and closed for signature on September 3,
1981 with the ratification of 20 states. Since then, states that did not sign
the treaty can now only accede to it. The instrument of ratification,
accession, or succession is deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article 11of the Convention runs as under:
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular: Clauses (a) and (f) of Article 11 are as follows:-
(a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings;
(f) The right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions, including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction.
Article 24 of CEDAW necessary for disposal of this case is as under:
“State parties undertake to adopt all necessary measures at the national level aimed at achieving the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Convention”.
The general recommendation No. 19 (11th Session, 1992) of CEDAW in this context in respect of Article 11 are:
“Violence and equality in employment:
(17) Equality in employment can be seriously impaired when women are subjected to gender specific violence, such as sexual harassment in the workplace.
(18) Sexual harassment includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour as physical contacts and advances, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography and sexual demands, whether by words or actions. Such conduct can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety problem; it is discriminatory when the woman has reasonable grounds to believe that her objection would disadvantages her in connection with her employment, including recruiting or promotion, or when it creates a hostile working environment. Effective complaints procedures and remedies, including compensation should be provided.
Specific recommendation.
(24) (f) States parties should include in their reports information about sexual harassment, and on measures to protect women from sexual harassment and other forms of violence of coercion in the workplace.”
“For the purposes of the Declaration, the term “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercions or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
The framers of the Constitution were particularly impressed by the formulation of the basic rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If we make a comparison of Part III of the Constitution with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) we shall find that most of the rights enumerated in the Declaration have found place in some form or other in Part III and some have been recognised in Part II of the Constitution. The Declaration was followed by two Covenants-Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December, 1966 making the rights contained in the UDHR binding on all states that have signed the treaty, creating human rights law. Article 7 of UDHR states that all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law and that all are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Our courts
will not enforce those Covenants as treaties and conventions, even if ratified
by the State, are not part of the corpus juris of the State unless those
are incorporated in the municipal legislation. However, the court can look into
these conventions and covenants as an aid to interpretation of the provisions
of Part III, particularly to determine the rights implicit in the rights like
the right to life and the right to liberty, but not enumerated in the
Constitution. In the case of H.M. Ershad
v.
Article 25 occurring in Part II (Fundamental Principles of State Policy) of the Constitution states, amongst others, that the State shall base its international relations on the principles of respect for international law and the principles enunciated in the United Nations Charter.
As stated earlier equality in employment can be seriously impaired when women are subjected to gender specific violence, such as sexual harassment at the workplace and educational institutions.
Sexual abuse is a global problem as evidenced by the discussions made below:
In Micari V.
Mann, 481 N.Y S.2d967 (Sup, Ct. 1984) a reported case on sexual harassment in
U.S.A, states that sexual harassment is an abuse of trust at education
institutes being in loco parentis.
Reliance may be made on the case of Janzen and Govereau Vs. Platy Enterprise
Ltd. (Supreme Court of Canada) reported in the International Women’s Rights Cases at page-451.
In the above case, Dainna Janzeen made a
complaint to the Human Rights Commission of Manitoba against Platy Enterprise
Ltd, its owners agents and servants, Pharos Restaurant. She was employed as a
waitress at the Pharos Restaurant, located at 9 St. Mary’s Road, from August to
October, 1982. During her period of employment at the restaurant, she was
continuously sexually harassed by Tommy, the cook. On many occasions Tommy
grabbed her legs and touched her knee, bum and crotch area. When she resisted
his sexual advances, he told her to shut up or he would fire her. He began to
yell at her in front of staff and criticize her work. Five days later on 29
January 1983, Tracy Govereau made a complaint of a similar nature against same
parties alleging sexual harassment by “Tommy, the cook”.
The case went upto the Supreme Court
of Canada. Chief Justice Dickson who delivered the judgment of the Court held
that sexual harassment in the workplace might broadly be defined as unwelcome
conduct of a sexual nature that detrimentally affects the work environment or
leads to adverse job-related consequences for the victims of the harassment.
When sexual harassment occurred in the workplace, it was an abuse of both
economic and sexual power. By requiring an employee to contend with unwelcome
sexual actions or explicit sexual demands, sexual harassment in the workplace
attacked the dignity and self-respect of the victim both as an employee and as
a human being.
“Law
Relating to Sexual Harassment AT Work” 1st Edition-2007 by Mr. Alok
Bhasin included a foreword by Mr. Justice J.S. Verma, Former Chief Justice
of
Mr. Alok Bhasin referred to a definition
of sexual harassment at page Nos. 9 and 10, which was mentioned in the decision
in the Canadian case of Canadian Pacific
Ltd. and B.M.W.E. (Parker) as under:
“While physical touching and the
making of sexual demands may be the crudest form of sexual harassment, giving
rise to the earliest complaints and court or tribunal decisions, experience has
shown that the concept of sexual harassment can be much broader. Innuendo by
words or gestures, unwelcome staring, sexually-abusive jokes or other language,
the unwelcome displaying of pornography and the writing of graffiti on workplace
walls which singles out or demeans individual employees are all now generally
recognised as forms of sexual harassment, even though they may not involve an
abuse of power or the making of sexual demands by the member of one sex upon a
member of the other sex”.
The above quotation was extracted by
Malone, J. in David Dotchin v.
That book at page 12 also adverted to
a Canadian case, David Dotchin
V. Saskatchewan (Workers’ Compensation Board), Queen’s Bench, Judicial Centre
of Regina, Canada, 2002 SKQB 279 in which Malone, J. held that the
plaintiff’s conduct, which involved “leering, looking at the bodies of female
employees in an inappropriate manner and making sexually suggestive comments”
amounted to ‘sexual harassment’.
In
its landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India in the case of Vishaka and Others Vs. State of
“Accordingly,
we direct that the above guidelines and norms would be strictly observed in all
work places for the preservation and enforcement of the right to gender
equality of the working women. These directions would be binding and
enforceable in law until suitable legislation is enacted to occupy the field.
These Writ Petitions are disposed of, accordingly”.
In
the above case the learned Solicitor General for the Union of India helped the
Court in formulation of the guidelines.
In
the backdrop of the pronouncement of the above judgment, the National Commission
For Women which is a statutory and autonomous body constituted in 1990 by the
Government of India formulated the Code of Conduct for workplaces putting down
the Supreme Court Guidelines in 1998. The Commission circulated the Code widely
amongst all the Central Ministries and Government Departments. The Commission
also circulated it to all State Commissioners for women, NGOs and apex bodies
of the Corporate Sector and to the Media. (Annexure-H to the Writ Petition)
While
analyzing the definition of sexual harassment in the case of Vishaka and Others Vs. State of Rajasthan and Others, the
Supreme Court of India in the case of Apparel
Export Promotion Council Vs. A.K. Chopra, AIR 1999 SC 625 has held that
sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination projected through unwelcome
sexual advances, request for sexual favours and other verbal or physical
conduct with sexual overtones, whether directly or by implication, particularly
when submission to or rejection of such a conduct by the female employee was
capable of being used for effecting the employment of the female employee and
unreasonably interfering with her work performance and had the effect of
creating an intimidating or hostile working environment for her.
In
the light of the judgments pronounced by the Supreme Court of India in the cases
of Vishaka and Others Vs. State of
Rajasthan and Others and Apparel
Export Promotion Council Vs. A.K. Chopra, Jawharlal Nehru University
adopted “Rules and Procedures of the Gender Sensitization Committee against
Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) (Annexure-M to the supplementary affidavit dated
19.4.2009).
In
the case of Hira Nath Misra Vs.
Directives
in the form of Guidelines:
In the backdrop of our discussion and
observations made above, and in view of the inadequacy of safeguards against
sexual abuse and harassment of women at work places and educational
institutions whereby noble pledges of our Constitution made in so many articles
to build up a society free from gender discrimination and characterized by
gender equality are being undermined everyday in every sphere of life, we are
inclined to issue certain directives in the form of guidelines as detailed
below to be followed and observed at all work places and educational
institutions till adequate and effective legislation is made in this field.
These directives are aimed at filling up the legislative vacuum in the nature
of law declared by the High Court Division under the mandate and within the
meaning of article 111 of the Constitution.
1. Extent. These guidelines shall
apply to all work places and educational institutions in both public and
private sectors within the
2. Aims and objectives.
The
aims and objectives of these guidelines include-
(a) to create awareness about sexual
harassments;
(b) to create awareness about the consequences of
sexual offences;
(c) to create awareness that sexual
harassment is punishable offence.
3. Duties of employers and
authorities.
Since it is the duty of all citizens
and public servants to observe the Constitution and the laws, and since the
Constitution of the Republic in several articles ensures gender equality and
the State’s firm and consistent stand against all sorts of discrimination on
the ground of sex, and since the Constitution ensures equal rights of women
with men in all spheres of the State and public life and contemplates equality
before law and right to equal protection of law, it shall be the duty of the
employers and other responsible persons in work places, and the authorities
of all educational institutions to maintain
an effective mechanism to prevent or deter the commission of offences of sexual
abuse and harassment, and to provide effective measures for prosecution of the
offences of sexual harassment resorting to all available legal and possible
institutional steps.
4. Definition.
i) Sexual Harassment includes-
a. Unwelcome sexually determined
behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as physical contact and
advances;
b. Attempts or efforts to establish physical
relation having sexual implication by abuse of administrative, authoritative or
professional powers;
c. Sexually coloured verbal
representation;
d. Demand or request for sexual
favours;
e. Showing pornography;
f. Sexually coloured remark or
gesture;
g. Indecent gesture, teasing through
abusive language, stalking, joking having sexual implication.
h. Insult through letters, telephone
calls, cell phone calls, SMS, pottering, notice, cartoon, writing on bench, chair,
table, notice boards, walls of office, factory, classroom, washroom having
sexual implication.
i. Taking still or video photographs
for the purpose of blackmailing and character assassination;
j. Preventing participation in
sports, cultural, organizational and academic activities on the ground of sex
and/or for the purpose of sexual harassment;
k. Making love proposal and exerting
pressure or posing threats in case of refusal to love proposal;
l. Attempt to establish sexual
relation by intimidation, deception or false assurance.
Such conduct mentioned in clauses (a)
to (l) can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety problem at
workplaces or educational institutions; it is discriminatory when the woman has
reasonable grounds to believe that her objection would disadvantage her in
connection with her education or employment in various ways or when it creates
a hostile environment at workplaces or educational institutions.
ii) Concerned Authority means an authority of any educational institution
or work place in both public and private sectors, which is authorised under the
relevant disciplinary rules to take action in case of misconduct.
iii) Disciplinary Rules mean rules prescribed by any Act or Ordinance or
any other sub-ordinate legislations and include any rules framed for
maintenance of discipline in any public or private institutions, organisations
and work places.
5. Creating awareness and public
opinion.
a. In order to deter and eliminate
sexual harassment and torture, and to create a safe environment for work and
education, the employers/ management of all workplaces and authorities of all
educational institutions will attach prime importance to the publicity and
publication against sexual harassment and gender discrimination. There must be sufficient
orientation before the formal classes start for a new session in educational institutions,
and monthly, half yearly orientation in all workplaces and institutions;
b. There must be arrangement for
proper counselling for the concerned persons, if necessary;
c. Awareness of the rights of female
students and employees guaranteed and conferred by the Constitution and the
statutes should be created by notifying in simple words the relevant provisions
of the Constitution and the statutes;
d. The educational institutions and
the employers will maintain regular communication and effective consultation
with the administrative authorities to create awareness among the personnel in
law enforcing agencies in this regard;
e. To prepare and publish booklets
containing these guidelines and provisions of the Constitution and statutes
regarding gender equality and sexual offences;
f. To create awareness regarding
fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution;
6. Preventive steps.
All employers and persons in charge
of work places and authorities of all educational institutions shall take
effective measures for prevention of sexual harassment. To discharge these
obligations, they shall take, amongst others, the following steps:
a. Prohibition of sexual harassment
and sexual torture as defined in clause 4 above should be notified, published
and circulated widely and in an effective manner;
b. Constitutional and statutory
provisions against gender discriminations and sexual harassment and punishment
for the offences of sexual harassment and torture should be widely circulated;
c. To ensure that there is no hostile
environment towards women at workplaces and educational institutions, and to
engender confidence and trust in women workers and students that they are not placed
in a disadvantaged position in comparison to their male colleagues and fellow
students.
7. Disciplinary Action:
Appropriate disciplinary action must
be initiated in case of any falling within the definition of sexual harassment
and torture in clause 4 of these guidelines.
8. Complaints:
Where such acts do not constitute
misconduct under the disciplinary rules, an appropriate and effective mechanism
must be evolved at the workplaces, and educational institutions, in both public
and private sectors for record and redress of the complaint made by the victim.
The following measures must be included in the complaint mechanism.
(a) It must be ensured that the
identity of the complainant and also that of the accused
will not be disclosed until the allegation is proved;
(b) Security of complainant will be
ensured by the Concerned Authority;
(c) Complaint can be lodged by the
victim or through her relatives, friends or lawyers, and it can be sent by mail
also;
(d) A complainant can file the
complaint with a female member of the Complaint Committee separately;
(e) The complaint will be lodged with
the Complaint Committee to be constituted as provided in clause 9 below.
9. Complaint Committee.
(a) In all work places and
educational institutions in both public and private sectors, the Concerned Authority
will constitute a Complaint Committee in order to receive complaints, and to
conduct investigation and make recommendations.
(b) The Complaint Committee will have
minimum five members and majority of the members will be women. The head of the
Complaint Committee should be a woman, if available.
(c) The Complaint Committee should
have at least two members from outside the organization concerned, preferably
from organizations working on gender issues and sexual abuse.
(d) The Complaint Committees will
submit annual reports to the Government on the compliance of these guidelines.
10. Procedure of the Complaint Committee.
Normally the complaint has to be lodged with the Complaint Committee within 30
working days of the occurrence. To verify the complaint the Complaint Committee
will:
i). In case of minor harassment, if
it is possible, the Complaint Committee shall dispose of the complaint with the
consent of the parties involved and shall report to the Concerned Authority of
the educational institution or work place in public or private sector, as the
case may be.
ii) In all other cases the Complaint Committee
shall investigate the matter.
iii) The Complaint Committee will have the power to send registered
notice by mail to the parties and the witnesses, conduct hearing, gather
evidence, and examine all relevant papers. In this type of complaint, apart
from oral evidence emphasis should be placed on circumstantial evidence. To
conduct the work of the Complaint Committee effectively the related office of
the educational institutions and workplaces in both public and private sectors will
be bound to extend any cooperation which is requested from them. The Complaint Committee
will keep the identities of the complainant/s confidential. While recording the
testimony of the complainant/s any question or behaviour which is intentionally
base, insulting or harassing should be avoided. The testimony must be recorded
in camera. If the complainant wants to withdraw the complaint or stop the
investigation then the reason behind this has to be investigated and mentioned
in the report.
The Complaint Committee shall submit
the investigation report with recommendation within 30 working days to the Concerned
Authority of the educational institution or work place, as the case may be. The
period of 30 days may be extended up to 60 days where it is found necessary.
If it is proved that a false
complaint has been filed intentionally then a report will be submitted to the Concerned
Authority recommending appropriate action for the complainant/s. The Complaint
Committee will take decisions on the basis of the view expressed by the
majority of its members.
11. Punishment:
The Concerned Authority may suspend
temporarily the accused person (other than students) and in case of students, may
prevent them from attending their classes on the receipt of the recommendation
of the Complaint Committee. If the accused is found guilty of sexual harassment,
the Concerned Authority shall treat it as misconduct and take proper action
according to the disciplinary rules of all work places and the educational institutions
in both public and private sectors within 30 (thirty) days and/or shall refer
the matter to the appropriate Court or tribunal if the act complained of constitutes
an offence under any penal law.
We direct that the above guidelines will
be strictly followed and observed in all educational institutions and work
places in both public and private sectors until adequate and appropriate legislation
is made in this field.
In this judgment the expression,
“woman” has been used to include a female of any age as defined in the
Nari-O-Shisu Nirjaton Daman Ain, 2000.
In the result, the Rule and the supplementary
Rule are made absolute with the directives in the form of guidelines described hereinbefore.
We would like to record our note of
appreciation to Mr. Mahmudul Islam who assisted the Court as amicus curiae by rendering valuable
assistance in the performance of the difficult task in public interest.
There is no order as to costs.
Quamrul
Islam Siddiqui, J
I agree.