Shylaja Praveen, who was team leader at the retail and corporate section of ING Vysya Financial Services, was allegedly driven to this desperate act because of sexual harassment at the workplace.

Despite repeated complaints to the authorities at work and to the State Women’s Commission, there were no concrete steps taken to alleviate her torment. Shylaja’s case highlights the grave proportions that sexual harassment at the workplace can assume-and its disastrous consequences.

As of now, there is no law to protect women from sexual harassment at the workplace. Organisations are supposed to adhere to the Vishakha Guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 1997 but few actually do. The most glaring evidence of this neglect is that few companies have sexual harassment policies or committees in place, despite this being stipulated by the guidelines.

Now, the Protection Of Women Against Sexual Harassment At Workplace Bill, 2007, is scheduled for the monsoon session of the Parliament. But there are multiple problems with the Bill as various women’s rights organisations have pointed out.

Most significant is the section which states that if the Enquiry Committee concludes that the allegation is false, it may recommend action against the woman or the person who has made the complaint. What this effectively means is that if the woman cannot prove her case, she can be penalised.

It is common knowledge that proving sexual harassment is extremely difficult. Perpetrators are usually clever enough to misbehave when alone with the victim or in front of cohorts.

In June 2004, the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the Press Institute of India jointly released a report that found that a majority of women experienced gender discrimination at their workplaces. But a vast majority of cases are unreported to authorities. The woman is usually scared of being disbelieved, ostracised or accused of “inviting” attention in some manner.

Many women choose the path of least resistance and quit their jobs. To make matters worse, the Bill does not contain any provisions for the protection of the aggrieved woman or the witnesses. The company is not under any obligation to protect the woman or witnesses from being victimised during or after the proceedings.

Workplace sexual offenders are often important within the power structure of a company or valuable to the business. It is often in the company's interest to retain them and lose the woman, who is usually a subordinate. Given these considerations, the woman should have adequate legal protection so that she can continue in her job without being humiliated, threatened or persecuted in any manner.

The Bill also says nothing about the manner in which the enquiry should be conducted or evidence recorded.

Without adequate guidelines on these matters, inappropriate or insensitive questions may be asked during the proceedings.  Surprisingly, the Bill has also omitted many of the preventive measures recommended by the Vishakha Guidelines.

To be truly effective in checking the scourge of sexual harassment at the workplace, the Bill needs to be much more comprehensive.