EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE ACT, 2013 IN ENSURING SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENTS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

AUTHOR – J TEJASWINI, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW, THE TAMIL NADU DR AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – J TEJASWINI, EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE ACT, 2013 IN ENSURING SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENTS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (5) OF 2026, PG. 864-877, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

Sexual harassment at the workplace is not merely a violation of a woman’s dignity—it is a denial of her constitutional right to work in an environment free from fear, humiliation, and exploitation. For decades, Indian women navigated hostile workplaces with no legal remedy beyond the general provisions of criminal law, which proved woefully inadequate for addressing the subtle, pervasive, and institutionally embedded nature of workplace harassment. The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) filled this void by laying down binding guidelines, but it took another sixteen years before Parliament enacted comprehensive legislation—the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The Act promised a transformative shift: mandatory Internal Complaints Committees in every workplace, Local Complaints Committees for the unorganised sector, time-bound inquiry procedures, and employer accountability backed by penalties. A decade after its enactment, however, the question that demands an honest answer is whether the Act has actually delivered on its promise. Has it made Indian workplaces safer for women, or has it remained, like so much progressive legislation, a paper tiger—impressive in statute books but ineffective in lived reality? This article undertakes a comprehensive examination of the Act’s effectiveness, analysing its provisions, assessing implementation on the ground, identifying structural and practical gaps, examining judicial interpretation, and proposing reforms that could bridge the distance between legislative intention and workplace safety.

Keywords: Sexual Harassment, Workplace Safety, POSH Act 2013, Vishaka Guidelines, Internal Complaints Committee, Women’s Rights, Gender Justice, Implementation Challenges, Employer Accountability