ANNUAL SEMINAR

on

VULNERABILITY OF WOMEN
AT WORKPLACE –
A SOCIO-LEGAL STUDY IN BPOs

Presented to
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

SUPERVISOR SUBMITTED BY:

Dr. Ritu Lehal Yamini Bajaj

Professor,
Department of Distance Education,
Punjabi University, Patiala

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Apr il 2010
INTRODUCTION

It is no more the time that the women will be shattered in the corner of the house and
won’t be allowed to see the light of modernity. The present days mark time of equal
rights. The time has indeed changed by leaps and bounce. More and more women are
moving out of their house every day. They are competing the men folk in almost all
fields, be it the field of education or in the field of job.
There is absolutely no field in which women haven’t shown their mastery. The working
women have proved their abilities, as doctor engineers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, pilots,
educationalists and many others. Once, there was a time, when girls or women in most
cases were taken as burden to the family, who are meant to married off and will never
have any particular contribution to the well being of the family and the household. In the
present scenario, there are bulks of working women, who are highly educated and
qualified to take up jobs in various sectors and are working, earning and contributing to
the household expenses.
Working Women in India have commenced in various fields, such as politics,
entertainment and movies, corporate world, music, sports, modeling, entrepreneurship
and business world. Companies are also interested in hiring and recruiting women at
work. Companies are taking steps to improve the working condition of women at the
workplace.
Medieval India was not women's age it is supposed to be the 'dark age' for them.
Medieval India saw many foreign conquests, which resulted in the decline in women's
status. When foreign conquerors like Muslims invaded India they brought with them their
own culture. For them women was the sole property of her father, brother or husband and
she does not have any will of her own. This type of thinking also crept into the minds of
Indian people and they also began to treat their own women like this. One more reason
for the decline in women's status and freedom was that original Indians wanted to shield
their women folk from the barbarous Muslim invaders. As polygamy was a norm for
these invaders they picked up any women they wanted and kept her in their "harems". In
order to protect them Indian women started using 'Purdah', (a veil), which covers body.
Due to this reason their freedom also became affected. They were not allowed to move
freely and this lead to the further deterioration of their status. These problems related
with women resulted in changed mindset of people. Now they began to consider a girl as
misery and a burden, which has to be shielded from the eyes of intruders and needs extra
care. Whereas a boy child will not need such extra care and instead will be helpful as an
earning hand. Thus a vicious circle started in which women was at the receiving end. All
this gave rise to some new evils such as Child Marriage, Sati, Jauhar and restriction on
girl education
Modern Indian Women: The status of women in modern India is a sort of a paradox. If on
one hand she is at the peak of ladder of success, on the other hand she is mutely suffering
the violence afflicted on her by her own family members. As compared with past women
in modern times have achieved a lot but in reality they have to still travel a long way.
Their path is full of roadblocks. The women have left the secured domain of their home
and are now in the battlefield of life, fully armored with their talent. They had proven
themselves. But in India they are yet to get their dues. The sex ratio of India shows that
the Indian society is still prejudiced against female. There are 933 females per thousand
males in India according to the census of 2001, which is much below the world average
of 990 females. There are many problems which women in India have to go through
daily. These problems have become the part and parcel of life of Indian women and some
of them have accepted them as their fate.
Indian women work more than men of India but their work is hardly recognized as they
mainly do unskilled work. Their household chores is never counted as a work, if a
woman is working in a field to help her husband it will also be not counted as a work. A
study conducted by Mies in 1986 states that in Andhra Pradesh a woman works around
15 hours a day during the agricultural season whereas a male on an average works for
around 7-8 hours. In India a large percentage of women do not have power. They cannot
take decisions independently not even related to their own life. They have to take
permission of male members for each and every issue. Though women of India are not at
par with her counterpart in Western world but she is struggling hard to make her mark in
men's world.

The statistics testifies to the brutalities afflicted on women folk

Social Indicator India World
Infant Mortality Rate, per
73 60
1000 live births
Maternal Mortality Rate, per
570 430
100,000 live births
Female Literacy, % 58 77.6
Female School Enrollment 47 62
Earned Income by females, % 26 58
Underweight Children, % 53 30
Total Fertility Rate 3.2 2.9
Women in Government, % 6 7
Contraception usage, % 44 56
Low birth weight babies, % 33 17

However, Indian women still face blatant discrimination at their workplaces. A major
problem faced by the working women is sexual harassment at the work place. Further,
women employees working in night shift are more vulnerable to such incidents. Nurses,
for example, face this problem nearly every day. There is nothing that is done in hospitals
to tackle and address the danger they face. Such blatant disregard of current Indian laws
is one reason why sexual harassment at the workplace continues to increase.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court in its order dated 13-08-1997 has passed an order laying
down the norms and guide lines to be followed by the employers for tackling the
incidents of sexual harassment of women at workplace and other institutions. The
guidelines issued by the Supreme Court included setting up of a complaints Redressal
forum in all work places and amendment of the disciplinary / conduct rules governing
employees by incorporating the norms and guide-lines.

Towards the end of the 20th century, when the western world was preparing itself for the
great Y2K database threat, it opened the doors for India as an important back-office
destination of the world. Ever since then, India’s BPO industry has never looked back,
and it continues to grow from strength to strength. According to a Nasscom-McKinsey
study conducted in 2007, the Indian BPO industry grew 7 times the annual GDP growth.
In 2009, the industry contributed nearly 2.5 percent to the GDP
At present, women workers constitute about one-third of the total Call Centre and BPO
workforce in India. However, despite such a major economic contribution of women to
the industry, several challenges faced by them still remain to be addressed. As per Nirmal
Mirza, the CEO of Sitagita.com, communication and self-expression are the key
challenges that women working in the BPO and Call Centre industry still face in India.
There is a general lack of confidence among women at junior levels to speak up against
issues such as “graveyard shifts” (night shifts) and lack of adequate safety and security
measures.
Safe transportation for women continues to remain a major challenge in the BPO and Call
Centre industry. Following several incidents of crimes against women BPO employees,
many BPO companies have tightened their safety policies. Company-sponsored pick-up
and drop vehicles have been provided for women employees. Many company rules
stipulate that women must travel only in the presence of another male employee. Internal
hotlines and SMS services have been introduced to monitor the well-being of commuting
employees. Adequate background checks on the designated cab drivers are also made by
the employers. These measures have improved the situation considerably, though it still
does not make the women employees feel 100% safe, especially when they work in night
shifts.
The socio-cultural factors also work against the women who are employed with BPO and
Call Centres in India. Even if the woman is happy and satisfied with her night duty job,
and is getting an excellent remuneration for it, but her troubles may begin once she gets
married. In many cases the women are forced to quit their jobs because of the disapproval
of the husband and his family. However, the BPO industry is making an attempt to
address this aspect as well. Zia Sheikh, the COO of Infowavz International, a Mumbai
based Call Centre says, “We try to reassure the relatives of our women employees by
organizing Family Days on a regular basis.”
The government, on its part, can make it mandatory for companies to install GPS in cabs
to have a stronger monitoring. Self-defence training to women, installing CCTVs at the
workplace to prevent sexual harassment, police verification of cab drivers, security
guards and peons working in BPOs, and efficient complaint redressal systems should be
made compulsory for all employers.
In 2008, a survey on gender inclusivity in the IT-BPO sector in India conducted by the
HR consulting firm Mercer and Nasscom revealed that apart from safety and security,
flexible working hours and leave policy play a crucial role in attracting and retaining
women in the BPO organization. Other practices that women workers appreciate are anti-
harrassment policy, healthcare and awareness programs, women’s lounge and
recreational activities.
The BPO and Call Centre industry in India has a bright future ahead. Since women are an
integral part of this industry, it is entirely in the employers’ own interest to address the
challenges and issues they face at the workplace.
Confronting Sexual Harassment in India

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Gruber (2003) proposes that perceptions and experiences of sexual harassment are also

universal. According to this assertion, the same relationships shown in US studies are

likely to exist in other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Alternatively, other

researchers point out that various behaviors that are considered normal and acceptable in

Latin America are considered sexually offensive in other countries such as the US. This

is why some researchers believe that sexual harassment extends beyond individual

nations to include cross-cultural workgroups and whole multicultural organizations.

Sexual harassment and workplace aggression, behavior performed by an individual that

harms another individual, are conceptually similar and tend to co-occur.

Padma R Ravichandar, (2004) Country Head, Mercer Consulting says, “Gender

Inclusivity is not about a set of simple initiatives that corporations need to undertake to

increase the female population within their organization or policies to ensure women

have a harassment-free and secure work environment.”

Corral, Antonia et al. (2005) in their study conducted in spain state that the sexual

harassment can be considered in three different forms, namely violence against women, a

sexist workplace environment, and the abuse of power, both in terms of gender and

hierarchical inequality up to 14.9% of working women in Spain have suffered sexual

harassment and 14% suffered very serious harassment.

Mansie Shah (2006) said, that there is a pressing need to examine the aspect of sexual
harassment at workplace from the perspective of emancipation of women as well as the
abuse of the image in which a woman is cast. Furthermore, this definition of sexual
harassment at workplaces is not restricted to women alone, as there are more and more
cases where the victims are men. However, I shall be dealing only with the women’s
perspective. India doesn’t have any legislation to deal with sexual harassment at work
places at the moment. The sexual harassment of women at work place (prevention,
prohibition and redressal) bill, 2006 is still under consideration. Various women’s groups
have been lobbying with Parliamentarians to get it passed at the earliest. However, only
time will reveal as to when it shall actually come into force. Till then, the guidelines that
the Supreme Court has laid down in the Vishaka case are to be followed. These
guidelines encompass a comprehensive definition of sexual harassment, directions for
establishment of a complaint mechanism and the duty under which employers are
obligated to obviate any such act. It also directs the legislators to formulate law on the
basis of these guidelines. Abstract guidelines by the Supreme Court without any
established mechanism to protect women in form of legislation mean that the only legal
remedy available to fight this evil is approaching the Court under Art. 32 for violations of
gender equality, right to life and liberty and right to profession which is subject to the
condition of a safe environment safeguarded as fundamental rights under the constitution
under Art. 14, 15 and 21.

Nasscom, an organisation for better security for women BPO staff that represents and
sets the policy framework for the Indian software industry, is compiling best practices for
providing security to women workers on night shift in BPO and IT companies, and to
develop it as a code of conduct for the industry.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Security Measures for Night Shift Women Workers’ organised
by the National Commission for Women (NCW), Karnataka State Legal Services
Authority, All India Federation of Women Lawyers , Sucharita Eashwar of Nasscom’s
product, gender inclusivity and mentorship initiatives, said, “This is being brought out in
the wake of cases of atrocities being committed on women workers in Delhi, Mumbai,
Pune and Bangalore in the last two to three years.”

“In order to encourage BPO and IT companies to hire and retain women, Nasscom is also
popularising gender inclusivity programme. The programme is to provide women equal
opportunities at the workplace. Presently, the industry has 30 per cent women workforce
and there is a need to grow it to the 50 per cent level,” she added.

Nasscom is planning an ‘IT women’s leadership summit’ in Bangalore on November 19

and November 20 to facilitate women leaders and managers to discuss women’s issues.
The meet is also to study recent government regulations and help companies implement
them.

Sucharita(2007), listing out some of the best practices being adopted by companies, said,
“Some companies have anti-sexual harassment and anti-discrimination among its polices
and also put in place proper reporting mechanism as well.” A few companies have begun
to encourage work-from-home, part-time and tele-working. For working mothers,
childcare, sabbaticals and flexible rejoining policies (especially after a one-year break in
service) are being included. “Companies do not want to let go of good experience. We do
not want to waste talent,”she pointed out.

P M Narendraswamy(2007), Karnataka minister for women and child welfare, said,

“High income has attracted women to IT sector which has the night shift component. To
safeguard women’s interest, we are studying different approaches adopted in Mumbai
and other cities. “At present a set of guidelines have been given to the companies and we
plan to initiate more dialogue with the industry before taking up any legislation,” he
added.

Girija Vyas(2008), chairperson, National Commission for Women, said, “Urban night
scape is primarily a male domain that often represents and spaces of exclusion for
women. But women account for about 40 per cent of 350,000 call centre employees in
the country and value of business generated by them is close to $5 billion.”
Stressing on BPO and IT companies to go in for a self code of conduct, which is
compatible to state government laws and NCW guidelines, she said “In addition to the
above, the women employees should have security consciousness on their part as well.
Many young BPO employees are guilty of not behaving professionally with drivers. They
are found to be not punctual and forcing drivers to speed, becoming over friendly with
them, requesting drivers to drop them at unscheduled spots and getting into quarrels with
them.”

Quoting statistics from a study conducted by Assocham, Vyas said, “Responses from
women employees shows that 28.9 per cent of the respondents interviewed feel insecure
in the night shift work, the rest 71.1 per cent do not feel insecure during night shift
work.” It is observed that despite the high rate of crime in metropolitan cities, insecurity
is quite low among women employees on night shift. Following are city wise responses:
Delhi 15 per cent, Mumbai 18 per cent, Chennai 24 per cent, Kolkata 22 per cent,
Hyderabad 38 per cent, Ahmedabad 29 per cent, Pune 24 per cent, Bangalore 44 per cent
and Ludhiana 45 per cent.

source : www.bpowatchindia.com
Andrew R. McIlvaine (2008) found nearly nine in10 female workers have witnessed
some form of workplace sexual harassment, according to a survey of IT and BPO
employees. And nearly three-quarters of the time, the perpetrator was the victim's
manager or supervisor. In India, Western companies confront a culture that is often
starkly different from that of their home countries.

For example, a number of business-process outsourcing firms with operations there

make a practice of sending notes home to the parents of employees in their 20s who
behave inappropriately at work, says Brandi Moore, founder and CEO of a New York-
based consulting firm that helps companies navigate the intricacies of doing business in
India.

India is also struggling to deal with the changes brought about by more than a decade of
rapid economic growth, including the fact that 30 percent of the country's approximately
2 million IT and business-process outsourcing workers are women, who in some cases
are earning more in a year than their fathers have earned their entire lives, says Moore --
this, in a country where (despite the fact that it was led for 15 years by a woman, the late
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi) most women were traditionally expected to be married and
raising families by their early 20s.

This accelerated change has led, indirectly, to some unwelcome developments: A recent
survey of 600 female employees working at IT and BPO offices in India found that
nearly nine in 10 (88 percent) have witnessed some form of workplace sexual
harassment. In what it says is a first-of-its-kind survey in India, the Centre for
Transforming India, a New Delhi-based nonprofit organization that works to promote
change in that country, also found that more than 82 percent of the incidents occurred
outside the office and nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of the time, the perpetrator was a
manager or supervisor of the victim.
Charlene Solomon(2009), executive vice president of RW3 CultureWizard, a New York-
based firm that provides cross-cultural training for 80 Fortune 1000 companies, among
others, says none of the firm's clients with sites in India have indicated that sexual
harassment is a serious issue.Even so, companies with operations in India must remain
diligent, she adds. There's little history of men and women working together as equals,
says Moore. "Work-based friendships between men and women aren't common in India,"
she says. "This is a society that is just now beginning to accept the practice of dating, and
only among certain segments of society." Moore advises companies to hold separate
training sessions for men and women on harassment policies.

The culture in India regarding sexual mores is very different from that of most Western
countries," says Solomon. "Public displays of affection between the sexes are frowned on
-- there's no kissing in public." The social taboos against public displays of sexuality also
discourage frank talk about sexual harassment, she adds. "Sexual harassment is the
elephant in the room -- it's not below the radar, but people feel it's inappropriate to talk
about it." Many employers in India are concerned that publicity about workplace sexual
harassment will provoke concern among parents about their daughters' safety, she says.
India is also a very hierarchical culture and employees -- men and women -- tend to shy
away from confronting their bosses, says Solomon. "Women in India will not come
forward easily [to report harassment] because they do not want to be seen as challenging
authority and creating disharmony in the organization," she says. One way Western
companies may try to prevent sexual harassment in India may be by "over-
communicating" their policies, she says. "It's better to err on the side of giving too much
education on the corporate policies against harassment. And for the male employees
holding positions of authority, it's important to remind them -- consistently -- that the
company will not tolerate sexual harassment by anyone," Solomon says.

"We believe that incidents of harassment are more likely to occur if a company does not
clearly articulate and uphold its code of conduct and related policies and lacks a
transparent redressal system," said Shailja Singh, Aon Hewitt's HR leader for Indian
operations, via e-mail. In addition to conducting regular refresher training and providing
its India-based employees with an independent and confidential reporting system called
Ethicspoint, Aon Hewitt also provides for female employees who must work late with
security-guard escorts to their homes and checks in with them via phone to ensure they've
arrived safely, said Singh.

http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533326943
December,8,2010

Aarti Dhar (2010) , An overwhelming number of women working in India’s flourishing

IT sector have been victims of some form of sexual harassment at their workplace,
reveals a survey. Mostly, the perpetrators are senior employees. Just as the Cabinet
approved a bill that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at workplaces, a
survey by a non-governmental organisation has claimed that nearly 88% of the female
workforce in Indian Information Technology and business process outsourcing and
knowledge process outsourcing (BPO/KPO) companies reported having suffered some
form of workplace sexual harassment during the course of their work. Close to 50%
women had been subjected to abusive language, physical contact or been sought sexual
favours from, it said. The “Workplace Sexual Harassment Survey,'' carried out by the
Centre for Transforming India, a non-profit organisation in the Information Technology
and BPO/KPO industries has brought out some startling revelations about the status of
implementation of policies to prevent such harassment. As many as 47% employees did
not know where to report, while 91% did not report for fear of being victimised. The
survey covering 600 female employees working in IT and BPO industries across all the
major IT destinations of India revealed that there exists poor awareness levels among
female employees on the issue and a majority of female employees continued with their
ordeal due to fear of professional victimisation. Another major finding was that more
than 82% of the incidents which could be classified as sexual incidents occurred outside
the boundaries of the office and in nearly 72% of the incidents the perpetrator was a
superior.
Workplace sexual harassment has been emerging as a critical challenge for female
employees working across industries, especially in the service sector. While the
manufacturing industry is largely regulated in terms of its working environment, there
exists little or no framework for reference of the service industry. Furthermore, the
service industry faces a challenge of working 24x7 which entails working at odd hours
for the female employees and also other professional and personal challenges.

The Information Technology and the Information Technology Enabled Services

(IT/ITeS) industries were one of the first to develop some sort of policy framework to
address such issues. It was observed that 60% of the respondents were not aware of the
workplace sexual harassment policies of their organisations. Around 10% were only
partially aware. This was a hurdle in getting redressal.

Of all the respondents, 77% stated that the details of sexual harassment policies were not
part of their hiring process, while only 7% stated that they could recollect some
discussion about the topic either during their hiring process or later.

Source : Hindu; 15 December 2010

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVES

1. to study the vulnerability aspect of women at work place

2. to study the social problems faced by women working in BPOs

3. to study the legal aspect in context of working women in BPOs

4. to study the relation if any between harassment & stress levels among women in

BPOs
 5. to understand the coping strategies adopted by women at workplace

6. to give remedies for solving this problem of vulnerability of women at

workplace

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

India has the largest number of women working in BPOs than any other single country in

the world. The study would be undertaken in the different Business Process Outsourcing

(BPOs) Units in the region of Delhi NCR (National Capital Region). Delhi topped the

list with 65% of women working in BPOs followed by 35 % in Hyderabad, 28 % in

Chennai and 26 % in Mumbai.

DATA COLLECTION

Data required for the current study will involve both Primary and Secondary data.

Primary data will be collected from respondents by drafting suitable Questionnaires.

Personal visits would also be made and personal one-to-one interactions and discussions

would be held with the employees and managers of the BPOs to get a firsthand

experience, acquaintance and understanding of the matter under study. Secondary data

will be collected from several sources which would include Books, National &

International Journals, Trade Magazines, Business Magazines, Newspapers, Internet and

Newsletters of the Organizations.

SAMPLING

For the purpose of the study, the method adopted will be Stratified Random Sampling

technique. A total of 300 Female Employees from 5-6 BPOs would constitute the
sample for the study. The total number of women working in the BPO sector in Delhi

NCR (National Capital Region) is about 10,000 (approx.). Appropriate statistical

techniques would be used suitably, wherever required, to analyze the data.

WORK DONE TILL DATE

My Date of Registration is 23rd april 2010. During this period various Libraries have been
visited, which includes Panjab University, Chandigarh; P.A.U.,Ludhiana; GNDU,
Amritsar and Punjabi University,Patiala. Various Studies Related to the issue have beeen
collected. The Chapter Related to Review of Literature will be completed in due course
of time. From the collected secondary data,various statements and elements will be noted
down to prepare questionnaire for collection of data.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

URLS REFFERED

http://www.mapsofindia.com/culture/indian-women.html

http://www.legalindia.in/problems-faced-by-working-women-in-india

http://wcdhry.gov.in/Womenharrassment_F.htm

http://www.paycheck.in/main/work-and-pay/women-paycheck/articles/challenges-facing-
women-working-in-call-centres-and-bpos

http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=533326943
http://www.hrmindex.com/staffing/1570-nasscom-for-better-security-for-women-bpo-
staff.html

http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/Indian-Law.asp