RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: SURVEY

The first stage of data collection involves creating a Questionnaire for understanding the
current scenario of Sexual Harassment at workplaces. The questionnaire was created in order
to understand the frequency of occurrence of harassment of women at workplace, awareness
levels on sexual harassment, and their experiences at the workplace as a victim of
harassment.

The survey had 91 respondents from different sectors and fields and were contacted
personally and made to fill the survey online. The respondents filled the survey from their
personal email addresses and their experiences and details have been kept anonymous so that
there is no objection from their top management or human resource departments. This was
done in order to avoid them from taking permission from higher authorities, getting more
accurate and personal responses and to gather more information in lesser time.

This was the questionnaire mailed to them:

5.1. QUESTIONNAIRE
Survey on Sexual Harassment at Workplace
This survey has been designed as a method of data collection for my college Study Oriented
Project on "Sexual Harassment at Work Place". This survey is purely for the purpose of this
project. It is completely anonymous and does not ask for any details about your name, place
of work and about your co-workers. Please answer according to the experiences you have had
the place(s) you have worked at. Answer freely, the specifics of your answers will not be
disclosed to anyone at any point in time.
* Required
Have you been sexually harassed at your work place? *

Yes

No

Can't Say

1. Which of the following instances according to you constitute sexual harassment? *You can select more than
one option

a. Receiving career threats such as indications that you will be fired or withheld promotion if you did
not comply with requests for a date of for sexual favours

b. Being repeatedly shown obscene sexual gestures, such as hand, tongue or body gestures that
made you feel uncomfortable or were offensive to you

c. Having someone repeatedly stand very close to you or corner you in a way which made you feel
uncomfortable

e. Feeling like someone was frequently staring at parts of your body, making you feel uncomfortable

f. None of the above

2. Are you aware of any company policies in your workplace on sexual harassment? *
 Yes I am aware

No I am not aware

3. Do you know who you need to approach or make a report to regarding sexual harassment in your
workplace? *

4. What does sector does your organization belong to? *

a. Manufacturing/Mining

b. Software/IT/Electronics/Online

c. Service/Hospitality

d. Education

e. Banking/Finance

f. Consultancy/Advertising and Marketing/PR

g. Medicine h. Government Service

Other:

5. Where in the hierarchy of the company were you when you were harassed?

Trainee

Admin. Staff

Worker/Labourer

Manager

Deptt Head/ Middle Manager

Top Manager

6. Do you know of others who have experienced Sexual Harassment at the workplace? *

Yes

No
6.1. If Yes, How many such people do you know?

1 or 2

Few

Several
 Too Many
6.2 Which kinds of harassment did most of them suffer from? You can check more than one

option Verbal

Visual

Physical

7. How often have you experienced sexual harassment?

Once

Twice

Several

8. Where did the incident(s) of harassment occur? *

a. In the office

b. Outside the workplace but at work related activities ( e.g. Office Party, Client Dinners, Events,
Business Trips etc.)

Other:
9. Identify which forms of sexual harassment you have encountered from the following list:Choose all the
forms that you have been subjected to

a. Sexually Assaulted

b. Forcibly Hugged

c. Forcible Kissed

d. Stand Close/Lean Over

e. Touched/groped body part

f. Brush past repeatedly

g. Obscene Sexual Gestures (Hand Gestures or Facial Expressions)

h. Exposure to private parts

i. Displaying Sexual Images

i. Displaying Sexual Images

k. Jokes via email or SMS

l. Obscene insulting sounds

m. Sexual suggestions/invitations

n. Questions about personal love/sex life

o. Intentional dirty jokes

 p. Comments on physical appearance

q. Career Threats (such as Termination or Withholding Promotion)

r. Pestered for Dates

s. Being addressed by Unwelcome/Offensive terms

Other:

10. If you have any personal experiences to share on how you were harassed, please share here:

11. What emotions did you experience after you had been harassed by your co-worker? *You can check more
than one option. Specify any other feeling in the 'Other' box.

a. Disgusted /Sick

b. Afraid

c. Angry

d. Confused

e. Humiliated/ Embarassed

f. Guilty

g. Resigned to the situation (Accepted as inevitable)

h. Wish had someone to talk to

i. Wish something could be done

j. Affected performance at job

k. Insecure/Afraid would lose job

12. What was/is your work relationship with the harasser?

a. Superior

b. Colleague

c. Subordinate

d. Client/Customer

Other:
13. Have you ever reported being harassed to your employer?

Yes

No

13.1. Were you aware if the procedure the complaint before you were harassed?

Yes

No

13.2. Where did you report?

Human Resource Department

Employee Grievance Cell

Supervisor of the harasser

Top Management

Other:

13.3 Did they respond to your complaint?

Yes

No

Can't Say

13.4. How soon was your complaint responded to?

Within Days

Within Weeks

Within Months

No Response

14.5 Was there any follow up action/meeting/warning etc.? Describe Briefly

5.2. DATA COLLECTION: RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRE

Profile of the respondents:

Organization Sector-wise:

Sector No. of Respondents Percentage

Manufacturing/Mining 15 16.5
Software/IT/Electronics/Online 25 27.5
Service/Hospitality 0 0.0
Education 15 16.5
Banking/Finance 11 12.1
Consultancy/Advertising and Marketing/PR 10 11.0
Medicine 0 0.0
Government Service 10 11.0
Other(Wind Energy Solutions) 5 5.5
Total 91 100.0

Manufacturing/Mining

Software/IT/Electronics/Online
6% 17%
11%
Education
11%

27% Banking/Finance
12%

16% Consultancy/Advertising and

Marketing/PR
Government Service

Other(Wind Energy Solutions)

Organisational Hierarchy-wise:

Position No. of Respondents Percentage

Trainee 11 12.1
Administrative 11 12.1
Labourer/Worker 0 0.0
Manager 27 29.7
HOD/Middle Management 30 33.0
Top Management 12 13.2
Total 91 100.0
Awareness towards Sexual Harassment:
Awareness of forms of harassment:

Awareness No. of Respondents Percentage

High 54 59.3
Medium 27 29.7
Low 10 11.0
No Awareness 0 0.0
No Answer 0 0.0
Total 91 100.0
Respondents who were able to identify four or five instances of sexual harassment were
assessed as having a high level of awareness. The ability to identify two or three instances
was assessed as a medium level of awareness, while one meant a low level and no Instance
identified meant that they had no awareness at all.

Awareness of presence of company policies:

Awareness No. of Respondents Percentage

Aware 29 31.8
Not Aware 62 68.2
Total 91 100.0

Awareness on who to approach in order to report Sexual Harassment:

Awareness No. of Respondents Percentage

Aware 47 51.8
Not Aware 44 48.2
Total 91 100.0

Harassment of Respondents friends/colleagues/acquaintances:

Fellow(s) Harassed No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 36 39.6
No 50 54.9
Can't Say 5 5.5
Total 91 100.0

No. of times fellows have been harassed No. of Respondents Percentage

1 to 2 4 11.1
Few 8 22.2
Several 21 58.3
Too Many 3 8.3
Total 36 100.0
Most heard of type of Harassment amongst fellows:
Type of Harassment No. of Respondents Percentage
Verbal 16 44.4
Visual 12 33.3
Physical 8 22.2
Total 36 100.0

Sexually Harassed Respondents

No. of respondents harassed out of the total 91:
Harassed No. of Respondents Percentage
Yes 70 76.9
No 20 22.0
Can't Say 1 1.1
Total 91 100.0

Frequency of Harassment:
Frequency No. of Respondents Percentage
Once 5 7.1
Twice 16 22.9
Several 40 57.1
Ongoing 9 12.9
Total 70 100.0
Number of times experienced Sexual Harassment
120

100

80

60 No. of Respondents
Percentage
40

20

0
Once Twice Several Ongoing Total

Place of Occurrence:
Place of Occurrence No. of Respondents Percentage
Inside the workplace 29 41.4
Outside the workplace at parties, work related 41 58.6
events/dinners etc.
Total 70 100.0
Forms of Sexual Harassment Experienced:

No. of Respondents for each form of Harassment

Being addressed by Unwelcome/Offensive terms 29

Pestered for Dates 20
Career Threats 5
Comments on physical appearance 21
Intentional dirty jokes 20
Questions about personal love/sex life 18
Sexual suggestions/invitations 11
Obscene insulting sounds 10
Jokes via email or SMS 8
Staring at parts of body 25
Displaying Sexual Images 6
Exposure to private parts 4
Obscene Sexual Gestures 8
Brush past repeatedly 18
Touched/groped body part 20
Stand Close/Lean Over 27
Forcible Kissed 6
Forcibly Hugged 7
Sexually Assaulted 6

The table below shows the number of people who experienced 10 or more forms of sexual
harassment out of the respondents who experienced sexual harassment.

No. of forms of Harassment No. of Respondents

10 6
11 7
12 7
13 8
14 9
15 4
16 3
17 5
18 1
19 1
Emotions felt upon being harassed:

Percentage of Respondents Feeling an Emotion

Insecure/Afraid would lose job 12.4

Affected performance at job 13.8
Wish something could be done 29
Wish had someone to talk to 15.1
Resigned to it 12.5
Guilty 8.1
Humiliated/ Embarassed 5
Confused 24.6
Angry 55.1
Afraid 26.8
Disgusted /Sick 10

Relation of the respondents with the harasser(s):

Relation with Harasser No. of Respondents Percentage

Superior 36 51.4
Colleague 22 31.4
Subordinate 2 2.9
Client /Customer 10 14.3
Total 70 100.0

Seeking Redress
Number of victims reporting to employer about being harassed:

Reported No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 17 24.3
No 53 75.7
Total 70 100.0

Number of Respondents Aware of Complaint Procedure before being harassed:

Aware No. of Respondents Percentage

Yes 16 22.9
No 54 77.1
Total 70 100.0
Department Reported to:
Department No. of Respondents
HR 7
Grievance Cell 0
Supervisor of the harasser 6
Top Management 4

Whether there was a response to the complaint:

Responded No. of Respondents
Yes 7
No 10

Response time to complaint:

Time No. of Respondents
Weeks 6
Months 1
 DATA ANALYSIS
Awareness of what comprises of sexual harassment was recorded high proving earlier
observations from studies that most women understand sexual harassment and can identify its
existence at the workplace. It was also observed that, companies dont have a definitive
sexual harassment policy and employees reflect a relatively low awareness of the existence of
the policy if there is one. Nonetheless, those respondents aware of their company policies
registered a much higher level of awareness compared to those companies which were less
interested.

A startling 76.9% of the respondents claimed to have had experienced some form of sexually
harassment. Being repeatedly addressed by terms that are unwelcome or Offensive was
most frequently experienced by 50.4% of the respondents who reported having been sexually
harassed.

The second highest reported incident was that of having someone repeatedly stand very
close to you/ lean over you/ corner you in a way which made you feel uncomfortable. 43%
respondents indicated experiencing this form of physical sexual harassment. Feeling that
someone was frequently staring at parts of your body, which made you feel uncomfortable
was ranked third highest, with 39%. 11.4% reported receiving career threats such as
termination, withholding of promotion, if they did not comply with requests for a date or any
more serious forms of sexual favours. This form of quid pro quo harassment is considered
particularly reprehensible, since it represents a breach of trust and an abuse of power by
those in a position to give or take away employment benefit. 9.2% reported being sexually
assaulted by their superior, colleague, subordinate or client - a grim reminder of how severe
sexual harassment in the workplace can get.

The responses indicate that respondents have experienced a wide range of forms of sexual
harassment. While some are perceived as more severe than others, they all create a negative
work atmosphere, otherwise known as a hostile working environment. This includes
verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which interferes with an
individuals work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, abusive, offensive or
poisoned work environment.
It is worrying that many respondents experienced multiple forms of sexual harassment, with
one respondent indicating experiencing as many as all 19 forms listed in the survey. This
indicates that when left unchecked, sexual harassment may often escalate both in frequency
and severity.

It was found that most of the victims of sexual harassment, irrespective of whether they
lodged formal complaints, encountered adverse consequences in the workplace. Such
negative impact ranged from their personal security being threatened to experiencing stress at
work, as well as emotional and psychological trauma. This also resulted in them being less
productive and effective in their work.

55.1% respondents who experienced some form of sexual harassment and answered this
question reported feeling angry about the incident. Many indicated they were afraid (26.8%)
and confused (24.6%) about the situation. A smaller percentage ( 8.1%) reported feeling
guilty about the situation. 13.8% respondents who experienced sexual harassment felt it
affected the way they did their job.

While it is clear that emotions run high in such situations, many indicated that they wish
something could be done about it (29%) or that they had someone to talk to (15.1%).
However, 12.4% respondents were concerned that they would lose their job or not be
promoted if they took action a real concern in situations where no formal mechanisms for
redress have been put in place. 12.5% respondents also felt resigned to the situation.

Many respondents also reported experiencing a combination of these emotions, showing the
intensity of emotions evoked from such an experience.

This situation reveals that a substantial proportion of sexual harassment victims felt
that they were working within an environment which was hostile and unsupportive,
giving rise to serious implications on work, productivity and organisational relations in
the company.

As predicted, majority of the people were harassed by their superiors. There was a
considerably large number harassed by co-workers at the same level of hierarchy. Few cases
had women being harassed by their subordinate usually done as a result of being intimidated
by a woman with authority. The harassment was not only limited to being carried out by
employees of the organisation but also extended to the clients and customers that the women
interacted with for business purposes. This has been found to common in
Consultancy/Marketing jobs as well as hospitality industry.

When asked to describe their personal experiences, a common phenomenon observed in them
was the use of internet and telecommunication. A lot of women are being harassed over
SMSes and emails. With the increase of online social networking, websites like Facebook
and Orkut have added a new dimension to co-worker socialisation. This has also resulted in a
new avenue for harassment where harassers also tend to take more liberties at times.
Respondents also mention accounts of being humiliated severely when their accounts were
hacked by unknown co-workers and misused to cause socially embarrassing situations. This
shows that even though technology has helped people connect, it has brought to many women
a constant fear of being harassed. Companies need to keep a check on office based social
networking as well as online security and privacy protection of employees.

It was observed that complaints made to the HR department were responded to where as the
supervisor to the harasser did not respond to them as required. Action was taken only in very
few cases due to the neglect by people at position of power.

As noted, most respondents (53 out of 70) did not complain to supervisors or the management
about their experiences of sexual harassment. As discussed in earlier sections of the report, a
number of factors were described to underlie this reluctance to complain. They are: Prevailing
Attitude, Power Dynamics and Fear of Job-related Discrimination, Lack of Awareness and
Confidence in Complaint Mechanism.

Many are not aware of the prevalence of a redressing system in their organisation and many
dont feel the need for it. Some also believe that it is of no use and wont solve their problems
and hence never approach it. This discourages employees to report about harassment.

The response time to complaints was poor reflecting that there is a lack of a standardised or
even average time frame in carrying out the complaint procedure.
Response to the query in the survey regarding action taken with regard to their complaints
was given by only a few respondents. All of them revealed different types of actions. In one
case, the situation was investigated into by enquiring around the department that the victim
worked in and observing the behaviour of the harasser. It was concluded that some forms of
harassment had prevailed upon which he was given a strict warning and informed that in case
of another such incidence his employment would be put on probation. In the case of internet
based harassment, the hacker was tracked by the network administration and a meeting
between the harassed and harasser intervene by the Human Resources Department was
called. The accused was given a warning and all his access to the internet and office network
was revoked for 2 months. This shows that even though, the number of harassed women who
actually got a response to their report were very few, there are companies out there with well
structured redressal system. Other organisations should use their models in order to develop
their own policies and systems.

Findings confirm the persistence of sexual harassment in the workplace, the reluctance of
women to invoke the complaints mechanism and the ineffectiveness of existing complaints
mechanisms in punishing the harasser. Findings also suggest that attitudes to sexual
harassment in the workplace mirror societys norms about sexuality and masculinity more
generally that it is normal and harmless.

Women in our study reported the experience of a range of behaviours while leading forms
of harassment were verbal or psychological, disturbing numbers of women reported such
harassment as unwanted touch, and sexual gestures and exhibitionism. Experiences of sexual
harassment reflected, by and large, power imbalances that make younger women and those in
subordinate positions particularly vulnerable. Incidents of sexual harassment were most often
perpetrated by people in authority, and even clients and customers, who were perceived to
have the power to influence womens job security in the organisation.

In short, while the Supreme Court guidelines have opened up the discourse on sexual
harassment at the workplace, it is clear that much remains to be done to address gender
stereotyping and harassment in the working environment and to ensure that women have
recourse to effective resolution of complaints. It is important E.g., that awareness of the
inappropriateness of sexual harassment and the rights of women workers is created and
worked into the conduct rules for employees at all levels, irrespective of their positions. More
specifically, there is a need to raise awareness of the Supreme Court guidelines and to build
confidence among women workers that complaints made will be treated impartially and
confidentially.

The survey results have shown similar results as other surveys conducted in a few Asian
countries on a similar demographic. Most of the published surveys conducted on women in
India focus on the labour class of women, women in health care sector lower in the hierarchy
or girls in academic institutions. This study on the other hand has respondents working in a
corporate setting and has thus helped get more perspective on their current scenario.