Eve Teasing and Judicial Activism

Eve Teasing and Judicial Activism

In Indian Subcontinent, sexual harassment put on jacket of eulogy from very beginning. The term "SEX" connotes vulgar to the oriental people, even today. The Indian people found the term "EVE TEASING" to substitute the erotic term "SEXUAL HARASSMENT". In U.S.A., the Civil Rights Act 1964 prohibited in-discrimination in employment based on sex. But the term sexual harassment was defined in 1980 in regulation issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Though Indian Penal Code does not incorporate "EVE TEASING" or "SEXUAL HARASSMENT", it tried to address the offence in various sections. But these penal sections sometimes prove to be insufficient. So there were positive efforts to address offence against women, including sexual harassment, separately and more definitely.

In this regards Supreme Court gave some directions last month, which we can term judicial activism. Here are the directions given by Supreme Court:

• There will be a direction to state governments and Union Territories to install CCTV in strategic positions which itself would be deterrent and and if offender could be caught.
• Persons in charge of educational institutions, places of worship, cinema theaters, railway stations and bus stands have to take steps they deem fit to prevent eve-teasing within their precincts and, on complaint being made, they must pass on the information to the nearest police station, or the women's help centers
• Where either passengers or persons in charge of a public service vehicle indulge in eve-teasing, the crew shall, on complaint made by the aggrieved person, take the vehicle to nearest police station and give information to the police. Failure to do so should lead to cancellation of permit to ply.
• The State governments and UTs are directed to establish Women's Helpline in various cities and towns, so as to curb eve-teasing within three months
• Suitable boards cautioning against eve-teasing should be exhibited in the precincts of educational institutions, bus stands, railway stations, cinema theaters, parties, beaches, public service vehicles, places of worship.
• Responsibility is also on passers-by who should report such incidents to the nearest police station or the women's Helpline.
• The State Government and the UTs should take effective, measures by issuing suitable instructions to authorities including the District Collectors and Superintendent of Police on effective and proper measures to curb eve-teasing.   

A very good initiative done by Tamil Nadu, which brought an ordinance, namely, the "Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Eve-Teasing Act, 1998"