It could be a lewd remark, a suggestive gesture...
It could be the office boy, the security guard, your boss or a colleague you didn't work directly with.
What did you do about it?
On March 12, a former employee of The Viral Fever, a digital entertainment company, posted an account of how her employer and the company CEO, Arunabh Kumar, allegedly harassed her.
'Right from Pitchers to Tripling (the company's production houses launched in 2015 and 2016 respectively),' the woman, writing under the name 'The Indian Fowler', alleged, 'I was molested. Be it in parties where Arunabh would try to lift me or would try and fall on me pretending he is drunk.'
Soon after the post went viral, the TVF team released a statement below the same post stating: 'The article is completely ludicrous and defamatory against TVF and its team. All the allegations made against TVF and its team in the article are categorically false, baseless and unverified.'
The ex-staffer's allegation was followed by a post by Aayushi Agarwal, another former TVF staffer.
A DNA report stated that nine women shared similar instances of alleged harassment by the TVF boss.
In his defense, Arunabh Kumar told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper: 'I am a heterosexual, single man and when I find a woman sexy, I tell her she's sexy. I compliment women. Is that wrong? Having said that, I am very particular about my behaviour -- I will approach a woman, but never force myself.'
This is not the first time one has read about instances of sexual harassment at work.
From stalking colleagues, to violence and murder, newspapers frequently report cases of sexual harassment at the workplace.
Have you been sexually harassed at work?
It may have started off as a lewd remark, a suggestive gesture... slowly escalating from there into a nightmare that refuses to go away.
It could be the office boy, the security guard, your boss or a colleague you didn't work directly with.
What did you do about it? Who did you report the incident to?
How did the organisation respond to the incident?
What was the outcome? What did you learn from the experience?
Tell us all about it. Your views, experience and advice may help other readers trapped in similar situations.
E-mail your advice and suggestions to getahead@rediff.co.in (Subject: Harassed At Work) along with your name, age and location, if possible.
We will publish relevant responses on Rediff.com.
Kindly note that your request for privacy will be respected. Submissions will be subject to careful vetting before publication. We reserve the right to edit/amend submissions.
Main image published only for representational purposes.
