New Delhi: If you thought literacy freed people of pervert mindset, these figures reveal a sordid tale about safety of women at workplaces.
Kerala and Himachal Pradesh have ranked among the most unsafe places for working women, reveals findings from official data.
According to official data, the two states have recorded high levels of workplace abuse & harassment for women workers.
In 2022, Himachal Pradesh recorded highest 97 harassment cases while 83 cases in Kerala, 46 in Maharashtra and 43 cases in Karnataka were logged.
Madhya Pradesh was among the lowest in terms of harassment at workplaces. Rajasthan, having earned infamy for crime against women, recorded 12 cases of harassment against women employees.
Uttar Pradesh recorded high number of 4,533 cases of harassment including eve-teasing but the cases at workplaces were recorded at just 6.
The astounding numbers are not just restricted to past year. In 2021 also, Himachal topped the chart of harassment at workplaces. It alone recorded over 100 cases while Kerala also followed it closely at 45 cases. Big states like Maharashtra & Uttar Pradesh too saw high numbers but much less compared to the two. 59 cases of workplace harassment were registered in Maharashtra while 17 cases were logged in Uttar Pradesh.
Interestingly, there are 14 states which haven’t recorded even a single case of workplace harassment for women in year 2022. These states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh & more.
Some other states registered workplace harassment cases for women in single digits. They included Haryana (19), Chhattisgarh (3), Punjab (4), Gujarat (5).
Though, India is yet to attain a healthy mix of male & female working professionals, the incidents of abuse & crime against women at workplaces will dent the changing dynamics at the workplace.