The digital revolution has transformed our world-ways of doing things, communicating, and social interaction. If the online world provides endless opportunities, it also introduces a new threat, primarily digital harassment. This dark underbelly of the internet consists of cyberstalking, online bullying, and other conduct that escaped the radar of the legal system. Online harassment is increasingly becoming an issue for women at the workplace.

POSH Act: A Step Forward, But Not Enough

The POSH Act was introduced to protect women from sexual harassment at the workplace. As nowadays, most work occurs online, including emails, messaging apps, and virtual meetings, organisations have to upgrade themselves to fully address issues of online harassment, even when they are working from home.

The Alarming Reality of Online Harassment in India

Statistics in India are alarming. According to the survey, of those that had encountered online harassment, 47% never reported it. When they finally did, it was usually only to media management at 40%. Even more disturbing is the impact these attacks have on mental health: 63% said that they suffered from anxiety and stress, 38% admitted to self-censorship, and 8% lost their jobs altogether as a result of the harassment.

From a Swipe to Stalking: Why Consent in Dating Doesn’t Mean Consent at Work

Let’s consider some everyday examples. Anita, a 23-year-old female, is on a dating website on which she came across Vivek. They had matching profiles, and they began conversing with each other and agreed to meet. They met for dinner, enjoyed themselves, and parted ways. They exchanged some words later, but nothing much, and after a couple of days, they lost touch. Anita, after a few days, joined a new company and found Vivek also working there. Noticing Anita, Vivek took it upon himself to introduce her to everyone; however, he added that they dated for a while and made some comments about her, which made Anita uncomfortable as people started gossiping about her. She started avoiding Vivek, but Vivek refused to understand and continued on the pretext of helping her. Anita then started getting messages from unknown numbers for dating requests and to share her pics and videos.

Here, Anita was unsure that the requests she was receiving were due to Vivek’s actions and by other office colleagues or by strangers!! Whether she should approach the Internal Committee or to the Police, which causes immense mental harassment to her leading to anxiety and stress.

How Can the POSH Act Evolve to Address Digital Harassment?

To really safeguard women in the workplace today, the Internal Committee under POSH Act must update themselves to handle digital harassment. Some of the significant changes that will make a difference are as follows:

Clear Reporting Mechanisms: Companies need to update their IT and social media policies to include explicit reference to digital harassment. The updated policies should include clear, easily available reporting mechanisms for employees to report incidents without any difficulty. Companies need to have robust data retention policies, keeping digital material, like CCTV footage, for at least 210 days (providing 180 days for complaints to be filed and 30 days for initial investigation by an inquiry committee).

Comprehensive Training: The employees should be trained to recognize and address cyber-harassment, realising that abusive behavior online is the same as physical misconduct. IC members should also be provided with complete training.

Stronger Cybercrime Laws: Cybercrime legislations should be strongly enforced including Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and DPDP Act.

The Challenges of Addressing Digital Harassment

One of the biggest challenges is to prove that digital harassment is connected to the workplace. When a coworker is behind an online attack, it is usually hard to gather enough evidence to tie it to their job. The anonymity of the internet makes it difficult to identify perpetrators, and fake accounts make hiding even easier. To top it all off, many people do not realise that POSH can apply to digital spaces, so they do not report online harassment.

This involves the legal system. First, in this situation, the legal system must join the club in adapting to new technology. The cybercrime law has to be much stricter in actually tracing and punishing perpetrators on the internet.

The digital world comes with enormous opportunities, but we can’t afford to overlook the risks. Updating our laws and company policies along with our awareness programs will help create safe and inclusive digital space for women. A holistic approach, including robust in-house policies, employee training, and legal reforms, will ensure that the digital age remains a safe place for all.

As we all enter the world of digital space, we should not forget that it also needs to be secured. A smile or a swipe right does not imply consent. Know the boundary of Consent – where it ends. If we know how to effectively use the POSH Act and place better safeguards for the protection of women, online as well as offline, women can thrive with professional success and will not feel intimidated by such harassment in a digital workplace for anyone.

Views of the author are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.

Noopur Singhal is an experienced Delhi-based advocate who has been serving since 2007 and has been instrumental in addressing workplace sexual harassment through her role as chairperson under the Sexual Harassment Act since 2016. She also leads initiatives like the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Sexual Harassment Council under WICCI and runs सshaktaम् Mindz, offering training and policy formulation services on POSH and POCSO laws to organizations. Her mission focuses on fostering gender balance and raising public awareness of rights and duties.