But after three weeks she reported the matter to her institution, which called her back but refused to take action. It is the shame associated with harassment and the fear of being blamed which keeps the women from reporting cases,'' explained Laxmi Murthy, an activist with the women's resource center Saheli. They are laughed at and become objects of ridicule. Most women do not to raise their voice against violation of their human rights, further encouraging harassment,'' agreed Jayshree Gupta, a senior bureaucrat in the home ministry andauthor of book ''Human Rights and Working Women. He would insinuate that she was ''unprofessional'' and incapable of doing her work all in spite of the the supreme court specifying a code of conduct at the workplace.
Circulars are better than having nothing at all.
But they do not necessarily depict the seriousness with which the issue needs be handled,'' admitted Murthy. We do not have a written policy as such, but then we have had no complaints,'' said Laila Joseph at the offices of the multinational soft-drink giant Pepsi. The court ruling was initially welcomed by activists. Shortly after the decision, however, activists and women's groups became disheartened by the lack of follow-up action. Few companies were taking an initiative in setting up unbiased complaint mechanisms.