Priya has been working in Pearl Hilltop hotel as a waitress. The floor manager, Mr Clive walks up to her and says “Please clear table number 5, Love”. This is not the first time she has been addressed this way and expresses her dissatisfaction to her friend Robert.
Robert explains to Priya how usage of terms of endearment at the workplace is unacceptable and encourages Priya to call this out immediately.
Robert further reads out an excerpt from the book “Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: Soldiering with Dignity” and explains how Sam Manekshaw calling people as “Sweetheart” would cause a lot of confusion and embarrassment. A lot of times people would misunderstand that he was being flirtatious but on the other hand it was just his way of addressing others.
Robert explains how this kind of behaviour would make one uncomfortable, affect their job productivity and make them feel unsafe at the workplace.
He also makes a reference to the latest judgement of the Calcutta High Court in the case of Janak Ram vs. State of Calcutta. A male police officer questioned the female police officer by asking “Kya darling challan karne aai hay kya?” This incident was not taken well by the complainant and led to the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 354A(1)(iv) pertaining to making sexually coloured remarks and Section 509 pertaining to words, gestures or acts intended to outrage the modesty of a woman.
It raised significant legal questions about the nature of the term “darling” and whether it would amount to be sexual harassment. The court upheld the decision of the trial court and affirmed that the word “darling” is offensive and would amount to be a sexually coloured remark.
After listening to Robert, Priya musters up courage to speak up but she is fearful of being called petty, she’s also not too sure of what her options for next steps are.
Here are a few steps that Priya can take to raise this issue at her workplace:
- Confront Mr Clive and let him know that she is not okay being addressed this way
- Immediately inform her HR Manager
- File a sexual harassment case before the Internal Committee of Pearl Hilltop Hotel
Have you ever been addressed as “sweetheart” or “honey” or “darling” or “love” in a professional setup or been a part of conversations where unparliamentary words were used and if you were not okay with it, how did you deal with the situation?
Just like Priya, you too have rights and protection under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 and the Indian Penal Code, 1860 to protect you from the perils of sweet talk!