Sexual harassment at workplaces up by 54 per cent between 2014 & 2017: Govt report

New Delhi, Dec 18: Registered instances of sexual harassment at workplaces in India have increased from 371 in 2014 to 570 in 2017 - a percentage point of 54, according to official documents. In the last four years ending July 27, 2018, over 2,500 cases of sexual harassment were registered which means nearly two cases every day, as per data presented in the Lok Sabha on July 27 this year and December 15 last year (see below). Till July 27 this year, the cases of reported sexual harassment have been 533 and it could surpass the figure received for the previous year.

At a time when India has joined the global chorus of #MeToo movement after it surfaced in the West, these trending figures are not encouraging. It also reflects an aspect of crime against women, a domain which has in its history, a dreaded date of December 16. It was in the night of this day in 2012 that a young woman was brutally gangraped on a moving bus in New Delhi, resulting in her death later.

Recently, mode-actress Tanushree Dutta came out to accuse veteran actor Nana Patekar and some others of harassing her on the sets of film Horn Ok Please in 2008. Her allegations left the entire industry rattled and more people came out with similar allegations subsequently. Things turned worse within a few days after as many as 10 women journalists came out accusing former minister of state for external affairs and a noted journalist MJ Akbar of serious sexual harassment at the workplace. Akbar had to step down and now, his membership of the Editor's Guild has also been suspended.

State-wise, Uttar Pradesh has seen the most number of reports on such cases over 2014-18 (726 or 29 per cent) and it is followed by Delhi (369), Haryana (171), Madhya Pradesh (154) and Maharashtra (147), as per the Lok Sabha data.

Lok Sabha data as on July 27, 2018:

Lok Sabha data as on Dec 15, 2017: