Sexual Harassment of Women – Lessons from Nagaland

I have travelled through the lengths and breadths of India and interacted with people from different walks of life. Most of the times, their enquiries about Nagaland exhibits the presence of a wide communication barrier between the North Eastern states and the rest of India. For many individuals, the word Nagaland immediately brings the image of an underdeveloped state in their mind. They could not be completely blamed for their ignorance because even in the national media the negative aspects of North East are projected more than the positives. There is no denial that our state is economically underdeveloped and the people suffer in many ways due the topography, negligence and impacts of armed struggles. But there are many cultural aspects and traditions that the mainland Indians need to learn from the people of Nagaland. In this article, I would like to highlight few of the plights of women in India and tell the nation how developed are the people of Nagaland in protecting their womenfolk.

The number of women suffering from Sexual Harassment at work places in India is much more than that of the sexual assault cases reported in the media. Many women encounter horrifying experiences at work places and the mental agony of such women could not be easily described in words.  There is no job security in most of the private establishments and women who complain of Sexual Harassment against their superiors would most probably be shown the doors in the appropriate time.  So, in most of the cases, where women are the bread winners of families, the victims bear the suffocation of the torture silently.

Even in the public sector, a woman fighting against her superiors would find it challenging. You may remember the case of Smt. Rupan Deol Bajaj, a senior lady IAS officer of Punjab, who fought a long battle of sexual harassment against a former D.G.P of the state. The accused officer had outraged her modesty publically in a gathering and it took 8 years for her and her bureaucrat husband to get a judgment from a court that the D.G.P’s act was a criminal offence. But we must remember that the senior IAS officers could get justice only after knocking the doors of the Supreme Court of India. 

Nothing more is required to highlight the plight of working women in India than the present case of sexual harassment of a former law intern by a Senior Judge of the Supreme Court who was a fatherly figure to her. We bow down our heads in shame as the offence was committed by a Judge of the highest court of India which is the last resort for all the citizens of our country. To whom else could a person complain if the Lords of the Supreme Court themselves commit criminal offences?

From the proceedings of the case you could realize why the victim preferred to air her complaint after the retirement of the Judge. Just imagine, what would have happened to her had she raised the issue before his retirement?

Another important cruelty shown by the Indian society to women is the practice of blaming the victims for the offence committed against them. In many rape cases, women have been blamed for the provoking way of dressing. Even, a woman Chief Minister of an Indian state had expressed such a view publically. I do not support this view mainly for two reasons. First, thousands of children have been sexually assaulted in our country. Do you think those innocent children were wearing provoking dresses? Secondly, how a women dress is her personal right and we must remember that we are living in the 21^st century and not in the ancient times. Rather men should learn to admire and appreciate beauty without tempting to encroach into others domains.

Let me come to the scenario of women in Nagaland. Cases of Sexual Assault against women are very few in the Naga Society and the Naga girls have the liberty to wear the so called ‘provocative dress’ casually without any fear. Rape cases were rare till the late nineties and even today occurrence of such incidents are very few compared to that in other parts of our country. The influx of immigrants, drug abuse and uncontrolled accesses to the internet might be the major reasons for the intrusion of the sexual assault virus in the present Naga society. But we could proudly say that the practice of conquering women by force against their wishes is very rare in the Naga Society.

In regards to harassment of women at work place, I am confident that Nagaland would top the list states with ZERO occurrence of the crime. I have been working in Nagaland for the past two decades and have observed that men and women always maintain cordial and friendly relationship in work places. One could rarely come across reports of inappropriate advances by male colleagues in work places. It is really unfortunate that many good traditions and practices prevailing in Nagaland are not projected well in the national media and Nagaland doesn’t get its due recognition.  Let us hope and pray that under the leadership of our dynamic woman Chief Secretary, Nagaland would emerge as a leader in many more aspects.