Vishaka Guidelines: - Analyzing It's Need And Effectiveness In The Society

Abstract

In a Democratic Country like India, every women is entitled to have a basic safety , sound environment and equality right at their workplace. As previously, their was no such Legislative measures for preventing or to deal with such offences, but after the case of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan decision in 1997[1], it lays down a number of significant guidelines which seeks to contribute towards the protection of women at their workplace. Even after nearly three decades since the pronouncement of these guidelines, the underlying problem persists on a considerable scale. A 2024 review of the law found that thirty seven percent of professionals surveyed, most of them women, reported having experienced harassment at their workplace, while a large share remained unaware of the protections available to them under the law.[2] This continuing prevalence underlines why judicial intervention in 1997, though limited to interim guidelines pending legislation, was regarded as urgently necessary. Being a social worker, Bhanwari Devi who gave efforts to stop marriage of an infant daughter of Gujjar’s family, faced an ire from the opposition, which turns into a brutal revenge from her. Due to the failure of the criminal justice system, it led to the urgent need for proper safety measures for women at work. The case turned into a constitutional moment when the Supreme Court upheld women’s right to work with dignity and laid down guidelines for employers which need to be followed at workplace.