For a woman the mind is not without fear. Wherever she goes the fear of insecurity and encountering sexual harassment is there in one of the corners of her brain. And this creates a profound impact on the economy of a country. Hence it becomes important for an economy to make its women feel safe and make men realize how it can indirectly create a negative impact for them as well.
For an Indian Economy to grow, India requires deluge of talent pool where it cannot afford to do a gender bias. When Indian households encounter or hear cases of sexual harassment from various sources or forums, it prevents women to contribute to the economy (out-of-fear and pressure from her family) and thus decreases workforce participation. This leads to sheer waste of thousands of talents. Female workforce participation rates have fallen seven percentage points to 22.5 percent between 2004-05 and 2011-12. India ranks 10th from the bottom among countries in female labor force participation rate, according to World Bank.(Source:http://www.livemint.com/Politics/zIQeewlbvuKrW6aZw5bHyI/The-gender-divide-in-the-Indian-labour-market.html). Hence these data clearly shows that absence of safe and amicable environment in workplace is one of the factors why women are missing from workplace. Globally, Women control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending and they are an important force to initiate recovery in the economy and generate new prosperity (Source: Harvard Business Review (HBR), September 2009, The Female Economy by Michael.J.Silverstein and Kate Sayre). Unfortunately, the issue of safety does not allow a woman’s family to encourage her to participate in the labor-force and contribute to the economy. Hence the labor supply in the economy shrinks that leads to low disposable income in the household. Low disposable income leads to less consumption that further affects the economy negatively. If we talk at sociological angle, it will encourage Patriarchy to govern our society.
According to India Risk Survey 2013 by FICCI it clearly mentions that effects of crime in the workplaces showed a 65% decrease in productivity. Now this decrease in the productivity decreases the zeal to perform that affects the business. For a successful economy it is very important for women to be financially independent which is possible only when she enters the labor market devoid of pressure and fear. So if India has to grow it is very important to create a congenial atmosphere in the workplace and cases related to sexual harassment needs to be dealt with strict attitude. It is the duty of every company to make its employees believe in the system they are working with as well as the ethics and conduct of their work culture. Also with the rising number of sexual harassment case, a stereotyping had been spread among male workers and they have become fearful as well as conscious of what acts of theirs might perceived as sexual harassment by its women colleagues. Recently in The Economic Times, 28 Nov 2013, Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and Head of Avtar Career Creators, a talent strategy Consulting firm said, “Some CEOs have told me their male managers are refusing certain postings where there are women-intensive roles.” Now this is again a different emerging problem which also needs heed and attention. Hence today’s Organization needs Gender sensitization which needs to be created between both men and women employees and a robust awareness needs to be created regarding sexual harassment at the workplace with effective workshops.
If these issues are not taken seriously, the pace with which Indian economy is growing now will be directly proportional to deceleration of growth numbers in the long run. Hence it becomes important for an economy to make its women feel safe and make men realize how it can indirectly create a negative impact for them as well.
This article was originally published in The Indian Economist.
For a woman the mind is not without fear. Wherever she goes the fear of insecurity and encountering sexual harassment is there in one of the corners of her brain. And this creates a profound impact on the economy of a country. Hence it becomes important for an economy to make its women feel safe and make men realize how it can indirectly create a negative impact for them as well.
For an Indian Economy to grow, India requires deluge of talent pool where it cannot afford to do a gender bias. When Indian households encounter or hear cases of sexual harassment from various sources or forums, it prevents women to contribute to the economy (out-of-fear and pressure from her family) and thus decreases workforce participation. This leads to sheer waste of thousands of talents. Female workforce participation rates have fallen seven percentage points to 22.5 percent between 2004-05 and 2011-12. India ranks 10th from the bottom among countries in female labor force participation rate, according to World Bank.(Source:http://www.livemint.com/Politics/zIQeewlbvuKrW6aZw5bHyI/The-gender-divide-in-the-Indian-labour-market.html). Hence these data clearly shows that absence of safe and amicable environment in workplace is one of the factors why women are missing from workplace. Globally, Women control about $20 trillion in annual consumer spending and they are an important force to initiate recovery in the economy and generate new prosperity (Source: Harvard Business Review (HBR), September 2009, The Female Economy by Michael.J.Silverstein and Kate Sayre). Unfortunately, the issue of safety does not allow a woman’s family to encourage her to participate in the labor-force and contribute to the economy. Hence the labor supply in the economy shrinks that leads to low disposable income in the household. Low disposable income leads to less consumption that further affects the economy negatively. If we talk at sociological angle, it will encourage Patriarchy to govern our society.
According to India Risk Survey 2013 by FICCI it clearly mentions that effects of crime in the workplaces showed a 65% decrease in productivity. Now this decrease in the productivity decreases the zeal to perform that affects the business. For a successful economy it is very important for women to be financially independent which is possible only when she enters the labor market devoid of pressure and fear. So if India has to grow it is very important to create a congenial atmosphere in the workplace and cases related to sexual harassment needs to be dealt with strict attitude. It is the duty of every company to make its employees believe in the system they are working with as well as the ethics and conduct of their work culture. Also with the rising number of sexual harassment case, a stereotyping had been spread among male workers and they have become fearful as well as conscious of what acts of theirs might perceived as sexual harassment by its women colleagues. Recently in The Economic Times, 28 Nov 2013, Saundarya Rajesh, Founder and Head of Avtar Career Creators, a talent strategy Consulting firm said, “Some CEOs have told me their male managers are refusing certain postings where there are women-intensive roles.” Now this is again a different emerging problem which also needs heed and attention. Hence today’s Organization needs Gender sensitization which needs to be created between both men and women employees and a robust awareness needs to be created regarding sexual harassment at the workplace with effective workshops.
If these issues are not taken seriously, the pace with which Indian economy is growing now will be directly proportional to deceleration of growth numbers in the long run. Hence it becomes important for an economy to make its women feel safe and make men realize how it can indirectly create a negative impact for them as well.
This article was originally published in The Indian Economist.
No comments:
Post a Comment