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A
CRITICAL STUDY OF RIGHTS OF MALES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HUMAN RIGHTS IN
INDIA
*Surbhi Tyagi
Abstract:-
On
global note, humans can survive easily but due to offensive state of minds
people get exploit at various whereabouts. There are so many provisions,
regulations and guidelines in support of human life but on some part people
lack harmonious environs and vicinity which somewhere leads to stress, assault,
exploitation or harassments. As India is a male dominating country, here when
we talk about assault, exploitation or harassments, most of the brains struck
on assault, exploitation or harassments of females only. Nobody thinks of a man
getting humiliated, assaulted, exploited or harassed as they are considered to
be muscular, strong and emotionless. But on a wider note we can say that both
males and females get exploited or harassed. But unfortunately India have
legislation for females only and not for males. Due to the supremacy of males,
making law of harassment or exploitation for males is considered to be an act
of low nobility for them. According to the author Robert Chinsky Matuson – “Many people mistakenly believe that
harassment is limited to females”. Because of no law or legislation, so many
males suffer, get exploited, assaulted or harassed silently. Many times men due
to this atmosphere, dominated vibes and fake androcentrism are not able to take
stand for themselves.
Keywords:- Rights of Males,
Exploitation of males, sexual harassment of males or their abuse.
Introduction:-
In India, as males are
bodily more stronger than females, they are considered as nothing wrong can
happen with them specially in matter of exploitation, harassment or assault. On
this norm only, Indian parliament has made no law or legislation for them. But
in actual it is not like that men does not get humiliated or harassed, it’s
just that due to their wrong dominating mindsets that if I will tell anyone
about it I will lost my dignity or respect, so they choose to stay quiet. And
somewhere due to lack of men coming out and taking stand for themselves, this
is a main reason that there is no particular law for them. It has been shown
that there is no need for any law to the males for the harassment or assault
but it does not cover under possibility. Under Indian law, there is one single
section of Indian Penal Code which deals with harassment or exploitation of men
i.e section 377[1].
This section alone deals with the offence of sodomy. As we talk about equality
between men and women both are sensitive and due to the dominant environment
they both faces many problems, exploitations, humiliation or assault. That’s
why law shall be made for both of them.
India’s
Culture To Be Noxious For Men:-
As Indian society is a
male dominating society, men do not supposed to cry as they considered to be
strong, emotionless personalities. But if we think practically it is not
possible as males are also human beings and they too have feelings. At some
point we can say that being a male in Indian society is somewhere a disadvantage
as during their growing stage only they get coated with false patriarchism and
dominance. In future if anything wrong takes place with them at their workplace
or home or any other place, they will not take stand and choose to be quiet due
to this fake patriarchism and androcentrism. Some of the disadvantages to be a
male in India are:
1.
They are not supposed to cry.
2.
They are supposed to be emotionless.
3.
They are so strong that nothing wrong
can happen to them.
4.
No legislation for them against sexual
harassment or exploitation.
5.
There is a compulsion to them in the
society that they have to earn more than women.
6.
They can’t be house husbands due to
their supremacy in comparison to women.
7.
They can’t be weak.
8.
Their roles are considered to be less
important as fathers than mothers in parenting.
9.
In India family finances are need to be
taken care by males only as they are the head in the family.
10.
If a women earns in a family and a man
does not, then it is considered to be insultive on that man’s part.
Article
14 - Right To Equality:-
Right
to equality[2]
is one of the six fundamental right. Equality means each and every person in
the society has equal laws, norms, rights, regulations and duties. Despite of
different race, caste, sex, religion or gender, everyone is equal in the eyes
of law. But in India, at practical level men are considered to be more superior
than women. They are considered to be more strong and intelligent than women
which results in lending more burden to men. Due to this vicinity woman
automatically gets depend on men, for finances or for their personal expenses
as well and because of this atmosphere they start taking men for granted. In
Indian societies men are supposed to take care of their families, fulfill their
wives expenses as they their responsibilities. Societal pressure is so much on
men that if he looses his job or he stopped working due to any problem then he
will be considered as of low profile and as well as of low dignity person. They
torture men so much that sometimes it leads him to commit suicide. If a wife
does not earn in the same society then it is believed that her husband will
take care of her expenses because they considered women as weak and men as
extremely strong which is somewhere a curse to men. Some of the compelled
duties which a man has to fulfill inspite of any of the hardest problems are :-
1.
To earn to make his family run.
2.
To be superior than any woman at home.
3.
To earn more than his wife.
4.
To not to cry as they are very strong.
5.
They need to be very hard on their part.
Section
377 – The Only Legislation For Males:-
Section
377 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860 is the only section or legislation which
deals with the exploitation or harassment of males in India. On 6th
September, 2018 section 377 was declared unconstitutional in the case of Navtej Singh Johar v. Union Of India[3].
According to the judgment of this case, Supreme Court criminalises
homosexual acts which means it criminalises the sexual activities between the
same sex couples. But section 377 is declared partly constitutional and partly
unconstitutional. Sex related to minor, bestiality or non – consensual acts
still remains in force as offences under section 377. The offence of sodomy
comes under section 377 only and it is still an offence to the couples under 18
years of age. In India, there is no law for the sexual harassment or exploitation
for males, only section 377 is the legislation for them due to which they faces
lots and lots of problems. Some of the disadvantages for no law against sexual
harassment of males are :
1.
They don’t get proper justice.
2.
They can’t tell their situations
properly.
3.
They can’t take stand against it.
4.
There is no proper punishment in our
legislation against the sexual harassment of males.
5.
Due to no legislation so many people
take advantages of other person’s weakness and forces him to indulge with them
physically.
Under
section 377, if any offence takes place then punishment for the same is
imprisonment for life or imprisonment which may extend to ten years and shall
also be liable to fine. But there is no proper justice given to the aggrieved
person as there is no proper law for the same.
Harassment
At Workplaces:-
Sexual
harassment is a physical abuse to any of the person. It can happen in many
ways. Men employers can face this harassment from co-workers, supervisors,
vendors, company owners or anyone else encountered on the job. Sexual
harassment is nothing to do with sex. Irrespective of gender this harassment
can be done with any of the person. Specially at workplaces violence,
harassment and exploitation takes place a lot. Be it a women or men, it can
happen with any of them. In India, Parliament has not made any legislation in
the protection of men against sexual abuse or violence due to their dominance
in the society. Because of this so many incidents and situations with the men
section at workplaces or in their employments get repressed. Consequently, this
repression leads towards suicide of so many male workers. According to the
statistics of Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission[4],
almost one in five complaints comes from men. From Me Too Movement, many men came out in the limelight for raising the
issue of sexual harassment and the numbers increased from 7% to 18% as compared
to past years. An offensive sexual comment or any such expression or gesture to
the co-worker or to any of the employee in the job sector give rises to a
hostile work-environment. All these comments, expressions, depressing and
repressing atmosphere pushes the men employee towards the harsh or cruel
consequences like suicide, murder or to any other crime.
Quid
Pro Quo Harassment:-
This
Quid Pro Quo thing is very much trending in today’s world especially in
harassment cases. Quid Pro Quo basically means exchange of. At workplaces, for
their promotions, or for attaining any position or to achieve success people
get exploited sexually by their bosses or by their seniors. In most of the
cases employees use this physical harassment or exploitation as a ladder
towards their success. And this chain continues further as they do the same
with their juniors. If you as an as an employee or as a junior deny the
assault, exploitation or harassment then as a consequence, you will be
compelled to leave the job or your promotion will be stucked. They will not
promote you further and they will keep you on the same scale in your job or in
your office for years. Basically if you are skilled though, you will not be
entertained until and unless you will agree to their terms and conditions which
are very much illegal. But again we cannot say that only females face this. Men
also face it but they choose to shut their mouths and start adjusting with this
environment.
Requirement
Of Global Convention To End Harassment At Workplace:-
A
global convention is a need in today’s world to end sexual harassment at
workplace irrespective of gender discrimination. There is a common thinking of
people which exists in society that males are not in a need of any legislation
or law to protect them from sexual harassment or sexual abuse as they are
physically more powerful than females. This mentality needs to get change now,
as nowadays we can notice sexual abuse and harassments are happening with males
as well. Specially at workplaces more and more of sexual harassments happens
irrespective of being male or female. One single global convention should be
there to regulate all the workplaces environs of all the member countries. Leaders
of all the member countries in the convention should make a committee in which
certain rules and regulations should be made against the sexual harassment at
workplaces irrespective of gender and proper punishments shall also be
mentioned.
International
Labour Organization Convention:-
Mostly
harassment or exploitation takes place at workplaces. In India, there is law
for women against harassment i.e. sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition And Redressal Act,
2013). But there is no law for the men section against their exploitation.
International Labour Organization sparked by Me Too Movement on 21st June adopted a global convention
against violence and harassment at the workplace. The convention recognizes
that not only females but also male workers shall be protected at workplaces.
This convention means that now there is international legal standard to protect
workers from harassment, exploitation and violence. The International Labour
Organization considers the right of everyone to a world of work free from
exploitation, harassment or abuse. The International Labour Organization
convention also identifies harassment and violence not only at the workplaces
but also to the places which are linked with employment.
Comparison
Of Suicide Rate Of Men And Women At Workplaces:-
Suicide
is an act which is committed by a person when he fails to trounce himself or to
get the better of. Suicides at workplace are increasing day – by – day. Due to
lot of stress, bullying comments, repressing environment and sexual harassment
so many employees commit suicides. And it’s very shocking to know this
according to the report of more than 4000 patients[5],
the men are at higher levels of suicidal intent than the women. Due to
assumption and prejudice thinking, Indian society believes that men are more bold
and more practical than women that’s why they are less emotional and considered
to be on dominating part but in actual they are also humans and they have the
same feelings. Under the curtain of this prejudice thinking, men are suffering
physically, mentally, emotionally a lot. In some or the other way they are
getting so stressed and disturbed that they leads towards on the path of
suicide.
Conclusion:-
Under
the curtain of male dominance thinking in the Indian society, silent noxious
environment prevails in the country which somewhere leads the men section to
stay quiet if any sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse takes place with
them. On one side of the coin, India is a male dominating country but if we see
on the other side of the coin males suffer more as compared to females. It is a
harsh reality of the country. According to reports, men life span is generally
shorter than the life span of women. Due to so many factors like running a
family of 5-6 people all alone,
tolerating work politics, bearing family problems as he is considered as the
head of the family, also having responsibility to sort out all the issues in
the family being the karta, naturally makes his life hard and bitter. Men
should also be considered equal to women instead of superior to women to
maintain love, peace and harmony in the society. In India there should be
strict legislation for males against any sexual harassment, exploitation,
abuse, etc. so that a person should enjoy his life instead of taking it as a
burden or as a curse.
Remedies
And Suggestions:-
Remedies
and suggestions in respect to the violation of human rights of males in India
are as mentioned below:
1.
Indian parliament shall make law for
males in respect of sexual harassment, abuse, etc.
2.
Male children should be aware of the
physical abuse.
3.
Separate committees shall be made in the
companies to deal with harassment cases of males.
4. Government
campaigns should run to make people change their thinking towards males.
5. Proper
non – governmental organization shall be established to provide basic education
regarding gender bias to all the people in the society.
6.
The human rights of males shall be made
aware to all the men section in the society by the government of India.
7.
Equality shall be taught to maintain at
home among the children without any gender bias via non – governmental
organization campaigns.
8.
Strict legislation shall be there to
prevent men from sexual harassment and abuse.
9.
Separate organizations shall be made by
government to do counseling of male section in the society to not to go on path
of suicide.
10.
Government should apply it in the
country compulsorily that after 18 years of age each person regardless of gender
has to do their share of economic work.
11.
Government shall mention proper measures
in their schemes to treat men and women equally.
12.
There should be separate committee of
government for sorting out the issues, problems of the employees raised in the
companies all over the country.
*********************************
* (B.A.LL.B), B.S. Anangpuria
Institute of Law, Alampur, Haryana, (India)
[1] Section 377: The Indian Penal
Code, 1860.
[2] Article 14: The Constitution of
India.
[3] W.P.(Crl). No 76 of 2016 D.No
14961/2016
[4] Unlawful Workplace Sexual
Harassment of Male Employees: https://www.wmlawyers.com/oakland-sexual-harassment-attorneys/male/
[5]According to the report of BBC - At
Global Level: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190313-why-more-men-kill-themselves-than-women
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