Tribe Verified· Supreme Court Advocate & POSH Committee Member

What Counts as Harassment at Work?

byShraddha SaxenaTakes cases across Delhi NCR & Bareilly; Consultations at Mayur Vihar officeStarts from₹3,500 per session (60 mins)View full gallery

Harassment is rarely a single incident. It often starts with subtle boundary-crossing and escalates into retaliation. If you feel like you are being gaslighted or targeted at your office, you need to know how to document it and take a stand.

I've handled POSH committee cases where widowed women are told they need a man's support and are then harassed with marriage proposals. When they refuse, they are retaliated against. In the private sector, this means being overburdened with work or given odd hours. In government jobs, it can mean a difficult posting.

Society does not respect a divorced woman, and this bias extends to the workplace. Colleagues and bosses often see a 'divorcee' tag as an opportunity to make inappropriate advances. Your personal life should never make you a target at work.

In private companies, I've seen committees try to protect the harasser by telling the victim she is "thinking wrong." They ask for witnesses for acts like staring or a "bad touch." When a woman doesn't give in to what the harasser wants, she is punished with odd work hours or a new, unfamiliar job role.

Harassment is far more common at the workplace, in public, or among neighbors than within families. If you are being stalked or troubled, file a complaint. Don't worry about what society thinks. Once the harasser is in jail, the same society will criticize him.

About What Counts as Harassment?

In the private sector, many internal committees operate with a bias to protect the organization rather than the victim. They often ask for impossible evidence like video proof of a 'bad touch' or staring incidents, using that gap to dismiss your complaint. My focus is on building your case by documenting the patterns of retaliation, such as sudden transfers, odd work hours, or isolation from your team, which committees cannot easily ignore.

Supreme Court Advocate & POSH Committee Member — Approved by the tribe

Shraddha Saxena

Takes cases across Delhi NCR & Bareilly; Consultations at Mayur Vihar officeStarts from ₹3,500 per session (60 mins)

I am a Supreme Court advocate who fights on facts, not sides. I sit on POSH committees, so I know exactly how they operate and where they try to bury the truth. If your workplace is trying to silence you, we need to speak up.