In 2019, as part of a fellowship on menstrual health, I spent a week in Bhopal, living with a family in the community. While the family ensured I felt safe and welcomed, providing me with abundant care and love, one major concern overshadowed everything: the lack of basic sanitation facilities. Due to the lack of access to safe and clean facilities in the community, the family made do with the limited resources they had. The bathroom had three walls, no roof, and no door. The toilet was a makeshift porta-potty from a construction site. Living in these conditions resulted in my developing a severe reproductive tract infection (RTI) as well as concerns about my safety.
During this fellowship, I initially focused on internal experiences within my organisation. However, feedback from a colleague led me to consult field-based professionals in the development ecosystem. The same patterns of concern emerged. The recent Kolkata rape case has yet again sparked public discourse around safety. In a patriarchal world that normalises violence and rape culture, I reflect on the intersection of these realities within the social development sector. Frontline workers, often recruited from the communities organisations work with, face heightened risks to their health, safety, and wellbeing as their work extends beyond the walls of an office.
In this article, my focus is on two critical areas that need attention. First, the lack of access to safe toilets – how do frontline teams manage, what challenges do they face, and can organisations realistically play a role in resolving this issue? Second, I talk about harassment and violence against frontline teams, questioning whether POSH is implemented in its truest sense and what responsibilities organisations have beyond mere legal compliance.
Health and safety concerns: Sanitation
In conversations with those experienced in fieldwork, I learned that many frontline workers avoid using toilets by drinking less water or holding their urine, increasing their risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and other health issues. This risk increases during menstruation when clean toilets are inaccessible, forcing delays in changing menstrual hygiene products and further increasing the risk of infection. Sunita* described how their former organisation overlooked these infrastructural needs when renting office spaces in rural areas. The absence of separate washrooms and dustbins also made it difficult for team members to manage their menstrual health.
Addressing sexual harassment: POSH and beyond
A study on the POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy of 300 NSE-listed companies revealed alarmingly low reporting rates, with 50% of cases emerging from just eight of the 300 companies analysed.The situation is even more concerning in the social development sector, where analysed data on reporting and complaints is lacking.
Organisations struggle with harassment by “third parties” (individuals not employed by the organisation) such as those encountered during travel. Fida* recounted an incident where her team faced harassment at a local site and encountered apathy from the police, impacting their mental health. The lack of women police personnel further exacerbated the issue. Another peer highlighted how victim-blaming affected both their personal life and mental wellbeing.
Some organisations lack robust POSH policies or functioning internal committees, creating a culture of silence and fear. Workers often hesitate to report incidents due to fear of retaliation, particularly in communities where they work and live alongside those involved. Shanti* mentioned that language barriers make POSH policies inaccessible to some team members.
Rani* recalled the absence of an unbiased POSH committee, leading to biased decisions. Moreover, instead of tackling the root cause of harassment, some organisations have excluded women from certain roles or opportunities to avoid potential incidents, thereby reinforcing gender inequities.
The role of organisations: Building a safer environment
Frontline workers’ experiences highlight a critical gap in how organisations address safety and wellbeing, emphasising the need for proactive risk assessment and management, while prioritising cultural change. Based on conversations with peers within the ecosystem, here are some key reflections and suggestions:
Suggestions for WASH
- Key considerations: Given that infrastructural gaps are primarily the government’s responsibility, challenges like the lack of access to safe and clean WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities may persist until systemic changes occur. Organisations, when planning their work, could consider factors such as the distance between a frontline team member’s home and work location and enable access to home facilities if needed. Interim solutions, such as budgeting for sanitation resources like urination devices, can help in the absence of clean facilities.
- Flexible work hours and access to products: Adjust work hours to allow frontline workers to do fieldwork and work remotely from home, ensuring access to sanitation facilities. This flexibility is crucial during menstruation for managing menstrual hygiene. Organisations could also provide menstrual hygiene products that are safe to use for longer hours and budget accordingly for these needs, while prioritising informed choice.
POSH legal compliance
Firstly, the POSH Act has significant gaps, emphasising redressal over prevention and protection over safety. It fails to address measures for mental wellbeing and focuses more on the perpetrator than the survivor. While feedback on the POSH Act’s gaps exists, organisations can consider whether to provide specific feedback for necessary changes to the POSH Act or draft a new policy altogether to better ensure team safety. While policy-level recommendations are important, organisations can also:
- Evaluate POSH at the organisational level: Critically evaluate POSH policies – Are employees aware of the ICC committee? How many complaints have been received and resolved? What is the overall sense of safety among the frontline team? Have we tackled the culture of silence and victim-blaming? Are there confidential channels for employees to voice concerns? Based on the insights, necessary changes can be made.
- Policy and reporting: POSH policies need to be clear, gender-neutral, and inclusive of all identities. Organisations must comply legally by submitting annual reports detailing complaints, preventive measures, and redressal mechanisms. Policies could also be made accessible with translations and follow-up after training.
- Accountability: Despite legal requirements, lapses occur due to a lack of external accountability, resulting in unsubmitted POSH reports and non-compliance. Organisations must ensure employees are informed about committee members, have access to trained immediate support systems, and aware of how to confront violence and silence.
Organisational measures beyond compliance and donor accountability
- Resource allocation: Organisations must allocate resources for safety and health, including tools, facilities, and training. Donors need to prioritise these aspects, providing financial support to achieve meaningful change. Safety must be a top priority, supported by donors.
- Safety and commuting: Invest in providing transport options for frontline teams, if public transport poses risks. Ensure workers do not travel alone to remote locations. The expectation that groundwork inherently involves risk needs to shift, with safety being a top priority supported by donors who fund the work.
- Local support: Organisations could conduct thorough regional assessments and build connections before recruiting. They can support frontline teams in establishing relationships with local support networks, such as Panchayat members, village influencers, school decision-makers, and local police officials, to ensure team safety on the ground.
- Culture and training: Go beyond legal compliance to cultivate a culture that addresses consent, violence, and power dynamics. Invest in gender sensitisation, engage men in shifting culture, and create a supportive environment for workers to speak up without fear of retribution. Address how various identities affect experiences of harassment, emphasising intersectionality. Violence as a culture is normalised, so it becomes crucial to create spaces for all team members to critically think and challenge this culture.
- Provision of necessary support: Ensure that all workers have access to mental health services, legal assistance, and financial resources necessary to obtain the support they need. This includes providing counselling, regular wellbeing checks, and emotional support. Sensitise team members to these issues and support workers throughout the legal process, not just financially but also with guidance and advocacy
- Make amendments: Every organisation, based on the context of their work, regional factors, and the safety needs of their ground team, could consider expanding their guidelines to ensure that all team needs are met.
In conclusion, I invite the entire ecosystem to come together in gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by our frontline teams in grassroots social development, including those related to POSH. We must ensure that feeling unsafe does not become an inevitable part of their work. The safety and wellbeing of our team members cannot be an afterthought—it must be integral to our mission of social change and justice.
* Name changed
