What is Sexual Misconduct?
Sexual misconduct encompasses sexual harassment, assault, exploitation, and abuse of authority for sexual purposes, particularly in institutional settings where power imbalances enable predatory behaviour. In India, this includes workplace harassment covered under the POSH Act, sexual exploitation in educational institutions, abuse within religious and spiritual organisations, exploitation of women in the entertainment industry, and sexual violence by security forces in conflict zones. The #MeToo movement brought significant attention to these issues in India starting in 2018, but accountability remains uneven. Many accused individuals continue in positions of power due to legal delays, institutional protection, or the social stigma that discourages survivors from pursuing complaints.
Why This Matters
Tracking sexual misconduct in the public sphere is essential because these cases reveal the gap between India's legal protections and their enforcement. The Criminal Law Amendment Acts of 2013 and 2018 strengthened penalties, but conviction rates remain low and the burden of pursuing justice falls disproportionately on survivors. Media coverage of sexual misconduct cases is often sensationalised, with some outlets focusing on the identity of the accused rather than systemic failures, and others avoiding coverage entirely when the accused is politically powerful or commercially important. Balanced tracking across sources ensures that no case is buried due to the influence of the accused and that coverage maintains the dignity of survivors.
How We Track This
Our system identifies sexual misconduct stories by detecting references to POSH complaints, criminal charges under relevant IPC/BNS sections, institutional inquiry findings, and judicial proceedings. We apply strict editorial standards, focusing on institutional accountability rather than salacious detail, and track whether institutions take corrective action after misconduct is reported.