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Anger, Advocacy, and the Fight for Safer Indian Workplaces
Pallavi Pareek believes anger can help people fight unfair treatment.
She founded Ungender to make workplaces safer for women.
India has a law called the POSH Act that is meant to address sexual harassment at work.
However, many people do not know about the law, and its rules are not always followed.
Ungender investigated how government complaint systems were working.
The organisation then took the issue to the Supreme Court of India.
The court issued judgments encouraging governments and companies to follow the law properly.
Pareek says real change requires respectful workplace cultures, not just paperwork.
She also says women should not feel guilty for being angry when their rights are violated.
Pallavi Pareek says anger can motivate women to challenge workplace injustice and create safer cultures.
Her organisation, Ungender, works to improve awareness and implementation of India’s POSH Act.
Between 2017 and 2020, Ungender filed hundreds of Right to Information applications about workplace-harassment systems.
The group’s Public Interest Litigation helped prompt Supreme Court judgments demanding stronger POSH compliance.
Pareek argues that policies alone are insufficient because women who report harassment may face retaliation, exclusion, or job loss.
- Who
- Pallavi Pareek, founder of Ungender, and her team.
- What
- They have worked to strengthen workplace-safety protections and implementation of India’s POSH Act.
- Where
- Across Indian workplaces, government departments, police systems, courts, and institutions.
- When
- The article discusses work spanning several years, including Ungender’s 2017–2020 investigation and Pareek’s 2023 TEDx talk.
- Why
- Because awareness and enforcement of workplace-harassment protections remain uneven, and women may face retaliation or leave complaints unresolved.
Key facts
- Advocate
- Pallavi Pareek
- Organisation
- Ungender
- Law
- Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
- Investigation period
- 2017–2020
- Legal action
- Ungender filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India.
- Reported study finding
- A 2023 Journal of Social Issues study said 65% of surveyed women who channelled anger into advocacy reported that it strengthened their ability to push for change.
- Main concern
- Workplace-harassment rules are often treated as compliance requirements rather than tools for changing organisational culture.
Quotes
Pallavi Pareek
Founder of Ungender and workplace-safety advocate
“Great workplaces aren’t built by perks or policies alone. They’re shaped by the people who show up every day. It’s the humans who make the company what it is, who place their trust in it, whether it’s a start-up or a global giant.”
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“My anger is about creating awareness, leading a movement; it’s about making space for others who’ve been told to stay quiet.”
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Sources
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