A workplace is a place where people should be ensured proper safety and proper aid. However, unsafe working environment have clear consequences for both the individuals and the organization. Workplace violence is not only done against an individual but it can harm the whole organization.

The rate of crime done in a workplace has increased repeatedly not only in India but in other countries as well. In this article we will talk about different aspects of workplace violence and how can we as a citizen help spread awareness about the crime so that people should be aware and no one becomes the victim of this ruthless crime.

Also we have given an overview of criminology and how workplace violence a crime which is a threat to professionalism is related to criminology and study about the aspects of this crime and also study about the preventive measures to prevent this vicious crime, which is done by collecting vital information from different sources.

What Is Crime?

The term Crime is derived from Latin word ‘krimos’ which means to accuse.

According to Blackstone Crime is an act committed or omitted in violation of Public Law forbidding or commanding it.

In simple terms crime is an unlawfull act which is done by a person who has a guilty and evil mind and also upon conviction it is punishable with imprisonment or with fine or in severe case death. Some crimes such as forgery and theft may also be civil wrong (torts) in which the person aggrieved may take compensation or damages.

Each and every country has criminals (person who commits crime) and also they have their own laws to deal with them. Some of the countries have strict and rigorous laws whereas some of them have lenient criminal laws. For example Saudi Arabia and Singapore are countries which have strict laws whereas India has a bit lenient laws as compared to these countries.

What Is Criminology?

The term Criminology is derived from 2 Latin words “crimen” which means accusation and “logia” which means word reason or plan.

Criminology is the scientific study of crime, including its causes, responses by law enforcement, and methods of prevention. It is a sub-group of sociology, which is the scientific study of social behavior. Basically criminology is sub group of sociology and also it is a scientific study of social behavior.

History of Criminology

Many researchers has been overtime developed many theories of criminology over the past 250 years, some of them where popular and some of them are also considered relevant. The main creation of criminology began from in the late 18th century, the two renowned social theorists namely Cesare Beccaria in Italy and Jeremy Bentham in England. Both of them decided that there should be punishments from criminal activities and the punishment should be so severe that the criminal would think that the pleasure of the criminal act would not be worth the pain of the punishment.

With time the theories of criminology became modern and psychologically more accurate. These theories have covered the main aspects of crime like its causes, psychological aspects, assessment of criminals, intervention to reduce offending and help offenders cope up with prison, victimology and the nature of criminal activity. Also it has helped in identifying the behavioral variations between the offences that have same legal definition.

What Is Workplace Violence?

Workplace violence refers to a crime where an aggressive, brutal and violent act is done against a person who is performing his/her professional duty and at the time of the act it creates a risk to the health and safety to the employee or multiple employees.

Workplace violence does not include only a single type of crime it is recognized as a very brutal category of crime and also it includes different types of other offences in it other than murder
The crimes which are involved in this category are varied from less serious crimes to highly serious crimes the less serious crimes are like stalking, assault, threats, harassment, any physical or emotional abuse and the serious crimes are like robbery, rape, sexual harassment, criminal intimidation etc.

Types of Workplace Violence:

Experts have divided workplace violence in 4 fields:

1. Intention of criminal:

When the crime is done by a person who is not related to the workplace such as robberies and criminal trespass. Preventive measures have been taken as CCTV cameras are installed in the offices, panic alarm are set etc

2. Customer or client:

When the crime is directed towards the employee by a customer or client or a patient. Like doctors and nurses are attacked at work. It is done because of denied and unsatisfactory services provided by the employees.

3. Worker on worker

When the crime is done against the co workers, superiors and the managers of the organization. This is the most dangerous and difficult to deal with as the above mentioned crimes where isolated bus this can affect the whole organization structure. Prevention can be done at recruitment stage by checking the background of the candidates that how was the behavior of the candidate in his previous job and is there any record of substance abuse.

4. Personal relationship:

When the crime is committed by a family member or a partner of the employees.

Workplace Violence In India:

India is a place where crime rates are touching the sky. Talking about workplace violence the registered cases for workplace violence has increased 54% from 371 in 2014 to 570 in 2017 according to official data.

During the 2018 in the ending of july around 27,533 casses of sexual harassment were reported in the country. In India violence against women is very common in a male dominated society. In India millions of women and girls are deprived of their rights they are viewed as a sexual objects to the male.

Thousands of cases of workplace violence which are done to women are not even reported as they are afraid to file a case because of the mentality of the societies they are more concerned about their respect. It is said that around 70% of the cases of sexual harassment at workplace cases are not reported as they fear the consequences, according to a survey by Indian Bar Association in 2017 around 6047 respondents did not reported their case.

Also CNN reported that around 700 people each year are murdered in the workplace. Between 1992 and 2012 around 14770 cases were reported all of which were homicide victims
Forget about the rural areas many allegations have been made against the prominent personalities of the television industries, media, music and entertainment including many actors, comedians and lyricist etc.

Uttar Pradesh has the most reported cases 726 or 29% over 2014-2018 and is followed by Delhi 369, Haryana 154 and Maharashtra 147as per data presented in lok sabha.

Preventive Measures:
From the above context, we can see that the main reason of workplace violence is due to fear inside people and lack of proper knowledge.

The rate of cases of workplace violence can be reduced and the crime can be prevented by taking certain measures such as:
1. The organization should create a company policy regarding sexual harassment and it should be discussed with each and every employee, manager and executive. And it should be made sure that every person working in the org should be familiar with the policy.
2. The organization should have proper training sessions and they should conduct seminars which will help to spread awareness in the people regarding workplace violence.
3. Ensure that there is a proper line of communication between the employees and the employers as it will help them to create a feeling of trust and believe amongst each other.
4. Keep a track of teams of how are they working together. Some of the teams can cause problems which can affect all the people on the team so deal with them in a mature manner and make an unbiased decision to solve the problem so that all the members feel equal.
5. Motivate and encourage the people around you. Maintain a healthy and a positive environment.
6. Build a feeling of trust so that people can come to you and discuss whatever they want and ensure confidentiality to your employees so that they can come and report incidents and make them feel safe.
7. Encourage everyone around you to be fearless and report and violent incidents
8. Do not risk the assets of the company. Insure all the assets and make sure to use a locked drop safe and as robbery is a large factor in workplace violenc.
9. Install proper CCTV cameras and other safety systems in the company and also hire some trained guards who can protect the place from outsiders.
10. The companies should adopt a Zero tolerance code of conduct.
11. the ministry of women and child development has set up sexual harassment electronic box for online complaints registration. It was launched on july 24,2017.

Conclusion
Workplace violation is a violation of Fundamental human rights. Workplace violation is a crime which not only can affect an individual but it affects the whole organization. It is a brutal crime and awareness should be spread regarding this crime. People who are victims of this crime should come up without fear and disclose their experience, it is not something to hide or let go the person behind the crime should be punished.

People who are the victims of this crime should report it immediately to their supervisors or higher board and it should be taken care of then and there only. By taking preventive measures in the workplace, the employees will work freely and they will feel safe.

Workplace violence is a horrible situation and if proper measures are taken and accused are punished properly then the rate of this crime can be reduced and people will work happily in their workplaces and can concentrate on their work and give their best for their organisation.