Silencing bystanders
The institutional structuring of responses to workplace sexual harassment incidents in India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12920966 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sasmita Palo (0000-0001-9024-7960, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, corresponding author), Kalaiselvi Suresh Nadar (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 385-404 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gender in Management An International Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1754-2413 • E-ISSN: 1754-2421 |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1108/gm-06-2025-0324 |
| OpenAlex | W7118165495 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 31 |
Purpose This paper aims to examine how bystanders in Indian workplaces interpret and respond to incidents of sexual harassment, and how relational, organizational and cultural dynamics shape their decisions to intervene or remain silent. Design/methodology/approach Based on narrative interviews with 17 professionals across corporate, health care and academic sectors, the study uses thematic analysis informed by a three-stage narrative coding process and iterative strategies. Findings Bystander behavior emerges as a socially situated, psychologically mediated and ideologically inflected phenomenon. Silence often operates as a strategic, socially legitimized survival mechanism, shaped by institutional ambiguity, reputational risks and relational dependencies. Organizational cultures frequently valorize inaction, privileging procedural compliance over moral accountability and institutional image over justice. Originality/value This study advances bystander intervention and moral disengagement theories. It introduces the ecology of the deferred intervention framework, built on three pillars, namely, moral rationalization, relational containment and institutional normalization. It also proposes a novel bystander typology that situates responses along relational, temporal and organizational dimensions. The framework reveals a continuum from moral disengagement to ethical agency
Accountability · Harassment · Identity negotiation · Intervention (counseling · Mainstream · Moral disengagement · Narrative · Negotiation · Sexual orientation · Typology · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Workplace Violence and Bullying
To Act or not to Act
Why Employees Do Bad Things
Understanding Rape Survivors' Decisions Not to Seek Help from Formal Social Systems
Moral disengagement
Indian family systems, collectivistic society and psychotherapy
Institutional betrayal.
The theory of planned behavior
Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans
Organizational Intolerance to Sexual Harassment in Sexualized Work Environments
Who will help prevent sexual violence
Measuring Sexual Harassment
Secondary Victimization of Rape Victims
Using multiple coders to enhance qualitative analysis
A Situational Model of Sexual Assault Prevention through Bystander Intervention
Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse
Why Didn't She Just Report Him? The Psychological and Legal Implications of Women's Responses to Sexual Harassment
Naturalistic inquiry
The Problem of Speaking for Others
Workplace Victimization
Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities
Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis
Normalizing Sexual Violence
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |