What are Sexual Remarks and Threats?

[Trigger Warning: This explainer contains information on physical violence, sexual violence, abuse and slurs which some readers may find disturbing.]

If anyone says anything sexual to or sexually threatens a person, it is a crime under the law. Under the law, only a man can be punished for the crime¹.

Some examples of sexual remarks are: 

• A remark or statement that feels sexual to a person.
• An ordinary remark which isn’t exactly sexual in nature but has a sexual implication to it². For example, a metaphor or innuendo.

Sexual threats can be verbal, gestural or written³. There is a higher punishment for such acts. A statement or behaviour is a sexual threat if:

• It is sexual and is intended to scare, hurt or annoy a person⁴.
• It is made to warn a person of an inappropriate touch or any forceful sexual act which is about to happen⁴.

The punishment for making sexual threats or remarks is jail time of minimum one year and maximum five years along with a fine⁵.

1. Section 354A(1)(iv), Indian Penal Code, 1860; Section 354A, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]
2. Jishu Sengupta & Others v. The State of West Bengal & Anr, 2017 CriLJ 1531.[↩]
3. Section 354, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]
4. Section 350, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩][↩]
5. Section 354, Indian Penal Code, 1860.[↩]