PRESS NEWS
Ministry of Women and
Child Development
PREVENTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE
Posted On: 11 FEB 2022 5:42PM by PIB Delhi
The
Government of India has enacted ‘the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’ (SH Act) with the aim to
provide safe and secure work environment to women. The Act is applicable to all
women irrespective of their age or employment status, working in organised or
unorganised sector. The Act casts an obligation upon all States to constitute
Local Committees (LCs) in every district to receive complaints from
organizations having less than 10 workers or if the complaint is against
employer himself, for receiving complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.
The
responsibility of implementation of the Act at State and District levels rests
with the appropriate Government i.e. the respective State Governments in
respect of all workplaces, which are established, owned, controlled or wholly
or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the State
and any other workplace falling within its territory. They are responsible for
monitoring the implementation of the Act and maintaining the data on the number
of cases filed and disposed of. The data of State/ UT/ district-wise
details of number of cases of sexual harassment filed and resolved is not
maintained centrally. However, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
compiles data regarding sexual harassment in work/ office premises (Section
354A of IPC) since 2017 in its publication namely 'Crime in India'. The published
report is available till the year 2020, which is available at its website
https://ncrb.gov.in.
The
Act casts an obligation upon every employer to create an environment which is
free from sexual harassment. For the purpose, employers are required to
organize workshops, orientation and awareness programmes at regular intervals
for sensitizing the employees and towards building the capacity
of Internal Committee (IC) members around the provision of this
legislation and display at any conspicuous place notice regarding the
constitution of Internal Committee and penal consequences of sexual harassment
etc.
To
ensure effective implementation of the Act, a handbook and a training module
have been developed. In addition, Ministry of Women and Child Development, from
time to time, has issued advisories to all State Governments/ UT
Administrations, Ministries/ Departments of Government of India and business
associations/ chambers to ensure effective implementation of the Act. Video
conferences have also been held with all State Governments/ UT administrations
requesting them to establish and build capacity of LCs in each district of the
country.
The
Ministry has developed an online complaint management system titled the Sexual
Harassment electronic–Box (SHe-Box, www.shebox.nic.in)
for registering complaints related to sexual harassment of women at workplace.
On 31st July 2018, the
Ministry of Corporate Affairs, at the request of this Ministry, has amended the
Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014 making mandatory the inclusion of a statement
about compliance with the provisions relating to the constitution of IC under
the SH Act in the Report of the Board of Directors.
The
Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances
and Pensions, Government of India has also issued advisories to all the Central
Ministries/ Departments directing them to complete the inquiry in a time bound
manner and to include the information related to number of cases filed under
the SH Act and their disposal in their annual report.
This
information was given by the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt.
Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
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