The sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 was enacted to provide a safe and secure environment to women at the workplace. To sensitize people, departmental officials and NGO workers on the issue of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the department of women and child development and social welfare, Jharkhand Government in collaboration with the lawyers Collective Women’s Rights Initiative (lCWRI) organized a workshop on Friday.
The Act came into effect from December 2013 and seeks to cover all women working in both the public and private sector covering organized and unorganized sector need to be implemented properly. The act is a follow up of the ‘Vishaka case’ under which the Supreme Court had recognized ‘Sexual Harassment at the workplace’ as a violation of fundamental rights and had issued directions to employers to address the mater with utmost priority. These directions were to be compiled with the time a law was brought in place. However, there are several aspects which need to be implicit.
“There is an alarming lack of clarity amongst the people as to the definition of sexual harassment, obligations of employers and recourse available to the victims of sexual harassment at the workplace. Every department must have separate cell to deal with such cases and people too should report such cases,” informed Anagha Sarpotdar, Gender Consultant.
The current act aims to work towards prevention, prohibition and finally Redressal of complaints of sexual harassment. It provides a comprehensive definition for sexual harassment and puts the onus for prevention and Redressal upon the employer. The Redressal mechanism includes constitution of internal complaints committee at every workplace and local complaints committee at the district level to address such issues for women working in the unorganized sector. It also casts a duty on all employers to provide safe working environment for women and to carry out workshops and awareness programme on a regular interval.
Addressing people on the rational and objective behind the sexual harassment at workplace, Ujwala Kadrekar of lCWRI, said, “We need to consider the view that the existing laws, if mandatory it should be revised and appropriate new laws must be enacted by Parliament and the state legislatures to protect women from any form of indecency, indignity and disrespect at all places including prevention of all forms of violence. It should also provide new initiatives for education regarding the matter and advancement of women and girls in every spheres of life.”