Lok Sabha Question No. 2681 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Anubhav Mohanty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UN-STARRED QUESTION NO.2681 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.03.2020

## SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE

## 2681.  ANUBHAV MOHANTY :

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Sexual  Harassment  of  Women  at  Work  Place  (Prevention, Prohibition  and  Redressal)  Act  provides  protection  to  women  workers  in  the unorganized sector and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the constitution of Internal Complaints Committee  for receiving complaints  of  sexual  harassment  of  women  employees  is  mandatory  in  the private sector and if so, the details thereof
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  protect  women  from  sexual harassment at their place of work?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a)  to  (c)  :    Safety  and  security  of  women  in  the  country  is  of  utmost  priority  for the Government. The Government of India enacted 'The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013' (SH Act) which aims to provide  safe  and  secure  work  environment  to  women.  The  Act  covers  all  women, irrespective of their age or employment status and provides protection against sexual harassment  at  all  workplaces.  In  addition  existing  provisions  of  Indian  Penal  Code (IPC) are also applicable to various offences of sexual harassment.

The Act is applicable to all women whether working in organised or unorganised sector.  As  per  Section  2(p),  unorganised  sector  in  relation  to  a  workplace  means  an enterprise owned  by  individuals  or  self-employed  workers  and  engaged  in  the production or sale of goods or providing service of any kind whatsoever, and where the enterprise employs workers, the number of such workers is less than ten.

The Act casts an obligation upon every employer of a workplace to provide a safe  and  secure  working  environment  free  from  sexual  harassment  by  constituting Internal Committee (IC) for receiving complaints of sexual harassment at workplace and by  displaying  at  conspicuous  places  penal  consequences  of  sexual  harassment  and order constituting IC.

(d) For  effective  implementation  of  the  Act,  the  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child Development has developed handbook and a training module around the provisions of the  'The  Sexual  Harassment  of  Women  at  Workplace  (Prevention,  Prohibition  and Redressal) Act, 2013'. In addition, Ministry of Women and Child Development issues advisories from time to time to all State Governments/ UT Administrations, Ministries/ Departments of Government of India and business associations including Associated Chambers  of  Commerce  &  Industry  of  India  (ASSOCHAM),  Federation  of  Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) etc., to ensure effective implementation of the Act.

On  31 st 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 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.

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.

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