Govt to Improve Legal Framework to Stop Sexual Harassment of Women
Govt to Improve Legal Framework to Stop Sexual Harassment of Women
The Government of India today constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the existing legal and institutional frameworks for dealing with matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
The Group of Ministers will be chaired by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Its Members are:
– Nitin Gadkari, Minister, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
– Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister, Ministry of Defence
– Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Minister, Ministry of Women & Child Development
The Government says it is committed to ensure the safety and dignity of women in the workforce. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act is the key legislation for preventing and protecting women against sexual harassment in the workplace and to ensure effective redressal of complaints of sexual harassment.
The Ministry of Women & Child Development has also launched an Electronic Complaints Box that enables women, irrespective of their work status, to raise their voice against sexual harassment at workplace.
Once a complaint is submitted to the ‘SHe-Box’, it is directly sent to the concerned authority having jurisdiction to take action into the matter. A mechanism will be put in place to regularly monitor the action taken on the complaints.
The Group of Ministers will, within 3 months of its constitution, examine the existing provisions for the safety of women and recommend further measures required to strengthen and make them more effective.
Photo courtesy: Press Information Bureau
