Karnataka State Women’s Commission has written to government and non-governmental institutions in the State asking them to furnish details on the Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) set up by them as mandated under the Sexual Harassment of Women and Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on “Laws against sexual harassment at workplace: Issues and concerns” here on Thursday, Amita Prasad, Principal Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development, said that an online database of this information will be maintained on the commission’s website. This is aimed at helping the commission monitor compliance under the law. The women’s commission would soon have a full-fledged chairperson, she added.
Delivering the inaugural address earlier, Ms. Prasad said that setting up of ICCs in industries would create confidence among women that they have a redressal mechanism in place.
Industries have an obligation to create a gender-friendly atmosphere and should have “zero tolerance” towards sexual harassment.
“When there can be zero tolerance for wastage or low productivity, why not for sexual harassment,” she asked and suggested that gender sensitivity be treated as one of the parameters while hiring people.
“The law is essentially about providing equal opportunities to women and treating them with fairness and dignity,” she said. Industries should not treat it as a “burden” but one that provides equal rights to women, which is an obligation under the Constitution.
Making a presentation on the law earlier at the seminar organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Thyagu Valliappa, member of the managing committee, said that there were concerns about how industries, especially small-scale industries, would deal with additional legislation. Similar laws were in force in the U.K., the U.S., Australia, Japan and China.
