At a time when the #MeToo movement is gathering momentum with many victims taking to social media, narrating the stories of sexual harassments at workplaces and beyond, pitch for functional Internal Complaint Committees (ICC) or women cells at government and private offices and institutions is getting louder.
But, it appears Visakhapatnam is yet to wake up to the cause as many institutions, organisations and business establishments are yet to have functional ICCs to deal with the sexual harassment complaints by their employees, despite it being a mandatory provision under law.
The city houses some of the top public sector units, several universities, and many corporate firms dealing with the IT, ITES, pharma, BPO and garment sector where a sizeable number of women employees either work or study.
“The city is dotted with many high-end shopping malls that employ a large number of women and most of them go home late in the night. As per our records, none has a functional ICC,” says prof. Bandila Ratna Kumari, Director of Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh Centre for Women’s Studies in Andhra University.
Sources say that many cases of sexual harassment at workplaces go unheard. Recollecting her experience, Anuradha (name changed), an employee of a BPO firm in the city, says teams at many firms are headed by team managers who are males.
“Many a time, the women employees face problems pertaining to inappropriate touch and lewd comments and text messages. We faced similar problems recently. We did complain to our higher-ups. We do not have a full-fledged ICC at our office. In most cases, such harassment remain inconclusive and the accused go scot-free after hotchpotch inquiries,” she says.
Echoing the same view, K. Padma of Progressive Organisation for Women, says, “Recently, an alleged rape of an employee in a garment factory in the city came to light. But, the case made no headway into investigation, neither by the company nor the police.”
The situation is no different at educational institutions. “There is a ragging committee in our college. But, we do not have any dedicated committee to deal with the sexual harassment complaints,” says M. Hyndavi, a B.Tech student of a private college at Madhurawada.
‘Victim bore the brunt’
In several organisations, prof. Bandila Ratna Kumari says, women do come forward to lodge harassment complaints, only to suffer in the aftermath. “In many cases, action is taken against the victims, rather than the accused,” she says.
Citing the alleged rape case reported from the garment factory, she says, “The woman who lodged the complaint was suspended. Such moves are dissuading the victims from lodging complaints. The local complaint committees need to be delegated with more power and autonomy to ensure their effective functioning.”
‘Organisations fail to comply’
Even as the State Women’s Commission members have underlined the need for setting up Internal Complaint Committees (ICCs) to deal with the harassment complaints at work places and educational institutions, it appears a little has been done in this regard.
“On March 8 this year, on the eve of Women’s Day, the Women Commission members have put forth a proposal pertaining to ICC before the district administrations of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. Almost seven months have passed, but a few organisations have implemented it so far,” says K. Srivani, a member of State Women’s Commission.
Awareness campaign
“Though the #MeToo campaign is gathering momentum, it is yet to gain ground in offices, industries and educational institution in this region. Many women and girls still fear to come forward to express their ordeals owing to social stigma and the repercussions. We (Women’s Commission members) have been conducting awareness campaigns at workplaces and educational institutions,” she points out.
