Sexual harassment and ICC functioning

 

Various surveys done across India over a period of 10 years till 2016 and media reporting of various issues confirm that a vast majority of women employees do not report sexual harassment due to lack of confidence in the organization, This is mainly due to low awareness about the law and the procedures, threat of victimization, fear of stigma, embarrassment or fellow colleagues ridiculing etc. This very clearly highlights the lack of effort by employers particularly in the private sector.

Internal complaints committee or the ICC has to create awareness and assurance by way of conscious education and awareness not only amongst women employees but others as well

It is necessary for ICC to create assurance conversely no reporting or low reporting is a simple tool used to justify lack of approach by ICC in engaging and educating all employees, such convenient but very damaging positions taken by ICC allows a wrong circle of low or negative reporting which is going on at present as reported by various audits.

 

It is important to note that in the year 2016 there was an amendment to the 2013 PoSH act and where in the nomenclature of ICC internal complaints committee changed to internal committee (IC)

Internal committee is no longer only a complaint resolving mechanism but should also work as per the objective of the 2013PoSH  act on prevention of sexual harassment, Expansion of IC meaning broadening its scope from just being a body waiting to receive complaints to proactively undertaking various initiatives which can generate enough awareness about the rights of women employees and ensuring that the confidence in reporting such incidents increases, effectively  reducing the risk of sexual harassment

Hence the format of the annual report as laid down by the rules of the 2013 act includes internal committee meetings to be held periodically in discussing various prevention strategies for avoidance of sexual harassment at workplace

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