Prevention of sexual harassment of working women in the workplace – Government Instructions
A DOPT OM says, “It is necessary to have in place at all times an effective Complaint Mechanism for dealing with cases of sexual harassment of working women and to create awareness in this regard, particularly amongst working women.”
The complaint mechanism should be adequate to provide, where necessary, a Complaints Committee, a special counsellor or other support 'service, including the maintenance of confidentiality.
The Complaints Committee should be headed by a woman and not less than half of its member should be women Further to prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, such Complaints Committee should involve a third party, either NGO or other body who is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment.
The Complaints Committee must make an annual report to the Government department concerned of the complaints and action taken by them.
The employers and person in charge will also report on the compliance with the aforesaid guidelines including on the reports of the Complaints Committee to the Government department.
The Committee constituted for redressal of the complaints by the victims of sexual harassment should be headed by an officer sufficiently higher in rank so as to lend credibility to the investigations. (Does this mean that higher ranking officers will not sexually harass women in work place? In fact most of the harassment comes from top officers only.)