Monthly Archives: November 2016
In the last couple of days, we saw several reports highlighting two common concerns – Inaction on complaints of sexual harassment and retaliation towards the complainant. It is important to first lay down a gist of these four articles. Inaction by school on a complaint by a school girl: In an article dated 22nd November, ... Read More Keeping yourself updated: First and foremost, it is extremely important that you are aware of all that is happening on this subject, not just in India, but also in other countries, for you to be able to support employers in any manner. It’s simple, the more informed you are, the better advice you will be ... Read More Children are like wet cement, whatever falls on them makes an impression. Gender socialization starts at an early stage and schools and colleges usually play a major role in such socialization which eventually contributes to the personality of a child. Hence, taking initiatives such as educating young minds to be equal and fair and teaching ... Read More What is a Local Complaints Committee? The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 states that the State Government is required to notify a District Magistrate / Additional District Magistrate / Collector / Deputy Collector as a District Officer for every District. This District Officer is required to constitute a committee ... Read More Sexual Harassment is the “behavioural execution of a defective, discriminating, imposing mentality to cause discomfort, shame and insult.” Sexual harassment of a woman in workplace is of serious concern to humanity on the whole. It cannot be construed to be in a narrow sense, as it may include sexual advances and other verbal or physical ... Read More The Ministry of Women and Child Development, with respect to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“the Act”), which turned two on 9th December, issued, on the same day, a ‘Handbook’ on the Act (“Handbook”) which, inter alia, states the following: Every woman has right to safe workplace: The Act recognizes the right ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum F. No. 11013/2/2014-Estt (A-III), dated 16th July, 2015 stating that a guide on “Steps for Conduct of Inquiry in complaints of Sexual Harassment” (“Step Guide”) has been formulated laying down ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum F. No. 11013/2/2014-EsttA-III, dated 5th May, 2015 containing the minutes of the meeting of Chairpersons held on 16th April, 2015 to discuss the progress of implementation of the guidelines on ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), by way of the corrigendum F. No. 11013/2/2014-Estt.A-Ill, dated 30th July, 2015 (“Corrigendum”) stated that it had prepared and circulated a step guide for conduct of the inquiry into complaints of sexual harassment vide Office ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum F. No. 11012/0S/2016-Estt.A-III, dated 2nd June, 2016 regarding filing of appeals under Section 18 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. This Office ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum F. No. 11013/2/2014-Estt.A-III, dated 9th September, 2016 regarding the seniority of the Chairperson of Internal Complaints Committee (“ICC”) of an organization under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum No. 13026/2/2016-Estt. (L), dated 14th July, 2016 regarding grant of leave to the aggrieved woman during pendency of inquiry up to a period of three months in addition to the ... Read More The Government of India through the Ministry of Women and Child Development, issued a Department Circular No. 19-8 2014-WW, dated 27th October, 2014 (“Department Circular”) regarding implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. This Department Circular clarifies that ‘the Act casts an obligation upon all the organizations ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), wrote to the Secretaries of all Ministries / Departments vide D. O. No. 11013/2/2014-Estt. (A-III), on 20th March, 2015 stating that it had been decided to convene a meeting with the Chairpersons of the ... Read More The Government of India, through the Department of Personnel & Training of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (“DoPT”), published the Office Memorandum No. 11013/2/2014-Estt (A-III), dated 2nd February, 2015 in relation to the reporting requirements under the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. ... Read More In the case of Jishu Sengupta & Others vs. The State of West Bengal & Anr., decided by the High Court of Calcutta on 4th November, 2016, the Court held that statements with sexual connotations and sexual innuendos are “sexually coloured remarks” and fall within the definition of sexual harassment under Section 354A of the ... Read More The Times of India, in its Article titled ‘Do Anti-Harassment Cell exist?’ recently reported that an incident involving the rape of an engineering college student by her college mates and another one where a student was subjected to sexual assault, have raised grave safety concerns among the student fraternity. It reported that though colleges have anti ... Read More Recently, the Bombay High Court, in the case of Vidya Akhave vs. Union of India, Department of Women & Children and Ors., decided on 4th October, 2016, made an observation that: Very often women share common concerns which men do not necessarily share or the concern expressed by women have not been necessarily understood by men ... Read More 
