India lower house passes sexual harassment bill

[ajtr]

India lower house passes sexual harassment bill

NEW DELHI: India’s parliament, which has been deadlocked for days due to opposition protests, on Monday used a brief break in the uproar to pass legislation protecting women from sexual harassment at work.
The lower house passed the bill before business was again abandoned for the day as lawmakers from the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) shouted, stood in the well of the assembly and waved their papers.
Women’s rights activists say sexual harassment is a rampant problem in India, where an increasing number of women are joining the workforce.
The legislation, which must still be passed by the upper house before becoming law, specifically includes protection for female domestic staff, one of the most vulnerable work groups in India.
“I am glad that they cleared this crucial bill. Women have a right to feel safe wherever they are,” said Raghavi Behl, a professor of women’s studies at Delhi University.
The anti-harassment bill, which improves women’s rights to take legal action against abuse at work, also means that all workplaces must have a formal complaints system for sexual harassment allegations.
“Many women are scared to report sexual abuse as they want to keep their jobs,” said RK Sethi, who runs Shakti, a women’s rights forum in New Delhi.
Sethi said studies suggest one out of five Indian female workers aged under 35 have suffered physical assault by a colleague or manager at work.

 

[Riteon]

unfair !! how come men are not protected.........there are plenty of those too now !! Indian laws are more favourable to womens !!!!
anyways this is gonna have big impact....wonder how many falses cases are gonna pop out and does this law have any subclause for wrongful accusation ?

In kerala , if simply a woman files a fir with police, the guy is screwed !!

 

[kumarkumar1867]

Good Decision by Lower house Policy makers. Hope these decision gets green signal in public/private sector as soon as possible.
India sheerly needs indian women to get empowered & contribute in progress with participation in all fields of economy / productive services.

 

[Shardul.....the lion]

Good decision. Needs to be appreciated.

But passing laws is not only solution, general public needs to be sensitized towards rampant harassment towards woman in our parts of world.

 

[ajtr]

Safety net at hand

While welcoming the Bill protecting working women from sexual harassment, activists raise some concerns

Watched and followed with much anticipation by women’s organisations across the country, the Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2010. While women activists welcomed the passing of the Bill, they also voiced their apprehension about “the actual implementation and passing-on of the benefits of the protection” under the new law. National Federation of Indian Women general secretary Annie Raja said, “The passing of the Bill comes as a huge step forward in bringing in laws protecting women against sexual harassment at workplace. We are very happy with the fact that provisions of the Bill also include protection for domestic workers.” The Bill defines domestic worker as a woman employed to do household work in any household for remuneration whether in cash or kind, either directly or through any agency on temporary, permanent, part time or full time basis, but does not include any member of the family of the employer.Ms. Raja adds, “While this is a welcome inclusion, our area of concern is the implementation of the law. We have witnessed disappointing results in the implementation of the legal provisions brought in for protecting women against domestic violence and dowry. The Centre and state governments need to bring in strong mechanisms to ensure that women in India actually benefit from this positive step. There is also a need to constantly review and include women who work in the new emerging unorganised sectors.”

Advocate Vrinda Grover said, “Sexual harassment includes any one or more of unwelcome acts or behaviour like physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, making sexually coloured remarks or showing pornography. The acts or behaviour, whether directly or by implication, include any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.”She added that a major area of concern in the draft was the provision for punishment of complainants who register 'false complaints' against their employers. “This is a provision that we objected to strongly. It is well known that sexual harassment at workplace is rampant and under reported. Most women, even if they do report a case, quickly become isolated at the workplace without support to prove their case. So in such an environment, the women have to deal with the provision of being penalised in case a complaint is not proved. This goes against the very spirit of the Bill. However, we don’t yet have details of the final draft that has been passed,” she said.Highlighting the fact that the Bill left out women working in the agricultural sector, Brinda Karat, member of the polit bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said, “It is gross injustice that a large section of women are not even considered for being given the right to register their complaint against their employers. Women working in the agricultural sector and poor tribal women working in the unorganised sector under a contract too need protection. The Central government can even now look at bringing in provisions for extending the protection net to these vulnerable groups.”

 

[Splurgenxs]

well this bill essential spreads a much wider net on issues pertaining to woman harassment by the opposite sex and hence termed "sexual harassment" ;weather anything said and done was sexual in nature or with sexual intent is another matter.

I am not fully swayed by this legislation , its wide applications are prone to misuse by the public.

Though still ,if such measures aren't taken, we can never look forward to considering our woman empowered and becoming rightful siblings and heir to the parents of this shitty semi literate society.

This country still has a vast number of rotten __ baby girl killers on the loose ,such measure may be in some aspects excessive but very necessary if perceptions and ideologies are to be refreshed.