The Indian government’s recent move to universalize women helplines and boost the reach of One Stop Centres (OSCs), alongside a better implemented POSH Act, would hold the key to women’s economic participation in the country.
According to the government’s recent response in the Parliament, it is looking at a combination of strategies to ensure safe workspaces.
The response said, “The (POSH) act casts a mandatory obligation upon every employer, whether private or public sector, to create an environment which is free from sexual harassment and to constitute internal committee (IC) for receiving complaints related to sexual harassment.”
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 also referred to as the POSH Act, alongside measures like the centers and helplines, will offer medical aid, legal counseling, and psychosocial counseling.
The government has repeatedly recognized the need for effective implementation of POSH at workspaces.
Avtar has been working with organizations to create a safe workplace through the POSH Act training program. The Act aims at making workplaces safer for women by preventing, prohibiting, and redressing acts of sexual harassment against them in the workplace. The core objective of this workshop is the capacity building of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) members.
The emphasis also extends to Avtar and Seramount’s Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) rankings. The 2021 BCWI study found that 94% of companies run e-modules for training their employees. The Top 10 and Top 100 companies conduct an array of workshops to ensure that the employees know the provisions, legalities, and redressal involved.
