Government employees can now lodge sexual harassment complaints online with SHe Box

The Ministry of Women and Child(MWC) launched “ SHe box” that is, Sexual Harassment e-box, where government employees can report cases of “ sexual harassment at workplace.”

This service will be hosted on the ministry's website www.wcd.nic.in. The complainant can simply log in lodge their complaint against sexual harassment at workplace. This facility was launched after several women employees complained about the inefficiencies in the existing mechanism and the judgments were often delayed.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, passed in February 2013, mandates any organization with an employee force greater than ten, to induct a committee that directly looks into cases of harassment in a professional setting.

WCD Minister Maneka Gandhi aims to take stock of the problem by conducting nationwide surveys to gauge how widespread are the incidents of sexual harassment in the professional world.

A WCD Ministry official said, “ We keep asking government organisations and private sector to send us report on whether ICCC are functional and how many complaints have been filed and disposed of. The response has been not so good and compliance is limited.”

He also pointed out that, “ many women are hesitant to come forward and complain against a colleague/senior where she is working. SHe-box will be providing anonymity to complainants.

Once a complaint is registered, it will forward to the ministry/department where the woman works. They will also follow it up at regular intervals with the respective ministry as to what action has been initiated.