(a) to (e): The Government has enacted ‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’ (SH Act) which aims to provide protection to women against sexual harassment at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints related to it for all women, irrespective of their age, employment status or nature of work whether working in public or private, organized or unorganized sector.. The Act entrusts respective ‘appropriate Governments’ with the responsibility of monitoring implementation of the Act as well as for maintaining data on the number of cases filed and disposed of in respect of all cases of sexual harassment of women at workplace. As per the Act, the Appropriate Government in relation to those workplaces which are established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the Central Government or a Union Territory Administration, is Central Government and in relation to workplaces which are established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by any State Government, the appropriate Government is that State Government. Further, in relation to any other workplace falling within its territory, the appropriate Government is also that State Government.
However, to facilitate lodging of complaints under the Act, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has developed an online complaint portal titled Sexual Harassment Electronic Box (SHe-Box) to facilitate the registration of complaints related to sexual harassment of women at work place. Once a complaint is registered in the SHe-Box, it directly reaches the concerned authorities having jurisdiction to take action in the matter. The responsibility to take action on such complaints as well as to ensure updating of status in that regard on SHe Box, is with the concerned authorities. State/ UT-wise details of number of sexual harassment complaints received in respect of workplaces in Private sector / State Government / UT Administrations on SHe-Box since its inception is at Annexure.
MWCD has issued advisories to States/ UTs and the Central Ministries/ Departments from time to time for strict implementation of the Act so as to create women friendly work environment
*****
Annexure
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 3299 FOR ANSWER ON 17.12.2021 ASKED BY SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK, SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI, DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR, SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL, SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR AND SHRI BHOLA SINGH REGARDING “COMPLAINTS UNDER SHE-BOX”
State/UT-wise number of complaints relating to private sector/ State Governments/ UT Administrations registered over SHe-Box and recorded as disposed by the concerned authorities in respective State Governments/ UT Administrations since inception of SHe-Box:
State Numbers of complaints relating to private sector/ State Governments/ UT Administrations registered over SHe-Box Numbers of these complaints recorded as disposed by the concerned authorities in States/ UTs over SHe-Box
Andaman & Nicobar Islands 0 0
Andhra Pradesh 23 0
Arunachal Pradesh 2 0
Assam 4 0
Bihar 22 15
Chandigarh 4 0
Chhattisgarh 10 3
Dadra & Naga Haveli & Daman & Diu 0 0
Delhi 62 21
Goa 1 0
Gujarat 30 18
Haryana 50 20
Himachal Pradesh 5 4
Jammu & Kashmir (including UT of Ladakh) 8 0
Jharkhand 3 0
Karnataka 56 50
Kerala 13 0
Lakshdweep 0 0
Madhya Pradesh 38 11
Maharashtra 102 22
Manipur 0 0
Meghalaya 1 0
Mizoram 0 0
Nagaland 0 0
Odisha 5 2
Puducherry 4 0
Punjab 15 5
Rajasthan 40 29
Sikkim 0 0
Tamil Nadu 67 42
Telangana 24 8
Tripura 1 0
Uttar Pradesh 92 74
Uttarakhand 7 6
West Bengal 19 0
***
Download PDF Files
