Other States - Rajasthan   

Women pick holes in anti-harassment Bill

JAIPUR: Women's groups in Rajasthan on Saturday expressed concern over some provisions in the Bill for protection of women against sexual harassment at workplaces introduced recently in the Lok Sabha, saying the stipulation of punishment for “false complaints”, exclusion of domestic workers and lack of transparent procedure would defeat the purpose of the legislation.

In a statement here, activists including Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy and former State Women's Commission chairperson Pawan Surana said while the Bill had been introduced after a consistent struggle by women's organisations for several years, there were certain provisions which were unacceptable and would in fact “reverse the struggle” for women's security at workplaces.

‘Contrary to verdict'

The provision in Section 14 of the Bill making “false and malicious complaints” of sexual harassment punishable is totally against the Supreme Court's Vishakha judgment which ruled that no action should be taken against a woman for lodging a complaint, according to the statement.

Women activists pointed out that on the basis of their experience of dealing with cases, accusations of false complaints were routinely made against women victims. The law ought to provide a conducive atmosphere in this regard because women employees were usually “extremely hesitant” to lodge complaints for fear of reprisal, they said.

“Though mere inability to substantiate the complaint or provide adequate proof has not been made punishable, we feel that this is not good enough. The fact that she can be proceeded against will hang like a Damocles' sword over the victim's head,” stated the women's groups demanding deletion of the provision.

They took strong exception to the domestic workers having been kept out of the purview of the Bill despite the fact that the National Commission for Women's draft had specifically listed them in the scheduled list or unorganised workers. “Leaving this vulnerable section of women workers out [of the purview] is unacceptable,” they said.

Unfair to domestic workers

The definition of “employee” under Section 2 (e) of the Bill covers contract worker, co-worker, voluntary worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice and a person employed on regular, temporary, ad hoc or daily wage basis, but does not include domestic worker working at home.

Since the domestic workers were already within the purview of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, in several States, their exclusion was a reversal of the struggle for women's rights, said the activists.

The Bill – tabled in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath – also leaves the discretion for appointing the local complaints committee under Section 6 solely with the district officer, which the women's groups felt was likely to be exercised “in an arbitrary manner”.

A more transparent procedure should be prescribed in this regard, said the statement.

Women's groups said the changes suggested by them should be incorporated in the Bill before its enactment as the law. As regards complaints, they pointed out that any person who feels that a false complaint has been made against him could always take recourse to criminal or civil law.

Besides Ms. Roy and Ms. Surana, other signatories to the statement include Sumitra Chopra of All India Democratic Women's Association, Laad Kumari Jain of Rajasthan University Women's Association, Mamta Jaitley of Vividha, Mewa Bharati of Domestic Workers' Union, Kavita Srivastava of People's Union for Civil Liberties, Nishat Hussain of National Muslim Women's Welfare Society and Meeta Singh of Prayas.

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Women pick holes in anti-harassment Bill

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