Sexual harassment at the workplace represents a type of gender discrimination that infringes upon a woman’s fundamental rights to equality and life. India’s first legislation dedicated to addressing this issue is the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act), established by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2013. The PoSH Act is designed with the goal of preventing and safeguarding women from workplace sexual harassment while ensuring an efficient resolution of harassment complaints. The law seeks to provide each woman with a secure, respectful, and dignified work environment, free from any form of harassment.

Sexual harassment means any unwanted conduct with sexual undertones if it occurs or which is persistent and which demeans, humiliates or creates a hostile and intimidating environment or induces submission by actual or threatened adverse consequences and includes any one or more or all of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication), namely –

• Any unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature
• Demand or request for sexual favours
• Making sexually coloured remarks
• Physical contact and advances
• Showing pornography

Anyone (or more than one) of the following circumstances, if it occurs or is present in relation or connected with any behaviour that has explicit or implicit sexual undertones-

• Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment as quid pro quo for sexual favours.
• Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in the conduct of work.
• Implied or explicit threat about the present or future status of the person connected.
• Creating an intimidating offensive or hostile learning environment.
• Humiliating treatment likely to affect the health, safety, dignity or physical integrity of the person concerned.

• A presiding officer who shall be a women faculty member employed at a senior level at the educational institute, nominated by the executive authority.
• Two faculty members and two non-teaching employees, preferably committed to the cause of women or who had experience in social work or have legal knowledge, nominated by the executive authority.
• Three students, if the matter involves students, who shall be enrolled at the undergraduate, masters and research scholar levels respectively, elected through transparent democratic procedure.
• One member from amongst non-governmental organisations or associations committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment, nominated by the executive authority.

As per the PoSH Act, the College has established the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

This committee is formed to address and handle complaints pertaining to sexual harassment in the workplace.

Every HEI shall: –

• Publicly notify the provisions against sexual harassment and ensure their wide dissemination.
• Create awareness about what constitutes sexual harassment including hostile environment harassment and quid pro quo harassment.
• Reinforce its commitment to creating its campus free from discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or sexual assault at all levels.
• Publicly commit itself to a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassments.
• Inform employees and students of the resources available to them if they are victims of sexual harassment.
• Proactively move to curb all forms harassment of employees and students whether it is from those in a dominant power or hierarchical relationship within HEIs or owing to intimate partner violence or from elements outside of the geographical limits of HEI.
• Be responsible to bring those guilty of sexual harassment against its employees and students to book and initiate all proceedings as required by law and also put in place mechanisms and redressal systems like the ICC to curb and prevent sexual harassment on its campus.
• Organise regular orientation or training programmes for the members of the ICC to deal with complaints, steer the process of settlement or conciliation, etc. with sensitivity.
• Treat sexual harassment as misconduct under service rules and initiate action for misconduct if the perpetrator is an employee.
• Prepare an annual status report with details on the number of cases filed and their disposal and submit the same to the Commission.

• Provide assistance if an employee or student chooses to file a complaint to the police.
• Provide mechanisms of dispute redressal and dialogue to anticipate and address issues through just and fair conciliation without undermining complainant’s rights and minimize the need for purely primitive approaches that lead to further resentment, alienation and violence.
• Protect the safety of the complainant by not divulging the person’s identity and provide the mandatory relief by the way of sanctioned leave or relaxation of attendance requirement or transfer to another department or supervisor as required during the pendency of the complaint, or also provide for the transfer of the offender.
• Ensure that the victims and witnesses are not victimised or discriminated against while dealing with complaints or sexual harassment.
• Ensure prohibition of retaliation or adverse action against an individual involved in opposing practices violating sexual harassment laws by participating in sexual harassment proceedings or cooperating with the internal investigation.

o   An aggrieved person is required to submit a written complaint to the ICC within three months from the date of incident and in case of series of incidents within a period of three months from the date of last incident.

o   Provided that where such complaint cannot be made in the writing, the Presiding Officer or any member of the ICC shall render all reasonable assistance to the person for making the complaint in writing.

o   Provided further that the ICC, may for the reasons to be accorded in the writing, extend the time limit not exceeding three months, if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the person from filing a complaint within the said period.

o   Friends, relatives, colleagues, co-student, psychologist, or any other associate of the victim may file the complaint on account of physical or mental incapacity or death.

o   The ICC shall, upon receipt of the complaint, send one copy of the complaint to the respondent within a period of seven days of such receipt.

o   Upon receipt of the copy of the complaint, the respondent shall file his or her reply to complaint along with necessary documents within a period of ten days.

o   The inquiry has to be completed within a period of ninety days. The report with recommendations if any, has to submit within ten days from the completion of the inquiry to the Executive Authority of the HEI.

o   The Executive Authority of the HEI shall act on the recommendations of the committee within a period of thirty days from the receipt of the inquiry report, unless a appeal against the findings is field within that time by either party.

• During the entire process, the identity of the victim and the alleged offender should be protected. Both sides can produce witnesses and evidence.

If the person found guilty is a student, the punishment can include

• Withhold privileges of the student such as access to the library, auditorium, halls of residence, transportation, scholarship, allowances and identity card.
• Suspend or restrict entry into the campus for a specific period.
• Expel and strike off name from the rolls of the institution, including denial of readmission, if the offence so warrants.
• Award reformative punishments like mandatory counseling and or performance of community services.

To ensure that the provisions for protection of employees and students from sexual harassment do not get misused, provisions against false or malicious complaints have to be made and publicized by all HEIs. If the ICC concludes that the allegations made were false, malicious or the complaint was made knowing it to be untrue, or forged or misleading information has been provided during the inquiry, the complainant shall be liable to be punished. However, the mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof will not attract attention against the complainant. Malicious intent on the parts of complainant shall not be established without an inquiry, in accordance with the procedure prescribed, conducted before any action is recommended.