REPORT OF A ONE-DAY CONSULTATION ON THE PROTECTION AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN BILL, 2005
VENUE: - Orissa Police Association Hall Date- 19.09.2006
Police Line, Buxibazar, Cuttack
ORGANISED BY: - CUTTACK DISTRICT POLICE COMPLAINT COMMITTEE
SUPPORTED BY:- NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS, ORISSA
Print and Electronic Media
A One-day Consultation on the DRAFT BILL ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN was organized jointly by Cuttack District Police Complaint Committee and Project Swarajya with the support of National Alliance of Women’s Organization Orissa at Orissa Police Association Hall, Buxibazar, Cuttack on 19.09.2006. Participants hailing from various sectors gave their deliberation and suggestion on how to make the DRAFT BILL conducive to all segments of women. Representatives from both electronic and print media were present and covered the programme too.
INAUGURAL SESSION
Welcoming all the participants, Mrs. Jayashree Kundu, Chairperson Complaint Committee of Cuttack District Police and OIC Cuttack Mahila Thana introduced the guests and presented a bouquet to each of them. Then she requested Mr. Soumendra Priyadashi, S.P. Cuttack to chair the meeting. Then Mrs.Kundu in her brief introduction to the subject said that since time immemorial the phenomenon of sexual harassment has ever existed pervading all quarters of life. Citing the episode of undressing of Droupadi from Mahabharat she wanted to show how the selfsame sordid picture has persisted throughout ages. The violence on women is occurring in each moment due to their weaker profile in the society. She stressed on the need for empowerment of women, which can alone counteract the oppression against them. Referring to the topic of the day, Mrs.Kundu observed that it was high time that all of us should go for a healthy debate on it.
In his opening remarks Mr. Soumendra Ku. Priyadarshi, SP, Cuttack, said that when a woman is under a trial, we should not treat her as a criminal, rather as a victim of circumstances. And more often than not, women always fall victim to the circumstances. The proposed Bill on sexual harassment of women at workplace should come into force as soon as possible. He further informed the audiences that there is a Complaint Committee formed by the Cuttack District Police which is functioning at Mahila Thana.
Then Ms. B. Radhika, DIG, Vigilance, Orissa stated that before going for the debate, a discussion on the draft bill and its salient features was required. She further opined that as it was the fundamental right of every human being to live with dignity, women should not be deprived of the right to work in a free, healthy and conducive atmosphere. Prosperity of a nation depends on the equal progress of both men and women. According to the guideline of the Supreme Court, the formation of the Complaint Committee in each and every institution is to be made mandatory. But till date people are ignorant about this decision of the apex court. Awareness is the prime factor for its wide implementation. Her remarks on the draft bill were on the following lines:
In the draft bill the provision should be there for the third party to complain in case death of the victim.
The Bill is toothless as there is no provision for penalty against the accused.
The Bill’s provisions contain numerous use of the word “May”, and thereby leave ample scope for ambiguity and indetermination.
Concluding her speech she told that the implementation of the existing laws is more important than the formulation of a new law.
Ms. Bishakha Banja of NAWO, Orissa in her deliberation first of all expressed the objectives that NAWO stood by. One of such objectives is to hold consultations on such topics statewide involving cross sections of the society. Then she discussed the salient features of the Bill. She further observed that the people at large, even in urban areas are still indifferent and don’t know about the Supreme Court Guideline. However sexual harassment of women at workplace affects not only the fundamental rights of the women but also violates their human rights and dignity. She discussed about the various limitations of the draft bill which has been jointly prepared by the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India and National Commission for Women. Some of these limitations are:
· The bill is silent about the unorganized women labour, whereas we know that nearly 97% of women are working in the unorganized sector.
· The women at the village level donot have any access to avail the benefits of the proposed law.
· Appropriate mechanism is not there to meet the needs of the rural people. So a Complaint Committee at the Block level is highly essential.
· The provision that an organization having more then 50% of its workforce as permanent workers is obliged to form the Complaint Committee must be omitted.
· Name and address of the members of the State Complaint Committee must be widely propagated and displayed.
· The Bill has no provision for security to be provided to the complainant.
Then Mrs.Bhanja opined that the Bill should be widely propagated along with its omissions and commissions.
Choudhary Sri Pratap Keshari Mishra, retired Judge of Orissa High Court who attended the meeting as its Chief Guest stated that the social, moral and spiritual degradation of the society has become so alarming that such a legislation was felt highly essential. It would primarily check the exploitation and torture of the women. He further observed that taking the cue from the concept of human rights, this Bill has been framed. The frequent use of the word ‘may’ throughout the bill in fact gives a room for flexibility at operational level, and one unwarranted consequence of such indetermination would be that in numbers of cases, the Complaint Committee won’t be formed at all. He also mentioned about the different categories of women populace that remain untouched by the draft bill. Public places like bus stand, street, railway station and temples are not covered. The draft bill is concise no doubt, but lacks in penalty provision. The Bill should provide for exemplary punishment to the offenders. The draft bill needs further refining and improvement. According to him, a Committee should be formed to redraft the bill on sexual harassment taking into particular account the context of Orissa. Above all, whatever may be the words of law, it all depends upon the conscience of the person who executes it. There is a law to provide justice to the women by way of using the 498 (A) of IPC, but in many cases it is being misused. So the proper implementation of the proposed Act on Sexual Harassment is what is called for. As the people in rural areas are by and large are ignorant about it, the NGOs need to propagate it at grassroots level.
Mrs. Sujata Jena, Advocate Orissa High Court in her talk gave an elaborate description of the draft bill and analysed its provisions. First she mentioned about what is called sexual harassment. Then she mentioned about formation of complaint committee, its function, tenure and working mechanism, and formation of regional Complaint Committees. She also informed the house that if both the parties want, a compromise between them could be worked out by the Complaint Committee. She opined that security to the complainant during the pending of enquiry must be ensured and there should be no media publicity about the complainant. Apart from this, a provision must be there to provide a copy of the complaint to the complainant by the committee. The discussion of the matters relating to the complaint should be done within a closed room. She further opined that the head of the organization must not be given any power to influence or revise the decision taken by the Complaint Committee, but should abide by the final decision of the complaint committee, and a copy of the same complaint should be forwarded to the local police station.
Then Ms. Rekha Lohani, SP Vigilance, Khurda spoke about the State Complaint Committee, informed the names of its members. She expressed the view that the State Complaint Committee should be notified and circulated publicly. She also briefly told about the newly formed Complaint Committee of the State Government and its members along with their qualification. She opined that the committee should have at least one meeting in two months. The State Complaint Committee should provide for email and internet facilities too. In the Committee 50 % of members must be women. The employer should take disciplinary action against the employee, against whom the complaint has been filed and verified. Lastly the role of the NGOs is very important in popularizing such measures and creating awareness among the people, concluded Ms.Lohani.
The Principal of MS Law College Dr Jayadev Pati, a distinguished guest on the occasion said that the topics like the current one were already included in the courses of studies for the students of law. He further hinted at the hypocrisy that accounted for so belated presentation of the bill on sexual harassment. The decision for this bill was taken in 1997 but till date it couldn’t be made into an Act. He also expressed that the current practice of making a law lacks in perception about the ground reality. For instance, the draft bill is silent about the women working in the unorganized sector. Thus, to check the harassment of women, we the people must be serious alert and vigilant. No law can substitute the people’s action. However a law, if it be there in place, will help us as an aid to fight a social problem. Thus correlation between rights and duties is highly required to make the intention of the proposed bill fruitful. He further observed that women at Panchayat level should be empowered. In today’s society where gender discrimination is so forceful, this law will ensure a right place for women in each and every sector. Again he suggested that before enactment, the Bill should be properly formulated. One won’t face unnecessary trouble if the provisions of an Act are clear and straightforward. Common people should also be aware about the Bill.
Sri Bishnu Prasad Mohapatra , DIG, Human Rights Protection Cell, Orissa started with the observation that the laws were always there but not their proper implementation. Critiquing the bill he said that the provision for women engaged by the contractors, women daily labourers and women migrants is not covered in the Draft Bill. Then he told out of his experience that when a woman complains against any form of sexual harassment caused to her, she has to face a lot of problems. Giving his suggestion to modify the Bill, he told that the Committee must be given legal power to conduct an enquiry. The Committees at the village and Panchayat level are to be managed by the women themselves. He further wanted that the bill should define what kind of behavior would constitute sexual harassment. For instance, an officer on the pretext of the principle of ‘ladies first’ may show favor to the ladies of his choice, and such liberal overtures constitute the first step towards realization of his hidden intention to exploit them.
Adding support to this statement of Mr Mohapatra, Ms Radhika commented that the immediate boss in many cases showing favour to his women subordinates refrains from doing his duty properly. Under such circumstances, women allow themselves to remain vulnerable. So the working women should be cautious about it. Then Mr. Mohapatra urged for the cooperation of public to make the proposed Bill come out successfully as an Act minus its shortcomings.
DISCUSSION SESSION
At the beginning of 2nd session, Mrs. Riny Mohanty of Basundhara, Cuttack told that this type of consultation should be organized more and more, so that the common women could be made aware about it.
Mrs. Saila Behera, Secretary, Basundhara in her talk opined that this Bill was meant for those women who were working in any organized setup or workplace. But we should be more concerned with the women who work outside the organized sector, and particularly those women who are foreigners, disabled, diseased, destitute, deserted and abandoned. These categories of women though highly vulnerable cannot speak for themselves. The Bill is conspicuously silent about them. So this aspect should be included into the Bill. All categories of women should be given justice by this Bill.
District Social Welfare Officer Cuttack Ms. Annapurna Pradhan said that she was not aware about the provisions of the Bill. But she knows that a Complaint Committee is functioning in the Collectorate, Cuttack, and one senior OAS officer is appointed as Chairperson of the Committee. All the CDPOs are informed about it and they have been asked to disseminate the information on Complaint Committee to all concerned, so that the women employees could avail its scope. Unfortunately the Committee is not meeting frequently, since no complaint comes. She further informed that a Block level complaint committee would be set up in each block. All PRI members would be given information about such committees. At present, the women who are working at block level are not able to put forth their problems before the district level committee, just out of fear.
Then a suggestion was given by Mrs. Dolli Dash of Project Swarajya that the names of the members of the State Complaint Committee must be notified in the Gazetteer.
The President of Utkal Mahila Samiti Smt. Basanti Sahoo told that the information on Draft Bill should be spread to each village. Common people should know about the complaint committees at various levels.
Dr Minakshi Panda Lecturer of Biren Mitra Memorial Women’s College gave the suggestion that there should not be any percentage of the women staff working in an organized set-up as the criterion for formation of complaint committee. She further suggested that the Bill should ensure to see that the committees be functional and active.
Ms. Prabhabati Panda, a Lecturer and a representative of Nari Seva Sangha told that there should not be any differentiation between workplace and non-work place as the locus of sexual harassment, and schools and colleges should be included in it.
Mr. Ashok Dalai, Advocate Orissa High Court suggested that the time-limit for disposal of a complaint should be reduced from the proposed 90 days. The rules should come into force at once with the Act. The words and expressions in the Bill should be free from ambiguity so that the Advocates can argue with facility for a victim. Otherwise multiple meaning and interpretation of words may result in negative consequences for a victim. The Act should be worded in such a manner as to enable the victim to get justice properly and timely.
The second session was presided over by Mr. Chitta Ranjan Nanda, Advocate Orissa High Court. Lastly Mr Niranjan Mishra Sub-Inspector of District Intelligence Bureau gave a vote of thanks to all the participants of the consultation.
The above mentioned names apart, many other persons had taken part in the deliberations of the consultation and given their valuable suggestions.
A CONSOLIDATED LIST OF SUGGESTIONS GIVEN BY THE SPEAKERS AND PARTICIPANTS ON THE DRAFT BILL FOR ITS IMPROVEMENT.