The POSH Act and Internal Complaints Committees: A Law in Spirit, a 'Dead Letter' in Practice?
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Laws related to women - POSH Act, Supreme Court judgments - Vishaka Guidelines, statutory bodies - ICC), Social Issues.
Mains:
GS Paper 1: Role of women and women's organization, Social empowerment.
GS Paper 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population; Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections (women); Governance issues (implementation gap).
Key Highlights from the News
The suicide of a female student in Balasore, Odisha, points to the failure of Internal Complaints Committees (ICC) in institutions.
The student committed suicide after the ICC failed to act on a sexual harassment complaint against a teacher.
According to the POSH Act, 2013 (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act), it is mandatory for all establishments with more than 10 employees to form an ICC.
This law was formulated based on the historic Vishaka Guidelines of the Supreme Court in 1997.
ICCs have the powers of a civil court, and the law guarantees confidentiality in complaints.
However, a decade after the law was passed, many institutions either have not formed ICCs or they are inactive.
In December 2024, the Supreme Court itself expressed concern about serious lapses in the implementation of the law.
Lack of adequate training for ICC members and lack of accountability in institutions are the main reasons for the failure of this system.
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