The National Commission for Women has presented a draft Bill on Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace for Cabinet and Parliamentary approval on Thursday.
NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said this while speaking at the panel discussion on `Can Mere Enactment of Laws Ensure Women's Security Sufficiently?' organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation in the capital.
Vyas said the draft Bill has recommended measures to prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment to working women both in the organised and unorganised sector, and suggested concrete measures for the prevention of crime at the workplace. The Bill calls for providing facilities such as pick-up and drop conveyance for women working in night shifts.
She pointed out that the law itself cannot be a panacea for ensuring security for women as the executors, be they police personnel or politicians, have had their way in exploiting the loopholes, thereby making the administration of justice a farce.
The NCW chief said counselling and training for gender sensitisation and self-protection must begin at the home for the young minds.
This would be a far easier and effective way than to change the mindsets of adults.
Usha Agarwala, president of FICCI Ladies Organisation, said a major threat to women was the increasing incidence of rape.
Often sexual misconduct goes unreported due to a culture of silence in reporting sexual violence due to lack of confidence in law enforcement and the fear of stigmatisation. Rehabilitation of rape victims, she said, was a challenge for the society.
Vimla Mehra, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime Against Women Cell, informed the audience that the Delhi Police had initiated a gender sensitisation programme for all Station House Officers and Assistant SHOs so that the crimes perpetrated on women were seen in the correct perspective and the confidence of the people in the law enforcement agencies was restored.
