DDLSA organises awareness programmme on sexual harassment

Dimapur, Dec. 17 (EMN): Dimapur district legal service authority organised a legal awareness programme on sexual harassment at the workplace.

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) spoke on the sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 which “is a legislative act in India that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work.”

According to the Act, “sexual harassment includes such unwelcome sexually determined behavior (whether directly or by implication) as: physical contact and advances; a demand or request for sexual favors; sexually colored remarks; showing pornography; or any other unwelcome physical verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature,” an update stated.

The programme was held at Café Leon in Dimapur on December 17 in collaboration with The Morung Express.

It stated the CJM, while citing the handbook released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, stated that the Act provides protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment.

She maintained that the law states that an organisation with 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee (IC) to receive and redress complaints on sexual harassment at workplace.

She also added that ‘there is a need to increase the level of awareness and sensitisation on this particular issue since our society still lacks even the basic information and knowledge about women’s rights’.