43% of women experienced non-inclusive behaviours like harassment or microaggressions, and nearly half had concerns about their safety at work or safety while travelling to work, according to an Economic Times article which cited Deloitte’s 2024 Women @ Work report.
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How many harassment cases did Indian companies report recently?
This also comes at a time when total POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) complaints reported by 700 NSE-listed firms analysed by The Udaiti Foundation increased from 1,807 during the financial year 2022-23 to 2,325 in 2023-24, or a 29% increase.
The “total pending resolution of complaints” on the other hand, worryingly increased from 260 in 2022-23 to 435 in 2023-24, which is a 67% increase.
Which sectors recorded the most harassment faced by women?
The services sector had the highest number of POSH cases per 1,000 women. This was followed by the construction materials, metals, and mining sectors.
How are companies dealing with harassment faced by women?
The Udaiti Foundation’s women in India Inc survey of over 200 HR leaders found that 59% of the companies had not set up an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) for sexual harassment cases, which is mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act.
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ICCs are usually not set up until a complaint is actually filed, with many companies also failing to create any awareness about employees’ rights, the article read.
“POSH policy is specifically safeguarding an employee against verbal, mental or physical abuse which are sexual,” the report quoted Cynthia Gokhale, Director-Marketing, Corporate Communication & Service Assurance at ManpowerGroup, as saying. “It is definitely not enough but it is a redressal framework for justice which did not exist in the past.”