Creating a Safe Environment for the Woman Workforce

With offices opening up and work from home becoming optional, what remains critical is understanding the importance of giving respect to all employees of a company and especially the “working woman”. This is one common attribute that is lacking among many companies leading to mishaps that are uncalled for. In fact you may be surprised to know that the reported cases of harassment at the workplace were twice more during the lock down than the number of cases reported in the last 3 years. This is shocking and hence the need to not only educate but also create awareness on the importance of safety for our working woman.

Around 20% of the workforce in India consists of working woman. They multitask by managing their homes and work in an organized and systematic way. These include women working in both organized and unorganized sector. But I strongly feel that protecting them is the key irrespective of the work they do. As a country, we must be safe and woman should feel secure even walking on the road late at night returning from work. Only if we make this happen we can say that we are progressing as a country.

The government of India has come out with the PoSH ( Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace – Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal Act 2013) to protect all working women in India. The act clearly states that any organization having 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee. Also to ensure protection of women in organizations with less than 10 employees, any woman can file her complaint at the Local Committee appointed at every District by the government. In fact I am happy to say that many states have taken implementation of this Act very seriously and introduced initiatives such as” She Teams, She Box, Woman specific Helpline Numbers, stringent punishment to the harasser, etc.

While the government across the political spectrum is making all efforts to protect women, it is our responsibility to protect them and create a happy and safe working environment for them in the workplace. This would encourage more woman to be confident and brave and join the workforce. And an outcome of this would be that girls can dream big, spread their wings and soar high to achieve their dreams.