Safeguarding Women at Work
Safeguarding Women at Work
Key Takeaways
Introduction
A safe workplace is not merely a legal requirement but a foundational element for ensuring that women can exercise their fundamental rights to equality, dignity, and economic empowerment. Sexual harassment of women at workplace is a serious violation of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 15, the right to practice any profession or occupation under Article 19(1)(g), and the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It creates an insecure work environment, hindering women’s participation in the workforce and adversely affecting their economic empowerment and the goal of inclusive growth.
The absence of strong safeguards in the past hindered women’s workforce entry and retention. Earlier criminal provisions were under the Indian Penal Code and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (SH Act), drafted on Vishakha guidelines.
It provides a clear legal framework to prevent, prohibit, and redress sexual harassment. The Act protects every woman at work, across all sectors and employment types. It promotes a culture of respect and safety while advancing inclusive economic growth. The SHe-Box portal acts as a key digital initiative, and strengthens this framework by offering an easy, secure, and transparent way for women to file and track complaints.
Key Provisions and Obligations under the SH Act
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (SH Act) was enacted on 9th December 2013. The Act seeks to prevent sexual harassment and ensure a safe, secure and inclusive working environment for women. It applies across all sectors — public and private, organised and unorganised — and protects every woman irrespective of her age, employment status or nature of work. This also includes domestic workers.
Institutional Mechanisms
The Act establishes clear institutional mechanisms for redressal.
The Appropriate Government holds overall responsibility for monitoring implementation.
The Central Government acts as the Appropriate Government for workplaces it establishes, owns, controls or substantially or wholly finances either directly or indirectly.
State Governments perform this role for workplaces they fund either directly or indirectly, and for all other workplaces within their jurisdiction. Both levels of government maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of under the Act.
Complaint Process
The complaint process is time-bound to ensure prompt action.
Employer Responsibilities
Employers have clear proactive duties under the Act. Beyond merely reacting to complaints, the law requires them to take active steps to prevent sexual harassment from occurring in the first place. This preventive approach is central to creating a respectful and secure work culture. Employers must ensure that all employees are aware of their rights and must ensure a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment. Regular engagement and training help build sensitivity and accountability across the organisation.
Monitoring and Compliance
The SH Act places strong emphasis on effective monitoring to ensure proper implementation across the country. The Appropriate Government is responsible for overseeing compliance. This includes maintaining accurate data on the number of cases filed and disposed of under the Act.
The Appropriate Government has additional powers to enforce compliance. It can request any relevant information from employers or District Officers. It can also authorise inspections of records and workplaces related to sexual harassment cases. These measures help track progress, identify gaps, and ensure the Act is implemented in both letter and spirit.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
These monitoring and enforcement measures are backed by strict penalties for anyone who fail to comply with the Act.
Role of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) is the nodal ministry for the SH Act. It issues advisories to Central Ministries, States, UTs and private bodies and plays a pivotal role in effective implementation.
Supreme Court Monitoring: Current Scenario
The Hon’ble Supreme Court, to ensure effective implementation of the SH Act, is actively monitoring progress. It continues to play a key role through an ongoing matter- WP No. 2482 of 2014 (Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa & Ors.) tagged with WP No. 1224 of 2017 (Initiatives for Inclusion v. Union of India)
In these matters, the Supreme Court has issued several directions to strengthen compliance nationwide emphasising that the SH Act must be implemented in both letter and spirit.
Recent orders from the Court have further accelerated action:
In line with these judicial directions, the MWCD regularly issues advisories to Central Ministries, State Governments, Union Territories, and private sector bodies. These advisories focus on setting up LCs in every district and ICs wherever required and organising regular workshops and awareness programmes to sensitise employees and build capacity of committee members.
The SHe-Box Portal
The MoWCD launched the Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) on 29th August 2024.
SHe-Box serves as a single-window, centralised digital platform. By creating a central repository — which was previously unavailable — the SHe-Box portal strengthens monitoring of the Act’s implementation. It helps track cases filed and disposed of nationwide. The platform promotes accountability, faster redressal, and long-term cultural change in workplaces. Ultimately, SHe-Box contributes to safer work environments and advances women’s empowerment.
It enables any woman facing sexual harassment at the workplace — irrespective of whether she works in the public or private sector, organised or unorganised sector — to register her complaint easily and securely. Once a complaint is submitted, the portal automatically forwards it to the relevant Internal Committee (IC) or Local Committee (LC) based on the details provided by the complainant.
The revamped portal includes several user-friendly and secure features:
Nodal Officers appointed for monitoring the portal play a key role. They regularly update and maintain accurate information on the portal, including details of ICs and LCs, and ensure timely handling of complaints and other compliances.
The portal also supports compliance and monitoring by requiring workplaces to upload essential information:
Conclusion
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 remains a landmark law. It protects women’s right to a safe and dignified workplace. The Act, together with strong institutional mechanisms, time-bound redressal, and employer duties, works to prevent harassment and ensure justice. The Ministry of Women and Child Development continues to lead implementation. It issues regular advisories, builds capacity, and promotes awareness across sectors. The revamped SHe-Box portal, launched in August 2024, marks a major step forward. It provides easy, secure, and transparent access to file and track complaints. It also creates a national database for better monitoring and accountability.
The Supreme Court is actively monitoring implementation through ongoing cases and has issued clear directions to ensure full compliance. These include prompt constitution of committees, surveys of workplaces, uploading of IC/LC details to SHe-Box, and regular awareness programmes. States, districts, labour departments, and employers are now required to act swiftly on these priorities.
Together, these efforts build safer workplaces for women. They support greater participation in the workforce. They advance gender equality and inclusive economic growth. The Government remains committed to effective enforcement of the SH Act and to empowering every woman with a harassment-free work environment.
References:
Ministry of Women and Child Development: