Are sexual harassment complaints going unreported in Hyderabad tech industry?

Of the 1,283 tech firms in Hyderabad, only 40-50 per cent are likely to have an internal complaints committee: Experts
In this file image, women take out a rally in Hyderabad protesting against sexual harassment (Photo| | R Satish Babu/ EPS)
In this file image, women take out a rally in Hyderabad protesting against sexual harassment (Photo| | R Satish Babu/ EPS)

HYDERABAD: The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs recently made it mandatory for all companies to disclose, in their annual report, their compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. However, experts say that, of the 1,283 tech companies in the city, only 40-50 per cent are likely to have an internal complaints committee (ICC).

“While a majority of the big IT companies have ICC in place, a growing number of IT companies in the city are start-ups and they may not maintain an ICC in most cases. Even though awareness is spreading, this is often not their priority,” says Sundeep Kumar of Telangana IT Association(TITA).

An ICC committee is mandated by law to be in place for every company in order to deal with complaints of sexual harassment at workplace. The State Commission of women, the nodal agency constituted by the government, which looks into such complaints, agrees.

“Most of the time ICC is not present, and even if it is, it is namesake and may not have the external member as required,” says Tripurana Venkataraman, head of the commission. But with the IT sector in Hyderabad having over 35-40 per cent women employees across the board, is sexual harassment a major issue? While there is no specific study on sexual harassment at workplace in the IT sector, the National Commission for Women’s statistics reveal that in 2016, 522 cases of workplace harassment were reported. It’s the 6th most common complaint received by the commission.

“The real situation is rather under-reported. It occurs usually during the time of promotions, on-site opportunities and during a designation change. That is when we see women raising more complaints,” adds Sundeep.

“In my opinion, the act needs an amendment that would go beyond the suspension of the accused. Which is why whenever we get such cases, we also ask people to file a police complaint against the required sections in order to fetch penal action,” adds Tripurana. Last year, the Telangana IT Association registered over 168 complaints of which 30 per cent were from women employees.

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