50 pc women feel employers not following right sexual harassment procedures: Survey

Mumbai: Even after the '#Me Too' movement gaining wider popular currency, nearly 50 percent women feel that their employers are not following the right procedures to address sexual harassment/assault complaints, says a survey.

Close to 50 percent respondents in a survey believe that their employers are not following the right procedures to address sexual harassment complaints, while over 45 percent of them believe that their organisation's internal complaints committee is not fully aware of their internal guidelines as well as the legal provisions, revels the findings of a survey by Pink Ladder which helps build a career enhancement ecosystem for women.

The survey was done among 200 women from 80 organisations in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.

"There is a need for companies to increase awareness about sexual harassment by defining the conduct through periodic sensitisation workshops, forums, talks and discussions. The first step towards this is to understand the reach and the impact of the current policies," says the survey.

Further, the report says 56 percent women believe that incidents of sexual harassment at the workplaces have increased over the years, while 53 percent say they have been subject to sexual comments, gestures, jokes in their offices. Significantly, as many as 80 percent of the respondents are aware of the policies against sexual harassment at the workplaces.

While close to 30 percent hesitate to complain to the internal committee, 53 percent are not sure whether to continue to work in the same place where they were subjected to such incidents.