WCD Ministry links 'SHe-Box' to central, state ministries

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has linked SHe-Box -- the online portal to report complaints of Sexual Harassment at the workplace-- to all ministries, departments and 653 districts across 33 States/Union Territories.

For prompt disposal of complaints on SHe-Box, each case goes directly to the central/ state authority concerned having jurisdiction to take action in the matter. Cases on She-Box can be monitored by the complainants and WCD Ministry, reducing the time taken in case disposal.

Till November 20, 2018, as many as 321 complaints have been registered with 'SHe-Box' out of which 120 are related to central ministries and departments, 58 are from state governments and 143 are from private companies.

Elaborating on the portal, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi said, "SHe-Box portal is an effort to provide a speedy remedy to women facing sexual harassment at workplace. With the linking of the portal to central and state governments, once a complaint is submitted to the portal, it will be directly sent to the section of the employer concerned. Through this portal, WCD, as well as the complainant, can monitor the progress of the inquiry. This is a proactive step taken by the WCD Ministry in the wake of the worldwide campaign #MeToo, where women have related their experience of facing sexual harassment and abuse at the workplace."

SHe-Box, which was launched by Maneka Gandhi last year, offers the facility of making online complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace to all women employees in the country including government and private employees. Those who have already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) or Local Complaint Committee (LCC) constituted under the Sexual Harassment Act are also eligible to file their complaint through this portal.

The Ministry has also published a Handbook and Training Module on the Sexual Harassment Act to provide information about the provisions of the Act in an easy-to-use practical manner. The private organisations are encouraged to customise the training module as per their extant service rules and disciplinary procedures prescribed therein.