Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, as part of its efforts to take proactive measures to create a safe workplace for women, has partnered with UN Women — the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women — to advance gender equality in skill development, employability and entrepreneurship.
The collaboration will conduct a series of trainings for the capacity building of MSDE officials over a period of five weeks. The officials will be trained on what is a clear definition of ‘sexual harassment’ and increase awareness on how the complaint process works.
The initiative — which is proof of MSDE’s commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment through the creation of a safe work environment — will empower women to become economic agents and equal partners for the inclusive growth of the country, in alignment with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
UN Women will work in tandem with MSDE to increase awareness among both men and women about what can and cannot be construed as sexual harassment and how to escalate or deal with such situations.
The capacity-building training programme which will cover the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) is yet another step towards mainstreaming gender in various policies and programmes.
The Indian government had enacted the POSH Act to provide a safe and secure work environment for women. In addition to broadening the already existing Vishakha Guidelines, it defines sexual harassment, lays down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action required to be taken.
