On August 13, 1997, the Supreme Court of India issued a landmark judgment, popularly known as Vishaka judgement that recognized and addressed sexual harassment at the workplace as a human rights violation. The Supreme court in its judgement said every women has a right to a safe workplace. The court gave directives for all employers/organizations making it mandatory to institute sexual harassment complaints committees at workplaces. The judgement also created sexual harassment prevention guidelines for the workplace. The sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 has replaced the guidelines/norms laid down by Hon' able Supreme Court on sexual harassment and came into force from December 9, 2013. The Govt. of India made rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act, 2013.
In the light of enactment of The sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the Competent Authority has constituted an Internal Complaints Committee at NITK Surathkal(ICC-SH). The Internal Complaints Committee is responsible for Investigating every formal written complaint of sexual harassment and taking appropriate remedial measures to respond to any substantiated allegations of sexual harassment.
The Internal Complaints Committee shall inquire into the complaints as per the provisions of Section 11 of the Act, 2013. During pendency of inquiries the Committee may give recommendations as may be considered necessary under the provision of Section 12 of the Act, 2013 and based on these recommendations, the Competent Authority shall take appropriate action.
It is the policy of the Institute to create and maintain an environment free from sexual harassment in the Institute. The Institute strongly disapproves of any conduct that constitutes sexual harassment. All students, faculty, and staff members are advised to report any matter related to sexual harassment to the Committee against Sexual Harassment (Contact details of members are given below). All complaints will be thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken promptly. The Committee will maintain confidentiality within the limits of the law and will not disclose sensitive information to any individual except for those who have a specific need to know.
