Report cases fearlessly, says Maneka Gandhi

New delhi: the government said it will setup a legal committee to look into the cases being revealed in the wake of #Metoo campaign, where women are narrating stories of their sexual harassment by individuals, especially in the media and entertainment industry.

“The Ministry will be setting up a committee of senior judicial and legal persons as members to examine all issues emanating from the #Metoo India movement,” the Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry said in a statement.

U ni onw cd minister maneka gandhi said that her Ministry follows zerotolerance towards sexual harassment of women at work place and also urged them to report such incidents.

“I urge working women across all sectors to come out fearlessly and report cases of any form of sexual harassment and we shall ensure all possible assistance. I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complaint. Cases of sexual harassment at work must be dealt with a policy of zero-tolerance,” she added.

According to the Ministry, the committee will comprise four retired judges and one amicus curiae, who will evaluate the existing legal and institutional framework for handling complaints of sexual harassment at work. The committee will then advise the Ministry on how to strengthen this framework.

According to a WCD oficial, the committee will go into the legal and institutional framework and not act based solely on individual complaints.

“Public hearing doesn’t mean hearing of individual complaints. It means any stakeholder can come and depose before the committee if they want to,” the oficial added.

A formal order regarding the constitution of committee will be in public domain shortly, the Ministry said.