More than punishment women want to register protest: NCW chief

Women do not always complain against harassers to punish them, but mostly they do this to warn them and also to show their serious objection, NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam said recently.

Many women do not want to actually take the complaint to punishment level, but they just want the committee to warn the harasser and ask him to back off and show their objections, said Kumaramangalam at New Delhi.

All they want is the harassment to stop, which does not necessarily mean that the harasser should be punished, she added.

During a consultative workshop to identify issues and concerns and shortlist priority areas for undertaking programmes during the year 2017-18, the demand for a compliance report of sexual harassment at workplace also came up. She also said that internal committees are not only important for sexual complaints, but also for wage disparity and other gender issues.

Women are aware about their rights related to sexual harassment at workplace, but mostly the committees are not in place, she said.

Also read: ‘To all distressed women out there, my doors are open for any help’ — Lalitha Kumaramangalam, NCW Chairperson

Apart from this, several other issues were also discussed during the conference like availability of technology, issues of single women in the country, problems of sex workers and their demands.

We have to also work to provide greater access of technology to women. While technology is available in urban areas, even there women have less technological skills. If we just talk about Internet, access to training for that also need to be increased, she said.

The workshop also discussed the violence in the market with self-help group women. There is no space for them in the market, and when men go and sell their products they did not get the money they deserve. As Chairperson of National Commission for Women (NCW), she says her biggest challenge is the attitude of men, especially those in authority, towards women.