West Bengal activists call for public hearings on gender-based violence at workplace

The public hearings will be conducted between November 9 to 20 and any person who wants to speak about their experiences can reach out and share their account through writing or any other method they seem fit

Several rights groups in West Bengal have called for a public hearing on gender-based violence at the workplace in the wake of the R.G. Kar rape and murder incident in Kolkata. The 31-year-old victim was an on-duty female doctor, and she faced the violence while in her workspace triggering widespread outrage that led to many survivors and activists coming together to call for change at the policy level.

The public hearing aims to investigate and address all the systematic failures that perpetuate harassment and violence against women, queer, and trans persons. The curators behind this hearing also said that they are broadening the definition of both workspace and violence because they mentioned that work is both formal and informal in India and violence is many a time verbal, mental, emotional, and not just physical or sexual in nature.

A panelist mentioned at the launch of this event on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) how women like ASHA workers, female factory workers, and housekeepers find it even more difficult to report gender-based violence because there is a lack of organised workspace. Several panellists also highlighted that even though most organisations now have Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) guidelines, their implementation is minimal as a result of which these decisions become redundant.

The public hearings will be conducted between November 9 to 20 and any person who wants to speak about their experiences can reach out and share their account verbally, through video, writing, emails, or any other method they seem fit.

A committee of experts from civil society, retired judges, bureaucrats, gender activists, mental health professionals, labour rights activists, and disability rights activists will be formed to take cognisance of the accounts, and investigate and document them. Former Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Justice S. Muralidhar, feminist historian Uma Chakravarti, mental health professional Ratnaboli Roy, and many others will be part of the panel.

Read:The issue of institutional violence, addressing it

“We will have mental health professionals at every step and conduct sensitisation of all volunteers at every stage so that when survivors are sharing their accounts, the process can be less harrowing for them because recounting such accounts can be a traumatic experience in itself,” Jhuma Sen, an advocate at the Calcutta High Court, told The Hindu.

The public hearings will maintain confidentiality and will be simultaneously held in five locations across West Bengal to encourage women and other gender marginalised people from beyond Kolkata to reach out and share their accounts.

Daminee Benny Basu, a Bengali actress and member of the Women’s Forum for Screen Workers, highlighted the problematic aspects of her own industry and the gender-based violence they face. She said: “Movies are known as an industry, but it is still unorganised and there are no clear workspace boundaries and PoSH committees in our sector to protect us. Before we got to define what good touch, bad touch, gender sensitisation is, so much has happened. Many producers hear our recommendations, say they will do something about it, but it never transpires into action.”

Gender rights activists, lawyers, movie industry professionals, and people from all walks of life have come together to bring about constructive change. The panelists at the event shared that their end goal for this hearing is also to publish a report based on their findings and call for action from stakeholders like employers, the State government, lawmakers, and others.

Published - September 26, 2024 07:16 am IST