Sexual harassment complaints at companies see sharp rise
Sexual harassment complaints recorded across some of India's largest companies showed a sharp increase in FY24, underscoring the rapid emergence of a culture of improving corporate disclosures.
There has been a 40.4% increase in number of complaints of sexual harassment (up by 268) filed during last fiscal, shows latest data from BSE 30 companies put together for ET by Complykaro, which advises companies on PoSH compliance.
A total of 932 sexual harassment complaints were reported across BSE 30 companies in FY24, up from 664 in FY23, shows the data.
PoSH committee members attributed this to a greater awareness among women professionals about the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (PoSH) law as well several companies pushing for a culture that encourages reporting of such cases.
«This indicates increased awareness among employees which is leading to real change as more women are coming forward and lodging complaints,» said Vishal Kedia, PoSH expert, Complykaro.
Smita Shetty Kapoor, CEO of Kelp, a PoSH advisory firm, said: «Harassment cases were there earlier too but what has changed is the increase in awareness among women as well as the companies, which is leading to more such cases being reported.»
Majority of the companies that showed an increase in reporting are in banking and technology sectors that have a younger workforce and employ more women.
ICICI Bank showed the maximum increase in the number of complaints with 133 cases reported in FY24 versus 43 in FY23, 46 in FY22 and 33 in
