Sexual harassment complaint cell: No obligation to include external members
In 2009, the High Court delivered a landmark judgment to prevent sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces and educational institutions. One of the directives of the High Court was that institutions should have internal complaint committees to receive, investigate, and manage complaints. To ensure impartiality, two members of the complaint committee were to be appointed from outside the institution, preferably those working on gender issues and prevention of sexual abuse.
However, in the final draft of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, the requirement to include external members in the complaint committee has been removed. The draft states that external members may be included based on availability.
Many have reacted against making the inclusion of external members optional. They argue that without external members, justice for complainants could be hindered. Institutions could make decisions according to their own discretion using their internal members.
It is understood that the main opposition to including external members comes from organisations of garment factory owners. Factory owners do not want internal matters to be exposed to outsiders.
It is to mention that after the High Court verdict, various institutions drafted rules to prevent sexual harassment over time. Those drafts were submitted to multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. The Bangladesh Law Commission initially, and later in 2021 the National Human Rights Commission, prepared drafts. Meanwhile, some organisations, including the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, also proposed draft rules. However, despite years passing, none of these drafts became law. After the caretaker government took charge, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs took the initiative to enact a law. The draft has now been finalised. However, in this final draft, the mandatory inclusion of external members in the complaint committee has been removed, allowing inclusion “based on availability.” Ministry meetings have argued that there are not enough suitable external members to include.
A ministry official from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs said that many procedures are still pending in the legislative process.
Human rights activist and lawyer Sara Hossain told Prothom Alo that many cases of sexual harassment are covered up. Therefore, including external members in the complaint committee should remain mandatory. If the accused is a trusted individual of top management or an insider, there is a tendency to protect them from complaints. She said women are already hesitant to lodge complaints about sexual harassment. If there is no transparency within the committee, victims will not come forward, and lack of redress will increase such incidents.
Professor Mirza Taslima Sultana of the Anthropology Department and head of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Cell at Jahangirnagar University raised concerns about not including external members and having multiple committees in a single institution. She told Prothom Alo that many female students drop out or leave the university due to sexual harassment. Seeing the accused roam freely causes psychological distress. Without external members, victims will not get justice.
Regarding multiple committees in one institution, Professor Mirza Taslima Sultana said her university has 37 departments. It is impossible to have so many external members. A single, central committee is needed for an institution; otherwise, the institution cannot be held accountable for complaints.
Mohammad Hatem, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told Prothom Alo that they have never objected to having external members on complaint committees. However, it is better not to have outsiders inside the factory.
He said, “It is difficult to find such a many suitable people from outside. Who will testify that they truly work in favour of women? Someone could work as a foreign agent under the banner of women’s rights–based or various other organizations.” He added that they would not object if an external member is appointed from a government office.
Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said female leaders from labour federations can be included in committees. However, the inclusion of external members should not be open-ended. It should be clearly specified who can be included.