New Delhi, October 24: ThG government of India today has formed a panel to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks to deal with, and prevent sexual harassment at workplace. The panel is headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while cabinet ministers Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and Maneka Gandhi are also part of the panel. The Narendra Modi government has taken this initiative after the #MeToo movement has started gaining momentum in the country.

Earlier this month, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Gandhi raised a voice in favour of raising the age to file a complaint in sexual harassment matters so that those who were molested as children can complain till 30 years of age. Last year, the ministry had also launched She-Box, a website for registering complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace.

She-Box is a comprehensive online complaint management system for women working in both public and private organisations to lodge complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace. It was launched in 2017 to ensure the effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act), 2013.

Under the #MeToo movement, women are coming out and speaking up against sexual harassment that they have faced or are facing at their workplaces. A huge number of women in the entertainment industry, the media, the advertisement industry and others have spoken out. Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar resigned from his post last week, days after he was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women in the #MeToo movement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2018 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).