Wrestlers Protest: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Ministry of Sports, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the Sports Authority of India (SAI), and several other national sports federations to submit reports on the status of their internal complaints committees (ICCs) for addressing sexual harassment complaints. This comes after several wrestlers protested against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment allegations.
NHRC takes stern action amidst wrestlers protest
The NHRC has said that it has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that several national sports federations do not have functional ICCs. The commission has said that the absence of ICCs is a violation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to 16 national sports federations, including the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the Ministry of Sports, for non-compliance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) law.
The NHRC has said that the absence of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) is a “matter of concern” and could “impact the legal right and dignity of sportspersons.” The ICC is a committee that is required by the PoSH Act to investigate complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace.
What is ICC?
According to the law, the ICC must include a minimum of four members, at least half of whom must be women. One member must be an external member, preferably from an NGO or an association that works for women’s empowerment or a person experienced with issues relating to sexual harassment. The NHRC has given the federations four weeks to produce comprehensive reports on their compliance with the PoSH law. If the federations do not comply, the NHRC has said that it will take appropriate action.
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