on the 8th december, 2006 bill no lxxxii of  2006 the working women (prevention of sexual harassment at workplaces) bill, 2006 a billto provide for the prevention of sexual harassment or exploitation of working women at their workplaces by their employers, superiors, fellow colleagues or by anyone who is directly or indirectly connected with such workplace through deterrent punishment and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the working women (prevention of sexual harassment at workplaces) act, 2006short title, extent and commencement5(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "appropriate government" means in the case of state the government of that state and in other cases the central government;(b) "employer" means,—(i) in relation to an establishment under the control of the appropriate government, the head of the department or ministry as the case may be;5(ii) in relation to an establishment under any local authority or local self government, the chief executive officer by whatever designation called;(iii) in relation to other cases, the person or the authority who has the ultimate control over the affairs of the workplace; (c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;1015(d) "sexual exploitation or harassment" includes any unwanted or unwarranted gesture or verbal sexual advances, sexually explicit and derogatory statements or remarks, avoidable and unwarranted physical contacts, willfully touching or patting, suggestive sexual remarks, sexually slanted and obscene jokes, vulgar comments about physical appearance, indecent invitations, use of pornographic material, demand for sexual favours, demanding sexual favour by making telephone calls or sending sms, threats of physical assault or molestation on refusal by the women workers by their male superiors, colleagues or any one who for the time being is in a position to sexually exploit or harass the working women at any workplace;(e) "working woman" means any woman who is employed, whether directly or through any agency for wages or for similar other considerations at any workplace;|   20 ||------||   25 |(f) "work place" includes a factory, mine, plantation, agricultural field, livestock rearing site including poultry, hospital or nursing home, shop or business establishment, brick kiln, construction site, banking or financial institutions including cooperative ones, government or semi-government establishments or departments including post offices and telecommunication, private office or service provider, cyber cafes and call centres, mobile phone companies, schools, colleges, universities and like institutions and such establishments wherein persons are employed for the exhibition of equestrian, acrobatic and other performances, airlines, film industry and any such other place where a woman is employed for any work whatsoever3 (1) sexual exploitation or harassment of any working woman at her workplace is hereby prohibited30(2) whoever contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence under this actprohibition of sexual exploitation or harassment of working women at workplace penalty45 of 1960354 notwithstanding anything contained in the indian penal code or any other law for the time being in force whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3 shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but may extend to five years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees5 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,the onus of proving the innocence shall be on the accused and the sexually harassed woman shall have the right to lead evidence in rebuttalburden of proof and trial in camera etc40(2) the trial of an offence committed under this act shall be held in camera if theharassed woman so desires(3) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,the case of a sexually harassed woman at a workplace shall be pleaded either by herself or with her consent by any women's organisation or the trade union of which she is a member45setting up of complaint committees6 (1) the appropriate government shall as soon as may be set up adequate number ofcomplaint committees in all its ministries and departments, semi government organizations, public sector enterprises, banking and financial institutions, trusts and local self bodies and in all the district headquarters and block levels for redressal of the complaints made by the sexually exploited and harassed working women at their workplaces(2) the complaint committees shall consist of such members and the committee shall follow such procedure as may be prescribed7 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being in force dealing with the subject matter of this actact to supplement other laws5power to make rules8 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act statement  of  objects  and  reasonshalf of the population of the nation is women who have been exploited for centurieshowever, with the change of time there is awakening amongst the women and, today, in almost every field of economic activity, women form a good part of the workforce as a result, the number of working women is increasing very fast women have now to work under the most disadvantageous service conditions in certain establishments and cases of their sexual exploitation are also increasing day by day working women are very often sexually harassed at the work places by their male employers, bosses, colleagues, and others but more often these cases are not reported by them for fear of social ostracism, family pressure or reprisal through threats and discriminatory treatment as a result the working women often feel insecure at their workplaces the supreme court of india has taken this issue very seriously in the case of vishaka and others vs state of rajasthan and others, the supreme court has laid down norms and guidelines to be followed by employers or other responsible persons in the workplaces or other institutions to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment as also to provide the procedures for resolution , settlement or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment by taking all steps required including setting up of complaints committees for redressal of the complaint made by the victim the national commission for women has also taken up this issue very seriously it has, however been found that the complaint committees have not been formed in a number of casesthough the supreme court judgement is there, no law however, has been enacted to deal  exclusively with  this issue, which is of vital importance for the working women throughout the countryhence this billsushma swaraj financial memorandumclause 6 of the bill provides for setting up of complaint committees the bill if enacted will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees fifty crore may involve as recurring expenditure from the consolidated fund of india per annumno non-recurring expenditure is likely to be incurred memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 8 of the bill gives power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character———— a billto provide for the prevention of sexual harassment or exploitation of working women at theirworkplaces by their employers, superiors, fellow colleagues or by anyone  who is directly or indirectly connected with such workplace through  deterrent punishment and for matters connected therewith or  incidental thereto————(shrimati sushma swaraj, mp)