Course on how to prevent sexual abuse at workplace

Kolkata: The National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) here has introduced an online course in sexual harassment prevention and workplace diversity, it said on Friday.

The "Executive Programme in Sexual Harassment Prevention and Workplace Diversity", a first in India, will enable learners to implement sexual harassment prevention laws in their organisation and help businesses with tailor-made implementation, compliance, training and audit systems for creation of better workplaces.

NUJS vice-chancellor P. Ishwara Bhat said in a statement: "I strongly believe that this first step of Indian academia to train Indian professionals about workplace diversity management, conflict resolution and sexual harassment laws will not only create employment for the youth of this country, but will make India Inc. a safer place to work in."

According to an ILO study, over 90 percent of Indian businesses are unable to comply with the new law of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

NUJS intends to address this gap by enabling HR professionals, compliance experts, external members of internal compliant committees, in-house legal counsels and others with the knowledge and diversity required to redress such issues, said the release.

The three-month online course draws on practical implementation insights from over 100 companies across spheres as diverse as technology, software and infrastructure, with employee strength ranging from ten to six thousand.