POSH Act Benefits to Be Extended to Female Domestic Workers: Kerala Women's Commission

By: WE staff | Friday, 13 June 2025

• Kerala Women's Commission to Expand POSH Act Protections for Domestic Workers
• Chief of the Women's Panel: The POSH Act Will Help Female Domestic Workers
• Highlights of the Kerala Workshop on Domestic Workers' Inclusion Under the POSH Act

P. Sathidevi, chairperson of the Kerala Women's Commission, announced that the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act, 2013 will soon provide protections for female domestic workers. She said this on Thursday at the PWD Rest House during the first session of a state-level POSH workshop organized by the Kerala Women's Commission.

She underlined that safeguarding women's rights and welfare has been a constant goal of India's post-independence legislation. Important steps to stop violence and harassment against women are included in the POSH Act, which was passed in response to orders from the Supreme Court. Formal workspaces and the commute from home to work are both considered "workplaces" under the law. It recognizes emotional and mental abuse in addition to physical harassment.

Sathidevi pointed out that even though many organizations have established Internal Committees (ICs) as required; there is still room for considerable improvement in both their effectiveness and impact. She announced plans to hold POSH awareness workshops in all 14 districts of Kerala and credited the Women's Commission with starting the establishment of such committees in schools and movie sets. Reforming government workplaces, she continued, would spur comparable advancements in the private sector.

Attendees included Shaji Sugunan (Director, Kerala Women’s Commission), Sreeja Sasidharan (Chairperson, Thiruvananthapuram POSH Local Committee), V. L. Aneesh (Legal-cum-Probation Officer, District Child Protection Unit), T. K. Anandi (Gender Council Advisor), Y. B. Beena (Member Secretary, Women’s Commission), and N. Divya (Project Officer). The event was hosted by District Collector Anu Kumari