Sports Bodies Under Scrutiny For Non-Compliance With Sexual Harassment Laws

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and 15 other national sports federations. This notice was in response to reports that these bodies either did not have an internal complaints committee (ICC) or had a non-functional ICC to address sexual harassment charges, as required by law.

Several wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding the sacking and arrest of WFI President and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over charges of sexual harassment of women grapplers. The NHRC has taken “suo motu cognisance of a media report that there is no ICC in the WFI as mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013”.

The NHRC has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of the law and may impact the legal rights and dignity of the sportspersons. These sports bodies have been asked to submit detailed reports within four weeks, including the present status of the ICC in their organisation as well as the steps taken or proposed to be taken to address the issue.

According to the media report published on May 4, five federations, including the WFI, do not have an ICC. Four federations do not have the stipulated number of members, and another six federations lack the mandatory external members. One federation had two panels, but neither had an independent member.

The protesting wrestlers and their supporters wore black bands on Thursday, observing it as a ‘Black Day’ as their agitation against the WFI chief entered the 18th day.