Sexual harassment complaint cell: No obligation to include external members

In 2009, the High Court delivered a landmark judgment to prevent sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces and educational institutions. One of the directives of the High Court was that institutions should have internal complaint committees to receive, investigate, and manage complaints. To ensure impartiality, two members of the complaint committee were to be appointed from outside the institution, preferably those working on gender issues and prevention of sexual abuse.

However, in the final draft of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, the requirement to include external members in the complaint committee has been removed. The draft states that external members may be included based on availability.

Many have reacted against making the inclusion of external members optional. They argue that without external members, justice for complainants could be hindered. Institutions could make decisions according to their own discretion using their internal members.

It is understood that the main opposition to including external members comes from organisations of garment factory owners. Factory owners do not want internal matters to be exposed to outsiders.

It is to mention that after the High Court verdict, various institutions drafted rules to prevent sexual harassment over time. Those drafts were submitted to multiple ministries, including the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. The Bangladesh Law Commission initially, and later in 2021 the National Human Rights Commission, prepared drafts. Meanwhile, some organisations, including the National Girl Child Advocacy Forum and Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, also proposed draft rules. However, despite years passing, none of these drafts became law. After the caretaker government took charge, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs took the initiative to enact a law. The draft has now been finalised. However, in this final draft, the mandatory inclusion of external members in the complaint committee has been removed, allowing inclusion “based on availability.” Ministry meetings have argued that there are not enough suitable external members to include.

A ministry official from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs said that many procedures are still pending in the legislative process.

Human rights activist and lawyer Sara Hossain told Prothom Alo that many cases of sexual harassment are covered up. Therefore, including external members in the complaint committee should remain mandatory. If the accused is a trusted individual of top management or an insider, there is a tendency to protect them from complaints. She said women are already hesitant to lodge complaints about sexual harassment. If there is no transparency within the committee, victims will not come forward, and lack of redress will increase such incidents.

Professor Mirza Taslima Sultana of the Anthropology Department and head of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Cell at Jahangirnagar University raised concerns about not including external members and having multiple committees in a single institution. She told Prothom Alo that many female students drop out or leave the university due to sexual harassment. Seeing the accused roam freely causes psychological distress. Without external members, victims will not get justice.

Regarding multiple committees in one institution, Professor Mirza Taslima Sultana said her university has 37 departments. It is impossible to have so many external members. A single, central committee is needed for an institution; otherwise, the institution cannot be held accountable for complaints.

Mohammad Hatem, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), told Prothom Alo that they have never objected to having external members on complaint committees. However, it is better not to have outsiders inside the factory.

He said, “It is difficult to find such a many suitable people from outside. Who will testify that they truly work in favour of women? Someone could work as a foreign agent under the banner of women’s rights–based or various other organizations.” He added that they would not object if an external member is appointed from a government office.

Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said female leaders from labour federations can be included in committees. However, the inclusion of external members should not be open-ended. It should be clearly specified who can be included.

It is noted that Section 332 of the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, mentions taking effective measures to prevent sexual harassment incidents. Section 332(k) states that two external members from organisations working on gender and sexual abuse issues should be included in committees. However, nothing related to sexual harassment is mentioned in the committee in the draft. These sections are new additions.

In 2008, Salma Ali, then Executive Director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association, filed a writ petition in the High Court to prevent sexual harassment and abuse in workplaces and educational institutions. Following this, a bench of Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Kamrul Islam Siddiqui delivered a verdict on 14 May 2009, directing the petition in favour of the applicant.

The 2009 verdict referenced various historical incidents, including: the 1998 protests by students and faculty at Jahangirnagar University against rape and sexual abuse, the demand by progressive teachers for a legal framework to address such abuse, a female officer approaching the National University Vice-Chancellor and losing her job under social pressure, complaints by students against teachers at Rajshahi University in 2006, Jahangirnagar University on 2006, and Dhaka University in 2008, and 19 cases of sexual harassment and abuse by male colleagues in garment factories, media, and NGOs.

According to the High Court directive, every workplace and educational institution—public and private—shall establish a committee to receive complaints, investigate, and make recommendations. The internal complaint committee must have at least five members, most of whom will be women. Where possible, the committee head will be a woman. Two members should be taken from outside the institution, preferably from organizations working on gender and sexual abuse prevention.

Chapter 3 of the Workplace and Educational Institutions Sexual Harassment Prevention and Protection Ordinance, 2025, under “Administrative Framework, Complaint Submission, and Investigation,” Section 6(5) states that the internal complaint committee will primarily be composed of members working within the institution. Based on availability, at least two external members with expertise or legal knowledge in sexual harassment prevention should be appointed.

Section 6 further states that every workplace and educational institution shall establish an internal complaint committee for receiving complaints, investigating, and making recommendations. For workplaces or institutions with offices or administrative units in multiple districts, internal complaint committees may be formed in each unit.

In universities or colleges with multiple departments, separate committees may be formed for each department. The internal complaint committee will have at least five members, including a convener. It may be larger, but the number of members must be odd. Where possible, the convener should be a senior female staff member or faculty member of the institution. At least 50 per cent of committee members will be women.

External members will receive a fee or allowance determined by the relevant authority for conducting the committee’s proceedings.

Taslim Yasmin, Associate Professor at the Department of Law, University of Dhaka, told Prothom Alo that it would have been better if the inclusion of external members was mandatory rather than based on availability.

She said the law is extremely important for women. For the first time in any Bangladeshi law, sexual harassment has been defined in accordance with international standards. The law also outlines procedures for filing and investigating complaints, preventive measures, inclusion of non-institutional sectors, formation of local committees, government oversight in law implementation, and the right of victims to approach the court if redress is not provided by the committee. These aspects are highly positive.