The Real Story Behind PoSH Act India: Leadership, Trust, and Safer Workplaces

The Story We All Know Too Well

🌑Kavita’s Silence

Kavita had worked in her firm for eight years.
A high performer, widely respected, and someone everyone assumed would make partner one day.

Until one day, she left. Quietly. No farewell mail, no announcement—just an empty desk.

The truth? She had faced repeated sexual harassment from a senior colleague.
She knew the law. She knew the Internal Committee existed. And yet, she chose silence.

Why?
Because trust, not policy, was missing.

🟦What the PoSH Act Changed

When the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force, it was hailed as a landmark. For the first time, India had:

A legal definition of sexual harassment, rooted in the Vishaka Guidelines.
Mandatory Internal Committees (ICs) in organizations.
Employer duties to ensure a safe workplace.

The Act moved conversations out of shadows and into boardrooms. For many women, it became the first language of recourse.

🟦The Uneven Reality

And yet, reality has been uneven.

In some firms, ICs became powerful guardians of dignity. In others, they became tick-box committees, dominated by hierarchy.

Aggrieved like Kavita often found themselves navigating processes that were legally correct but emotionally isolating. Many chose silence, not because harm was absent, but because trust was.

📊What the Data Really Tells Us

Over the last decade, cracks have begun to appear in the wall of silence.

Ten years ago, in 300 of India’s largest companies, only 161 women found the courage to file a complaint. By FY 2022–23, that number had risen to 1,160.

That isn’t just a statistic—it’s a quiet revolution, proof that more women are daring to speak even in workplaces built on hierarchy and deference.

The top ten private companies alone saw a 79% rise in complaints over five years. In FY24, ICICI Bank reported 133, TCS 110.

Behind each number is not a case file, but a person—hesitant, afraid, and yet choosing to be heard.

But the numbers hold another truth too:

27 of the top 100 companies reported “zero” complaints. On the surface, it looks reassuring. But “zero” is rarely a measure of safety; more often, it signals fear, apathy, or broken trust.
Nearly a quarter of all complaints remain unresolved. The aggrieved wait in limbo, carrying not just the burden of what happened but also the pain of being left unheard.
Smaller companies, with weaker compliance systems, report significantly fewer cases. Silence here reflects not the absence of harassment, but the absence of safe mechanisms to report it.

Here lies the paradox: rising complaints are not failures—they are signs of progress. They show women testing the promise of the law. But progress without resolution, without trust, without cultural change, risks becoming just another broken promise.

🟦The Leadership Reckoning

The data tells us that compliance is not enough. Policies on paper, committees on record, numbers disclosed in annual reports—they matter, but they don’t build trust.

What builds trust is what Kavita never had:

The assurance she would be heard without judgment.
The certainty that her voice would not cost her career.
The knowledge that her company would act, not stall.

And every leader today must ask: Are our workplaces merely compliant—or truly safe? That reckoning demands action:

Conducting rigorous compliance audits including complaint data and pendency metrics.
Empowering and training Independent ICs to build trust and act fairly.
Using secure, anonymous reporting technologies with strong anti-retaliation assurances.
Embedding PoSH KPIs into leadership evaluations, tying safety to accountability.
Building training around psychological safety, stressing impact over intent and encouraging safe conversations.

Because in the end, laws only set the floor. Culture sets the ceiling.

The real measure of leadership is whether the next Kavita who walks into your workplace feels silence is her only option—or whether she finally feels safe enough to speak.

Wrapping Up

Kavita’s story is not hers alone. It reflects countless voices silenced by stigma, fear, and systemic gaps. Childhood lessons—about strength, silence, and survival—follow us into adulthood. But they don’t have to define the future of our workplaces.

True transformation requires more than compliance. It demands leaders, colleagues, and systems willing to create environments where people stay, thrive, and feel safe—not just survive. Culture must evolve from checking boxes to fostering empathy, accountability, and trust.

Kavita’s exit is a stark reminder: when trust is missing, talent walks away. Breaking silence isn’t about a single brave voice—it’s about building workplaces where people are supported, respected, and empowered to act.

As the regulatory landscape evolves—with stricter enforcement, digital reporting channels, and growing board-level accountability—companies now have both the tools and the mandate to turn policy into practice.

The challenge for leadership is clear: create workplaces where no one has to choose between safety and opportunity, and where staying—and thriving—is the natural choice.

Suggested Reading

The Real Story Behind PoSH Act India: Leadership, Trust, and Safer Workplaces

🌑Kavita’s Silence

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