According to the survey, 50 percent respondents said they had faced sexual harassment at workplace during regular office hours

Moneycontrol News@moneycontrolcom

While the ‘#MeToo’ movement against sexual harassment is gaining momentum on social media, a large section of women are yet to report such cases, according to an online survey.

According to a nationwide online survey on sexual harassment at workplace, conducted by LocalCircles, around 80 percent women never report harassment in India. More than 28,000 votes were polled in the survey from over 15,000 unique participants located across India.

Approximately 6,100 or 40 percent of respondents were females. The participants from tier 1 cities were 40 percent, tier 2 cities were 28 percent and tier 3 cities and rural areas were 32 percent.

According to the survey, 32 percent respondents said they, or one of their family members have experienced or observed sexual harassment at workplace.

As many as 50 percent respondents said that they faced sexual harassment at workplace during regular office hours. Around 78 percent respondents said that such cases were not reported to the human resources (HR) department.

The survey also points to another problem that people are not aware of what inappropriate behavior is.

The 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act stipulates any organisation with more than ten employees should have an independent committee to investigate allegations.

However, many organisations are not adhering to the letter of the law, or only paying lip service to it. The committees required to address these complaints and grievances are either not properly constituted or simply do not exist.

The #MeToo movement which initially started in US has gained significant momentum in India. Many women, primarily from Bollywood and media industry have come forward about sexual harassment that they faced at workplace.

The #MeToo movement took shape in India after actress Tanushree Dutta accused co-star Nana Patekar of inappropriate behaviour while shooting for a film. Since then, many individuals have been called out on social media over alleged sexual harassment.