Seminar on Women Employees Safety and Self Defense on June 6, 2013 at Taj President,

The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry under its Sustainability Committee and Legal Affairs & IPR Committee jointly has organized a Seminar on Women Employees Safety and Self Defense on June 6, 2013 at the Ball Room, Hotel Taj President, Mumbai.

The contents of the seminar were:  Workplace Safety,  Travel Safety,  Your rights as a Women and  Self Defense Techniques

According to the recently conducted study by ASSOCHAM, 53 per cent of working worry about their safety, with the metropolitan results ranging from 65 per cent in , followed by 56 per cent in , to 26 per cent in Mumbai. Working at night and travel / touring on job, common in the rapidly growing call-center and other new-technology industries, particularly worry women, especially following a high-profile murder of a night-hours television journalist. To respond to such a scenario and train women to fight and manage the situation, the Chamber has organized the above Seminar.

Mr. Ashith Kampani, Member, Managing Committee, Bombay Chamber and Chairman, Young Bombay Forum & CosmicMandela15 Securities Pvt. Ltd. delivered the Welcome Address and introduced Mr. D. Sivanandhan.

Mr. D. Sivanandhan, IPS (Retd). Former Commissioner of Police and Chairman, Securus First delivered the Keynote Address. He has covered the following topics in his presentation.

• Types of Crimes • What are the Current Laws? • How large is the Problem? • What are the Most Common Crimes? • Is the Problem Getting Worse? • Recent High Profile Incidents • Crime in the Cities • Crime in the Workplace • What Can We Do? • What Can You Do As A Victim

He also included the subjects on Unfair Treatment, , Child Labour, Women Trafficking, Child Marriage, The New Anti- Act, and Dowry. He gave his presentation with the help of video clippings and spoke about many recently published articles in the leading newspapers. He also shared his experience as DGP

He also spoke about the provisions in current laws such as Crimes under Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Crimes under the Special & Local Laws (SLL). He elaborated the section like Rape (Sec 376 IPC), Kidnapping & Abduction (Sec 363 - 373 IPC), Homicide for Dowry, Dowry deaths or their attempts (Sec 302/304B IPC), Torture - both mental and physical (Sec 498A IPC), Molestation (Sec 354 IPC), Sexual Harassment or eve (Sec 509 IPC), and Importation of girls (Sec 366B IPC).

Keeping in mind the recent Acid attacks cases, he spoke about The Anti- under Section 326A and the Punishment: Imprisonment not less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life and with fine which shall be just and reasonable to meet the medial expenses and it shall be paid to the victim.

According to Mr. Shivanandhan, few things Women Can Do for Protection are as follows:

Transport • Use woman-exclusive commuting options, (train compartments, female-driven taxi cab services etc.) • Do not travel on the foot-board in trains, where molesters try to grope women or steal their purses. • Travel in “shared autos” especially at night. • Use your mobile camera to record the details of an auto and share it with a relative or friend. If possible install mobile tracking software on your phone. • Do not allow the driver to pick-up any male along the way.

When Going Out Socially • Leave a note with name, address and contact details of where you will be. • SMS a relative when you reach or leave the venue. • Do not accept drinks that are not made in front of you, they may contain sedatives. • If you leave your drink unattended, do not finish it, get a fresh drink. • Women should be trained in the art of basic self-defence. • Keep a whistle in your hand-bag to attract attention • Note down the police help line number in an easily accessible fashion. • Personal particulars of next-of-kin should be available in your mobile phone. • Compact pepper spray and other non-lethal defences are available and can be used.

Col. Deepankar Chaudhary, Lead Consultant also has addressed the gathering with his presentation and later his team – Ms. Brienish Alva and Mr. Harshvardhan Rawat from Mahindra SSG conducted the training session. Col. Deepankar also talked about various tips to be taken by Women for Protection while travelling and socializing outside. The Seminar has given enough opportunity to the participants to practice and do trials with the team members on various techniques of self defense precautions in case of an emergency. They answered all the queries/doubts raised by the participants.

Mr. Usha Maheshwari, Joint Director, Bombay Chamber concluded the session by proposing a hearty vote of thanks. He also appreciated the efforts taken by the organizations by deputing their women employees to attend the topically relevant subject.

We received an overwhelming participation and feedback from the participants. Few delegates approached the organizer to organize the similar programme for employees of their own company.