Child and Women Development Union Minister Maneka Gandhi launched a potentially game-changing portal yesterday. The online portal is meant for the registration of complaints related to sexual harassment in governmental organisations and the private sector. Earlier, the initiative was intended to only extend its ambit to governmental organisations. The inclusion of the private sector in the initiative came as a welcome surprise to women and rights activists in general.

The complaints management system - SHe-box (sexual harassment electronic box) will be hosted on the website of the Ministry of Women and Child development. The cell will look into complaints and get in touch with the required organisation’s ICC (internal complaints committee). Having an ICC is mandatory by law.

Under the 2013 Sexual Harassment at the Workplace act it is mandatory for any organisation with 10 or more people to have an ICC to address any harassment claims that may crop up at the workplace.

Talking about the initiative, Maneka said, "We are opening up the SHe-box, which is the first of its kind in the world. We will respond to any complaints by any women who have faced sexual harassment at workplace anywhere in India. We will respond and action will be taken."

A ministry unit will be tasked with looking at every complaint that reaches the portal.

"There will be a unit in the Ministry who is dedicated simply to redressing wrongs which have been expressed to us. We hope that through media more and more women will realise that they now have an avenue," she added.

It will be possible for complainants to monitor the the status of their enquiry in the ICC.

shebox.nic.in is the url of the website. The homepage offers two options to the users. The first option is to ‘register your complaint’, the second option is to ‘view status of complaint.’ On registering users are required to state whether they are from a private or public sector organisation and then they proceed from there in what is a simple process.

The process is designed to encourage women to speak rather than discourage them from bureaucracy and change the atmosphere in which many women suffer crimes in silence.