After tell-all article, Greenpeace sexual harassment case in limelight again

In February this year, Greenpeace India issued a public apology after a former staffer alleged that her sexual harassment complaint was dealt with poorly over two years ago. [caption id=“attachment_2265366” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Greenpeace India. PTI[/caption] It is only after the former staffer  took to Facebook to share her story that the global environment NGO made an effort to investigate the woman’s complaints. “We have now looked again at what happened and we think she’s right, the complaint was not dealt with according to the high standards we hold ourselves to,” said Greenpeace India’s spokespersons in a statement they published on their website in February. “We just weren’t diligent enough, and for that we owe her an apology.” The former staffer has once again shared her story on  YouthKiAwaaz.com where she details repeated incidents of sexual harrasment during her time at Greenpeace. In the article, she mentions an instance on a work trip where, “At times, two of my male colleagues had to physically place themselves between the two of us to stop [a senior employee] from coming on to me.” Senior employees joked about her ‘character’ during official meetings after many such incidents where her harasser relentlessly pursued her, asking, “Who’s in her room today?” or “Is that person in her room, or in her?” When she filed a report, there was no follow up or questions from the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), even though the Vishaka Guidelines and the subsequent act, the 2013 Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act clearly instructs the ICC to carry out an internal investigation. But such incidents pale in comparison to the more explosive revelation in the former Greenpeace staffer’s latest account. According to her, in a separate incident, she was also raped by a male colleague when she was unconscious after a party. She left the organisation soon after but when she went back to file her complaint, Greenpeace refused to do anything as “no take action can be taken against an existing employee on the allegations made by an ex-employee.” In the comments section on the Youth Ki Awaaz site, Greenpeace India’s program director Divya Raghunandan replied to the author’s claims, saying “In the incident that you talk about. The director who acted on the case has left the organization over 2 years ago after the complaint was addressed inadequately. The manager has also left. As a result of the executive director issuing a harsh warning to the person in question when this issue came to his notice 3 years later (few months back) ; the person who has caused you much pain is also leaving the organization."  “There is little that the organization and myself as a senior management team member can do rather than offer an apology on behalf of those that had acted at the time. This has been done . The incident has also challenged us to do an audit of our process with regard to sexual harassment at the workplace based on the new law and amendments. By repeatedly accusing the organization of inaction and insensitivity without taking cognizance of the steps taken is against the basic feminist principle of dialogue and engagement,” she added. She responded to Raghunandan’s comment on the board, dismissing it as “damage control and nothing else.” In February, workplace sexual harassment in India made big news when The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) filed a police complaint against the group’s head, Rajendra Pachauri, alleging he sent a woman sexually suggestive emails and made unwelcome physical advances. But in the TERI case the woman did file a complaint with the Delhi Police.