The NGO Organization Greenpeace India is set to swim into more troubling waters as this time a female ex-employee has accused her colleagues of raping her and held Greenpeace India also as culprit due to its non-action even after making complaint against that colleague. This indifferent approach of Greenpeace India towards female staff has brought it into a situation where it is at the centre of trouble as other NGOs are accusing it of improper handling of serious issues.
Just a few days back, Greenpeace India was all over the news as the Indian government found it guilty of not following the compliance norms and the accounts of Greenpeace India were froze, however two accounts were freed by Delhi HC letting it function.
An ex-staffer posted the series of incidents on an online portal in which she described how she was molested and despite her complaints, there was no action taken against the accused. She told IANS that it all started in the second year when she was in the Bengaluru office of NGO. During an official tour in October “I got a call from a senior colleague at 11pm, asking me to vacate my room and insisting that I sleep in his suite. In another incident, he approached me physically despite my discomfort, insisted on force-feeding me birthday cake.”
A complaint was made by her in writing with the HR manager, however Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of Greenpeace which investigates cases of physical molestation did not sent her any communication. She was stunned when she came to know that the concerned person has also molested two other female employees earlier and still no action was taken against him. On the other hand, she was treated as wrongdoer and held responsible for whatever happened, she told “Once in an official meeting, in my absence, two senior employees indulged in character assassination against me. Even some female colleagues, part of the ICC, made me feel that I was at fault, that I didn’t know how to ‘set boundaries’.”
In 2013, the limits were crossed with this incident which she narrated, “It was after a party, when a male colleague whom I knew quite well found me unconscious and raped me. You cannot imagine the pain and fear I went through. I was terrified to speak and I knew even if I had, no one in this organization would come to my aid. I did not have the strength to report my rape, neither to the police, nor to my employers. How could I, when the processes had failed me once already?” Shaken to the soul, she had no option other than leaving the NGO.
No doubt, it was difficult for her to overcome it but when she did, she decided to post it on Facebook this year in February. As this post was published, Greenpeace did not wasted time in making an apology on their web portal with an assurance to relook into matter properly. They also admitted that the case should have been handled more seriously, they stated, “The victim deserves both an apology and a meticulous examination of what happened.”
Despite NGO’s assurance, the lady is sure that no action is going to being taken keeping in mind the history of NGO in dealing with such cases, she said. “The ICC, which convened in March, recommended the termination of the offender, but the executive director overrode the decision on some pretext and the only thing I received was a written apology from the molester.”
The lady’s claim got support from an another ex-employee Reema Ganguly who was a senior manager and also a member of ICC, she resigned after the ED Samit Aich denied the suggestion made by ICC, Reema Ganguly said, “The committee’s suggestion of terminating the molester was overturned by the executive director, and they dismantled the committee which was only three months old, whereas the duration (for such a committee) is for three years. It was very clear that the committee is an eyewash by the NGO.”
ED Samit Aich justified the decision as he said, “We came to know that the committee decisions were leaked to many people in the office. So I sought legal opinion on this and I was told that since it’s leaked, the decision stands invalid. So we dissolved the committee and reconstituted it.” On the question of not following ICC’s suggestion of terminating the accused, Samit replied, “I have given a strong warning to the person and as a result, he has put in his papers. I admit that there have been flaws in our earlier system and we will tighten our disciplinary actions in future.”
Divya Raghunandan, Program Director of Greenpeace India accepted that there were some loop holes in the previous organism, she told IANS that some serious and authenticate issues have been raised by ex-employees, they will be probed in “serious manner”. She said, “When we revisited the cases, we felt that it should have been handled in a better way.”
Divya told that the person accused has submitted his resignation and the organism for probing physical molestation cases will be re-structured, “We have reconstituted the ICC and ordered an audit into the old cases. The implicated employee has put in his papers already.”
Despite that the ex-employees and activists are raising questions on the failure of NGO to reprimand a wrongdoer and saving him for such a long time.
In the words of Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, “Greenpeace failed to stand by their promise of punishing the offender. They disbanded a committee, which recommended punishment for the molester. The NGO is muzzling voices of dissent. They have stretched the cases for so many years. The punishment has to be spelt out clearly.” She also stated that they are waiting for Greenpeace to respond and held ED responsible for improper dealing of these cases.
Usha Saxena, another ex-employee made similar allegations as she was compelled to quit NGO for raising her voice against molestation in NGO. Usha, who joined NGO in 2009, said that she found no one who was ready to take action on her complaints regarding indecent jokes and comments, she told to IANS, “I filed a misconduct complaint against senior HR director for making discriminatory and threatening remarks about my gender, my age and ordering me to seek “psychological counselling”. For that, I was bullied out in 2013.”
There is one more ex-employee who was harassed by the same person who was involved in the first case, she also made a complaint but no action was taken so she quit NGO in 2015, she told IANS, “He made some objectionable comments in front of many senior colleagues, including the executive director. No one reacted, rather they were all amused.” “Though she registered a complaint with the HR Department the next day, it met the same fate as the previous ones.”
She is determined to take legal course if the person accused in not penalized.
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