Greenpeace India apologised to one of its former employee after she published an article on a website alleging her former colleague of rape and sexual harassment on two different occasions.
In the article written by Sonam Mittal, there is mention of earlier cases of sexual harassment in the organisation.
I got a call from a senior colleague at 11 pm, 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.
– Greenpeace Ex-employee to IANS
According to her earlier article, when Mittal had complained about sexual harassment, the NGO convinced her to not file a complain as it may backfire on her.
The NGO said that the alleged rape is a separate incident, one that they were not made aware of until February 2015 and are have expressed support for a police investigation.
Greenpeace India reiterates its unconditional apology for the way it responded to the sexual harassment of one of our colleagues. We did not do justice to her complaint (or others) and we hope to right these failings in future.
– Greenpeace Statement
The organisation also stated that Greenpeace International will work closely with its India hand to investigate the matter and make sure this does not happen in the future.
Cases in Past
The looming question of other such incidents remains unanswered.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Samit Aich, had dismantled the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) when Sonam Mittal had filed the sexual harassment case, according to a report in OneIndia.
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.
-Reema Ganguly, ex-Senior Manager, Greenpeace India
Executive Director, in his defence, stated legal issues with the committee that led to its dismantle. He also said that now, the official involved in the case has resigned following a strong warning.
The NGO, which is in trouble over foreign donations, has decided to audit all the earlier cases.
Caught in the government crackdown of NGOs, the charity organisation will now have to deal with charges of protecting a sexual offender over years.
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