Prevention of Sexual Harassment

Our commitment

GiveWise Educational Foundation has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Our commitment stands under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — the POSH Act — and it covers every place our work happens: our online classrooms and meetings, our official communication channels, and any in-person work, event or travel connected with GiveWise.

It applies to everyone who works with us, in any capacity — staff, teachers, volunteers and associates — and to the conduct of anyone towards them. The Act protects women at the workplace; our own expectation of respectful conduct protects every person on our team, whatever their gender or background.

What counts as sexual harassment

Sexual harassment includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour, whether direct or implied:

• Physical contact and advances;
• A demand or request for sexual favours;
• Making sexually coloured remarks;
• Showing pornography;
• Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature — including messages, images or comments shared through digital channels.

Conduct does not become acceptable because it was meant as a joke, or because it happened online rather than in person.

Our Internal Committee

An Internal Committee, constituted under the POSH Act, 2013, is in place at GiveWise to receive complaints of sexual harassment and to inquire into them fairly, independently and in confidence, following the procedure the Act lays down.

The Act prescribes how such a committee is formed: it is chaired by a senior woman at the workplace, at least half of its members are women, and it includes an external member drawn from an organisation or background familiar with issues of sexual harassment, so that no inquiry is ever only an internal affair. Our Internal Committee is constituted accordingly. Its member details are available on request through our Contact page.

Every complaint is handled with confidentiality: the identity of the person who complains, and the contents of the complaint, are not shared beyond what the inquiry itself requires.

Raising a concern

Any member of our team who experiences or witnesses sexual harassment connected with GiveWise’s work may raise it by writing to us through our Contact page, and it will be placed before the Internal Committee. Under the Act, a complaint is made in writing within three months of the incident (or of the last incident, where there has been a series of them); the Committee may extend that period by up to three further months where the circumstances prevented a complaint from being made sooner. A person who is unable to make a complaint in writing will be given every reasonable assistance to record it.

No one will face retaliation of any kind for making a complaint in good faith — retaliation is itself treated as a serious offence against our policies.

How a complaint is handled

Once a complaint reaches the Internal Committee, it is handled in the manner the Act provides:

• The Committee inquires into the complaint fairly and in confidence. Both the person who complains and the person complained against are heard, and the principles of natural justice are followed throughout.
• While an inquiry is pending, the Committee may recommend interim steps to protect the person who has complained — such as separating the parties’ work, or granting leave — so that no one has to choose between their dignity and their work.
• The inquiry is completed within the period the Act lays down — ninety days from the complaint — and the Committee’s findings and recommendations are placed before the Foundation, which acts on them.
• Where a complaint is proved, action follows under the Act and under our own disciplinary standards, up to removal from the organisation; where the Committee finds the allegation was malicious and made knowing it to be false, the Act provides for action against the complainant as well — but a complaint that simply cannot be proved is never, by itself, treated as malicious.
• At the request of the person who complains, the Committee may first attempt a conciliation — never on the basis of any monetary settlement — and where a settlement is reached and recorded, no further inquiry is held unless its terms are not honoured.

A culture of respect

Prevention is more than a committee. GiveWise is committed to a harassment-free working environment for all genders and backgrounds, and to equal opportunity regardless of gender, caste, religion, region or background. Professional conduct, official communication through authorised channels, and respect for personal boundaries and personal time are expected of everyone who carries our name. Our volunteers give their time freely — that generosity is never to be exploited.

If you work with us, or hope to, this policy protects you. If anything in it is unclear, please write to us through our Contact page — we would rather answer a question early than a concern late.

Review of this policy

This policy is reviewed periodically, and whenever the law or our own practice changes, so that what is written here always matches what we actually do. The version on this page is the current one.

GiveWise Educational Foundation is a registered Section 8 non-profit company (CIN U85500PB2025NPL066320), registered on the NGO Darpan portal (PB/2026/0993111), holding provisional 12A and 80G registration. Registered Office: H. No. 13, Ward No. 54, Sandhu Colony, Amritsar, Punjab 143001.