The Question Every HR Team Should Be Asking

If you work in human resources, compliance, or corporate training, you have probably heard this conversation at least once. Someone on the team says, “We need to organise a self-defense workshop for our women employees. Let us make sure we get a female instructor.” The room nods. It sounds thoughtful. It sounds considerate. And no one questions it further.

But here is the thing. The POSH Act, which is likely the very reason your company is organising this training, does not actually require the trainer to be female. In fact, if you read the Act carefully, you might find that insisting on a gender-specific instructor could actually work against the spirit of the law your company is trying to follow.

This is not about blame or finger-pointing. This is about understanding the law properly so that your compliance efforts are genuinely effective and legally sound.

What the POSH Act Actually Says About Training

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is very clear about what it expects from employers. Companies must organise workshops and awareness programs that educate employees about workplace safety, appropriate behaviour, and the mechanisms available for reporting and redressal.

Here is what the Act focuses on:

• The quality and relevance of the training content
• Whether the training effectively raises awareness about sexual harassment
• Whether employees understand their rights and the reporting process
• Whether the organisation has taken meaningful steps to prevent harassment

Here is what the Act does not specify:

• The gender of the trainer or facilitator
• That only women can train women
• That male professionals are excluded from delivering such programs

The emphasis, from start to finish, is on the outcome. Is the training effective? Does it create real awareness? Does it build genuine capability? These are the questions the law cares about. The gender of the person standing at the front of the room is simply not part of the legal framework.

The Irony That Nobody Talks About

Here is something worth sitting with for a moment. The POSH Act was created to dismantle gender-based bias and stereotyping in the workplace. Its entire purpose is to ensure that women are treated with dignity, respect, and equality. It fights against the idea that a person’s gender should determine how they are treated or what opportunities they receive.

So when a company, in the name of POSH compliance, declares that only a female professional can deliver safety training, it is actually reinforcing the very kind of gender-based thinking the Act was designed to eliminate.

Think about what the underlying assumption really says: that a man, regardless of his expertise, qualifications, years of experience, or track record, is automatically disqualified because of his gender. That is not compliance. That is the exact kind of gender-based discrimination the law asks us to move away from.

“The POSH Act asks companies to fight gender stereotypes. It does not ask companies to create new ones. When you reject a qualified professional solely because of gender, you are not following the law. You are contradicting it.”

– Specialist Franklin Joseph

The Comfort Argument and Why It Deserves a Deeper Look

The most common reason companies give for wanting a female instructor is comfort. “Our women employees will feel more comfortable learning from another woman.” On the surface, this sounds caring. And I want to acknowledge that the intention behind it is genuinely good.

But let us think about what this actually means in the context of self-defense training.

Self-defense exists because the world is not always comfortable. Crime does not wait for comfort. A woman being followed home at night, a woman facing aggression from a stranger on public transport, a woman dealing with domestic violence in her own home, none of these situations offer the luxury of comfort. And in the vast majority of these situations, the threat comes from a man.

If a woman cannot engage with a male instructor in a safe, controlled, professional classroom setting, how will she engage with a threatening male presence in a real crisis? The classroom is supposed to be the bridge between comfort and capability. It is where women learn to face discomfort in a supported environment so that they are not paralysed by it when it matters most.

When we prioritise comfort over capability, we are not empowering women. We are insulating them. And insulation is not the same as protection.

“Empowering women means helping them step beyond their comfort zone, not building a thicker wall around it. A self-defense class that only keeps you comfortable has already failed you. Because crime will never be comfortable.”

Read Franklin Joseph Corporate Women Empowerment / Self Defense ArticlesCall 9886769281 for Corporate Workshops

– Specialist Franklin Joseph

What Genuine POSH Compliance Looks Like in Self-Defense Training

If your company genuinely wants to comply with the spirit and letter of the POSH Act through self-defense training, here is what to focus on:

• Pre-crime awareness: Does the training teach women to recognise the early warning signs of a dangerous situation before it escalates? Most crimes have a build-up phase. Training should help women read those signals.
• During-crime response: Does the program go beyond punches and kicks to address freeze responses, psychological manipulation tactics used by aggressors, and practical escape strategies that work in real-world settings?
• Post-crime recovery: Does the training address what to do after an incident? Legal steps, emotional processing, reporting mechanisms, and support systems?
• Psychological depth: Does the instructor understand the psychology of both the victim and the aggressor? Does the program address social conditioning, ingrained fear responses, and the mental barriers that prevent women from acting in their own defense?
• Instructor credentials: Does the trainer have verifiable expertise in crime psychology, behavioural threat assessment, and real-world safety training? Or are they simply a martial arts practitioner with no specialised knowledge of how crime actually works?

None of these criteria have anything to do with the instructor’s gender. All of them have everything to do with the quality and effectiveness of the training. And that is exactly what the POSH Act cares about.

The Shifting Focus That Keeps Missing the Point

Over the years, I have watched the conversation around women’s self-defense shift its focus multiple times. And every time, it shifts to something that is not actually the point.

First, the focus was on the victim. What was she wearing? Where was she walking? What time was she out? The entire conversation was about blaming the woman for the crime committed against her.

Then the focus shifted to martial arts. Suddenly, the answer to violence against women was karate, kickboxing, or taekwondo. As if a two-hour workshop on high kicks would prepare someone for a real-world assault. Martial arts are disciplines with their own value, but they are not designed to address the psychological reality of crime.

Now the focus has shifted again. This time, it is about the gender of the instructor. And once again, we are looking at everything except the thing that actually matters: the crime itself, and how to deal with it.

“We have gone from blaming what the woman was wearing, to teaching her a roundhouse kick, to now debating whether her instructor should be male or female. At no point has the focus been where it needs to be: on understanding crime, recognising danger, and knowing how to survive it. That is the only conversation that saves lives.”

– Specialist Franklin Joseph

A Thoughtful Way Forward

I am not writing this to create controversy or to challenge any company’s good intentions. I am writing this because I believe that truly effective compliance comes from truly understanding the law. And the POSH Act, at its core, is about creating workplaces where gender does not determine how people are treated, what opportunities they receive, or how their capabilities are judged.

When we apply that principle consistently, including when choosing a self-defense trainer, we move closer to the kind of workplace the law envisions. When we make exceptions based on gender, even with the best of intentions, we move further away.

Choose your self-defense trainer based on expertise, methodology, psychological depth, and proven results. That is compliance. That is equality. And most importantly, that is what actually keeps your women employees safer.

Read Franklin Joseph Corporate Women Empowerment / Self Defense ArticlesCall 9886769281 for Corporate Workshops

“True empowerment is not about making women comfortable. It is about making them capable. Capable of facing fear, capable of making decisions under pressure, capable of protecting themselves when no one else is around. That is what real self-defense training delivers. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the gender of the person teaching it.”

– Specialist Franklin Joseph