Mumbai-based Archana Khosla Burman is an active member of the POSH committees of several companies.

Archana Khosla Burman is the founder-partner of Vertices Partners, which is considered among the top 10 law firms of India in the private equity and venture capital space. With a team of over 40, the firm has handled over 200 cases in the past four years since its launch.

Raised in an Armed Forces family, Archana opted for a career in corporate law early on. “It allows me to maximise my impact on the startup economy as well as women’s empowerment. These are the two fundamentals for a healthy economy,” says the 39-year-old.

Archana and her husband and cofounder Vinayak Burman closely work with young entrepreneurs, offering legal solutions to help navigate through their journeys. They also conduct workshops for the holistic development of new and future entrepreneurs.

Based in Mumbai, Archana is fond of music and plays the keyboard and guitar. She sits on the advisory board of several new-age ventures and is an active member of POSH (The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace – Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013) committees of several companies.

We asked her about the POSH Act and its implementation, and the barriers to women’s empowerment in India.

The POSH Act has indisputably brought cases of sexual harassment to light and increased visibility, awareness and recognition even at the grassroot level of organisations. It has empowered women employees by prescribing a comparatively convenient mechanism of complaint redressal in such cases.

However, there are still many organisations that have not implemented POSH policies. Due to poor implementation and awareness of the POSH Act, this problem continues to be pervasive and rampant. While the POSH Act is widely regarded as a milestone legislation in India’s history, a great deal of work needs to be done to ensure a safe, equal, and secure working environment for all women.