Sexual harassment: Many colleges lack redressal forums

Ahna Prakash | NT

On Thursday, around 200 students of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, drafted an open letter criticising NLSIU for allegedly taking disciplinary action against two female students for sharing details about sexual harassment on the campus.

The students also demanded a proper redressal system where the students can report sexual harassment cases. This isn’t the first incident of sexual harassment case on a university campus in Bengaluru. To address harassment in colleges, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has mandated an Internal complaints Committee (ICC) in all colleges. But the functioning of ICC in colleges remains a mystery.

Lack of awareness among students and no data maintained by UGC about the number of cases reported and the number of colleges with functional ICC makes the matter worse.

Dr Latha, Education Officer at UGC’s South Western Regional Office said it does not have any data on sexual harassment cases and the number of functioning ICCs in Bengaluru. “We would collect the data during our college inspections,” she said.

According to a survey by the Student’s Outpost, a students’ collective in the city, about 33 per cent of students are unaware of the existence of ICC. This leads to many unreported cases.

I don’t think we have an ICC in the college, and even if it is there, I have no idea about it,” a student from St Joseph’s College, told News Trail.

In 2020, a classmate tried to molest me, and I had no one in my college to go and complain about it. I did suffer a lot and I couldn’t inform my teachers as there was no redressal system in my college,” she added. The situation is no different in other city colleges too.

I don’t think we have any cell or organisation in our college to address matters related to sexual harassment. Most people wouldn’t know where to complain if it happens to them on campus,” another student from Bangalore City College.

Students are not comfortable sharing such experiences with anyone in their institution. But the ICC is an empowering tool. Particularly after the Vishakha judgment, it has emerged as a powerful and empowering tool for women, where they can lodge complaints about misbehaviours or harassment at the workplace, which is a prevalent thing,” said a member of the college’s ICC.

UGC guidelines

According to the UGC regulations, an ICC must have a presiding officer who is a senior faculty member and a woman apart from two faculty members, two non-teaching faculty members, three student representatives and an external member who has been actively working in the social sector for women’s welfare. Fifty per cent of the members should be women.