Make Indian campuses safe for women

Implement the laws and strengthen internal complaints committees

In 2017, the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, constituted a six-member panel to analyse issues related to the safety of women in the city. A key focus area of the report, which came out last week, is the safety of women on college campuses. This is an important issue. According to the ministry of human resource development, sexual harassment cases in campuses were up by 50% in 2017. Yet, many cases go unreported. The panel’s report says that this happens because the University Grants Commission’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), which deals with sexual harassment at the workplace, is not strong enough. Another reason why students hesitate to report harassment cases is that many universities tend to shield perpetrators, usually men in powerful positions or with connections. Third, students are usually reluctant to approach ICC, a nominated body. They prefer the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), an elected body. But institutions such as the University of Hyderabad have undermined GSCASH by questioning its autonomy, and Jawaharlal Nehru University has scrapped it. In the US, universities were forced to begin the conversation about sexual harassment on campuses after the Stanford University rape case in 2016. It led students to read the fine print of the Education Amendments of 1972: Title IX, which protects them from gender discrimination.

Similarly, in India, we need to take a hard look at the laws, implement them thoroughly, strengthen the ICC, and provide a support system so that victims of harassment don’t find themselves alone in their pursuit of justice, and the trauma that follows such incidents.