Testimonies of survivors, emboldened by the #MeToo movement, of sexual harassment have made it incumbent upon institutions to strengthen the internal modes of redress. Yet, last mile challenges persist to make such modes foolproof across educational institutions in and around the city.
Lack of awareness on the 2016 notification of the University Grants Commission (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2015, among the six institutions surveyed, in varying degrees, is the main cause for either an absence of redress or haphazard implementation of the regulations.
The regulations mandate constitution of the internal complaints committees (ICC) comprising a presiding officer, two teaching and two non-teaching staff members, three students if the matter concerns them and an expert from an NGO, and with at least one-half of its total strength made of women.
Though colleges have to comply with the regulations within 60 days of their notification, no such committee had been constituted by the P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, said its principal Ramesh Meka. However, a grievance committee, which deals with complaints relating to examination and faculty members, could take up sexual harassment cases.
One senior woman member of the committee said, “We make sure boys and girls don’t sit together in class and separate them if they are found loitering together, to avoid instances of harassment.”
The Andhra Loyola College has an ICC with 29 members, 65% of them women, a permanent counsellor and an NGO member, but no non-teaching staff members. Moreover, for admission to the college, one has to sign a declaration to “not indulge in emotional involvement with a student of the opposite gender,” said principal G.A. Peter Kishore. “Students come here to study. It’s not in this college’s culture to endorse and recognise romantic relationships among them,” he said.
The regulations, which are gender neutral, recognise harassment against persons of the same sex and the third gender. A lecturer at the Maris Stella College, which has an all-women six-member ICC, said as it was a women’s college, there was no need for a committee. However, its officiating principal Kulrekha Mudarthe said, “Same-sex harassment is a reality now and we need to recognise it. If such a complaint is raised with us, we’ll take it up.”
The KL University, Guntur, has an ICC with six members including three NGO members, says its Registrar T. Umamaheswara Rao. The university’s website has an elaborate description of the committee's composition, its functioning and the method of filing a complaint.
Central institutions
Central institutions like the School of Planning and Architecture have an ICC with seven members, including five women, a non-teaching staff member and an NGO member. However, the institution doesn’t have a permanent counsellor, a mandatory condition, nor has it, according to a student, put up notices promulgating the committee among students.
The National Institute of Design, Amaravati, doesn’t have an ICC or a committee to deal with sexual harassment, according to a student.