Indian education boards should audit sexual harassment policies

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 01 November 2013 | 22.45

MUMBAI: An audit of sorts of the implementation of sexual assault policies on college and university campuses in the United States has showed that nearly one-third of the institutions did not comply with legal requirements. With sexual abuse on campuses on the rise in India as well, it might be a good idea for educational boards in India to undertake a similar exercise.

The US audit was undertaken by SAFER and V-Day and covered 300 formal and informal colleges and universities across the US regarding their sexual assault policies. The report, "Making the Grade? Findings from the Campus Accountability Project on Sexual Assault Policies," found that nearly nine out of ten institutions offered counselling services for students and in an equivalent number of institutions schools sponsored sexual violence awareness activities. A majority of policies (63%) allowed survivors to report their complaint anonymously.

"Since the inception of 'The Vagina Monologues' V-Day has worked with local volunteers and college students to produce performances of the play as a means to raise awareness about sexual violence, creating an open artistic space for dialogue, shattering taboos and raising funds for local anti-violence organizations. As part of their V-Day activities, college activists look deeply at the issues of violence against women on their campuses and around the world," said Susan Celia Swan, Executive Director at V-Day in a press note. The collaboration with SAFER, she explained created a forum for their activists to assess their schools' sexual assault policies.

The audit they hope would help spotlight what works and what doesn't in what are significant measures to encourage more women to come forward and report sexual abuse.

There are protective mechanisms in place in India as well. A supreme court verdict, famously called the Vishaka judgment had way back in 1999 mandated that all educational institutions set up sexual harassment cells on their campuses. An audit of Indian institutions should perhaps begin with analysing how many colleges have complied with the apex court's directive, to begin with.

Based on the report, SAFER and V-Day recommended that U.S. colleges and universities should "increase the availability and accessibility of survivor resources, such as free emergency contraception after sexual assault; increase primary prevention efforts and create more opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with primary prevention activities" as well as ensure that such policies are widely shared on school websites. These are measures that could serve well in desi institutions as well.


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