Tackling the menace of sexual harassment

It is extremely concerning that the guideline issued by the Supreme Court for addressing sexual harassment at educational institutions and workplaces remains unimplemented even after almost a decade. This means that universities and organisations have failed to fulfil their obligation to form committees responsible for investigating sexual harassment complaints and taking appropriate action. This was recently revealed by a study by ActionAid Bangladesh which reflected the findings of a survey conducted earlier by this paper. Furthermore, awareness about the said guideline is very low among students, employees and authorities which explains why there has been no pressure on universities and other institutions to follow through on their obligations. 

That there is no form of institutionalised mechanism to tackle sexual harassment on campuses and workplaces at a time when more and more women in the country are excelling in education and joining the workforce, is very problematic, to put it mildly. The aforementioned survey conducted by this newspaper found that 70 percent of participants who are students from private and public universities faced some kind of sexual harassment on campus. The survey also found that many female students were reluctant to file official complaints for fear of retaliation and further victimisation.

The full implementation of SC guideline is thus the need of the hour if we are to provide a safe educational and working environment for women in the country and live up to our national and international commitments to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women. Awareness of formation of complaint committees needs to be built up so that students and employees can hold the authorities accountable for failing to implement the SC guideline. Educational institutions and other organisations must adopt a policy that clearly delineates all relevant procedures including the means to access the committee and file complaints.