Chanduru, a student at Kalakshetra Natyapalli in Chennai, had always aspired to learn dance but his interest in it dwindled due to the sexual harassment he faced from teachers at a different dance school over the past few months. When Chanduru lodged a complaint with the school’s Internal Complaints Investigation Committee, he was shocked to receive a response that stated that his complaint was unacceptable and could not be investigated. The committee had said that it would only accept complaints from female students and not from male students. The Advocate Ajitha, a member of the Internal Complaints Investigation Committee, explained that the Sexual Violence Against Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Protection and Redressal) Act, 2013 provides for the internal complaints investigation committee to investigate sexual problems faced by women in respective organizations only. As a result, male complaints could not be investigated. Legal experts and people from internal complaints investigation committees suggest that victims like Chanduru should file a complaint with the Institution or Workplace Grievance Committee, and they can also file a complaint directly at the police station.
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Chanduru (name changed), a student of Kalakshetra Natyapalli, a central government institute in Chennai, had always dreamed of learning dance. He says his interest in dance, which he loves, has waned due to sexual harassment by teachers at a dance school in the past few months.
At one point, when she complained to the dance school’s Internal Complaints Investigation Committee, she was shocked to receive a response that her complaint was unacceptable and could not be investigated.
The Internal Complaints Committee, which inquires about sexual harassment, has said that complaints from female students will be accepted and complaints from male students will not be accepted. We don’t know who to complain to,” says Chanduru sadly.
She tells how the sexual harassment took place and how it became more confusing when she complained.
“A teacher texted me in the middle of the night and asked me to come home. I was nervous and immediately after a few minutes he started talking sexually asking me to come on video call and see you completely. I have a fever. When I mustered up the courage to file a complaint, they said that the administration would only investigate the complaints of female students, and that complaints made by male students would not be accepted. I don’t know what to do,” says Sanduru.
Why is the men’s complaint not accepted?
First, we spoke to Advocate Ajitha, a member of the Internal Complaints Investigation Committee at Kalakshetra Dance School. We asked why when students at Kalakshetra complained of sexual harassment, the Internal Complaints Investigation Committee said it could not be investigated.
The Sexual Violence Against Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Protection and Redressal) Act, 2013 is implemented as a law to protect women. According to this act, the internal complaints investigation committee in the respective organization should investigate the sexual problems faced by women.
The whole purpose of this Act is to eliminate sexual violence against women. There is no way for men to complain privately. This is called a ‘gender specific act’ – so when men complained, it could not be investigated,” said Ajitha.
How do affected men report?
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The question has been raised whether there are no individual committees to look into the sexual problems faced by men in institutions of higher learning across India like Chanduru. How can people like Chanduru get justice? What should men like Chanduru do who have experienced sexual harassment? That’s what we asked legal experts and people from internal complaints investigation committees in higher education institutions.
Speaking to BBC Tamil, Professor Sakthi Rekha of Chennai Social Work School said that in recent times higher education institutes have been instructed to investigate the complaints of not only women but also transgender students by internal complaints investigation committee. He is currently a member of the school’s Internal Complaints Investigation Committee.
1)If the victim is a male, a complaint can be lodged with the Institution or Workplace Grievance Committee or Disciplinary Action Committee.
2) There is a rule that every administration should conduct awareness on how to deal with sexual harassment. Complaints can be made by consulting the people in this awareness group.
3) You can file a complaint directly at the police station.
What is the path shown by the women’s commission to male victims?
The Tamil Nadu Women’s Commission also investigated the complaints of Kalakshetra students. But it has been revealed that the complaints of male students were not accepted in that commission too. We spoke to Kumari, chairperson of the State Commission for Women. We asked how the women’s commission could not handle the complaints of male students who were sexually harassed like the Kalakshetra students.
“The women’s commission received complaints from male students along with female students. As we could not help them directly, we took the details to the State Human Rights Commission and arranged for them to get legal help. Therefore, students in other educational institutes like Kalakshetra can directly file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission and can also file a complaint at the police station,” he said.
Why Discrimination in Dealing with Sexual Harassment?
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Advocate Shanthakumari, who says that there is a perception in the society that sexual harassment only happens to women, says that the complaints of students should be investigated by the internal complaints investigation committee in the college administration.
According to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission published in 2015, it has been urged that the Internal Complaints Investigation Committee should investigate sexual harassment complaints not only against women, but also against men and transgender people.
Shanthakumari, who was a member of the Internal Complaints Investigation Committee of Madras University, has conducted research on how sexual harassment cases are handled in various states of India and has published books.
“As far as the complaints are concerned, there is a guideline that the victim, whether he is male, female or transsexual, should investigate the complaint, so investigation can be conducted according to law.
Section (3)(d) of the University Grants Commission (Prevention, Prohibition and Redress of Sexual Harassment of Female Staff and Students in Institutions of Higher Education) Regulations, 2015 states that it is the responsibility of institutions of higher education to address issues of sexual harassment without sexual harassment. Therefore, it cannot be accepted that higher education students have no place in the law,” he says.
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