10 ways to make educational institutions safer 

Primary school teacher arrested for sexually harassing Class VII student in Muzaffarnagar; a complaint was filed by a girl student against a faculty member of IIT Kanpur for inappropriate conduct; 2 boys allegedly raped a minor inside the school bathroom in Chhattisgarh as third boy stands guard; Male students accuse school principal of sexual harassment in Chandigarh; General feeling Christian co-ed institutions highly unsafe for future of girl children: Madras HC. These were a few of the headlines in 2019. Evidently, sexual harassment is rampant across India in “schools” which are considered a temple of learning. It is shocking how these educational institutions that should protect children are putting them at risk for horrific child sexual abuse. All stakeholders of society, government, teachers, staff members, industry professionals, students need to come forward and work in a partnership to provide a safe learning environment for children. 

We have curated a list of 10 steps that educational institutions should take to stop sexual harassment-

Involve the entire school community: teachers, staff members, and students

In an educational setting there are various stakeholders involved like teachers, managing staff, peons, students, visitors and parents. It becomes imperative to ensure that whatever policy is implemented or a training session is conducted it should keep in mind the age and background of all the stakeholders involved. Even if it is an English medium institution, the policy should be in a language that could be understood by peons as well. The sexual harassment training programs for young kids should be appropriate for their age. Many believe that kids in elementary school are too young to receive any education on human sexuality. However, they need to be taught basic concepts like bodily autonomy, consent, difference between good touch and bad touch.  

Develop a policy

After considering the interest and opinions of all the stakeholders design a policy outlining the school’s objective regarding sexual harassment. The policy should include a definition of sexual harassment. It should also categorically state what amounts to sexual harassment and what is not harassment. The policy should mention the possible consequences for breaching the sexual harassment policy. Also, include a variety of options (formal or informal) available for staff and students for dealing with sexual harassment. Among other things, the policy should include the contact details of people who have been appointed to assist with sexual harassment matters. It must state the person responsible for receiving complaints. 

Form an ICC

For the redressal of sexual harassment complaints, every school should constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). The Presiding Officer of the committee shall be a woman employed at a senior level in the school and at least half of the members should be women. One member must be from the NGOs or associations committed to the cause of women or persons familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment.

Organize workshops and awareness programs at regular intervals for sensitizing

Educational institutions must conduct workshops separately for teachers, staff members, peons, and students. Conscious efforts should be put in for breaking gender stereotypes, gender bias, and sexual harassment concerns. Who taught us pink is for girls and blue is for boys or boys don’t cry? By teaching students that these stereotypes are not accurate, you can teach them to accept and embrace the differences between them. For instance, the morning assembly can talk about the latest developments in the field of sexual harassment and commence discussions on gender. 

Conduct sexual harassment training sessions periodically

It is estimated that more than 50% of people do not report sexual harassment cases. Mostly this could be because of fear of losing the job, fear of being judged, fear of retaliation, fear not being believed, embarrassment or shame or fear of the perpetrator. The list can go on. Hence, to encourage people to report such cases it is imperative to train them to break the shackles and come out to report such incidences. Sexual harassment training should be imparted on how to report the cases, how the school management shall handle such cases, how teachers can make a difference by teaching gender identity and breaking gender stereotypes in the classroom. 

Conduct sexual harassment training and awareness sessions for ICC members

Merely constituting an ICC is not all. You need to train the committee to handle such matters. This becomes all the more crucial when children are involved. You need to make children feel safe so that they can open up and share such incidences with the committee.  

Display information about the grievance handling mechanisms 

Having a redressal mechanism is not enough. Everyone in the school should know how to report such matters, contact details of the person with whom such complaints can be filed.

Display penal consequences of sexual harassment

The idea here is to create a safe environment for children to learn and grow. The best way to do so is by detering sexual harassment perpetrators. One of the most effective ways to this is by displaying penalties and consequences of sexual harassment at a lot of places in the school. This serves two purposes – first, any outsider who is visiting the campus would know outrightly that the school is against such behaviour and second everyone in the school would know that sexual harassment matters are taken seriously in the school and call for heavy penalties. 

Display posters

Every school has paintings and posters. This should be used to spread awareness about sexual harassment matters. You can create infographics around the complaint process, identifying harassment, types of touches, gender stereotypes, etc. 

Provide a safe working environment at the workplace which shall include safety from a third party (outsiders) coming into contact at the workplace 

School is one such place where a lot of outsiders keep visiting the campus. This could be parents, visiting faculty, students and staff members of other schools, etc. As per the Act, the employer is responsible to provide a safe working environment. You must display at the conspicuous zone and penal actions against sexual harassment. 

While schools, preschools and day care centers come under the definition of “workplace” according to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, they deal with their own challenges of ensuring the implementation of the guidelines and ensuring the safety of the stakeholders while building an environment free from sexual harassment. At Ungender, we use a customized approach towards ensuring the implementation of the POSH Act, 2013 in schools and build a safe environment at schools for all stakeholders involved, be it teachers or schools.