Ms Renuka Mukadam, an avid speaker on Gender related issues began
with sharing the importance of the session on Gender Sensitization. The Sexual
Harassment at Workplace Act passed in December, 2013 includes conduction of
such sensitization and awareness sessions.
The UGC decided to
look at how the colleges were dealing with various struggles related to gender
such as gender bias, etc. The report ‘Saksham’ was developed and it depicted
that approximately 42% of students were females in every college and that is
why such sessions are important. These are for both females and males, hence,
are not gender restricted.
Next we discussed
the difference between equality and equity. Equality pertains to equal rights
in equal circumstances whereas, equity is equal rights posing special
conditions.
This followed by
an interesting film about standard stereotypes in our day to day lives like
boys should not cry or girls should dress in feminine ways only, etc.
Then she explained
the difference between sex and gender. Sex is biological identity of a person
while Gender is socio-cultural identity. Gender is constructed by a process
called ‘socialisation’. It is the conditioning of a person defined as a process
of different upbringing of boys and girls. Efforts are being put to change
these stereotypes. One such example is - women cab drivers, although it does
not ensure safety of female passengers, it is bringing changes and is a step
towards discrimination against women with regards to profession.
She then
emphasized on the wrong notions portrayed by the media such as when a girl says
‘no’ to romance it means ‘yes’. This is one of the reasons for bad acceptance
of rejection by boys, leading to stalking, acid attacks, etc.
Another video was
shown enacting what girls and boys are made to realise since the day they are
born such as the colours they should dress in, responsibilities, attitude, etc.
This was followed
by a discussion on patriarchal and matriarchal society. India is predominantly
a patriarchal society implying that power and its dynamics are given to men.
She talked about sexuality which is not just sexual behaviour but also includes
thoughts and attitude.
She explained the
meaning of sexual harassment. An overview of Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 was
explained and the case of Bhavri Devi was discussed which lead to the ‘Vishakha
Guidelines’. It applies to harassment of women at workplaces, it also includes
educational institutes.
It involves ‘quid
pro quo’ which means demanding favours in return of something else, physical contact,
showing pornography, making sexually coloured remarks. It is different from
flirting in many aspects like touch, stare, etc. This followed by another video
regarding sexual harassment and the varying opinions of boys and girls about
eve teasing. It was an informative video urging females to take stand and
complain. The helpline no. 103 was shown as well.
She further
explained as to what should be done to lodge a case to the Internal Complaints
Committee (ICC). A written complaint is lodged within 3 months. During the
period of enquiry, certain reliefs are given to the victim such as leave during
the period. She stressed that ICC information should be displayed in the
campus.
The session was
followed by a question-answer session. Ms. Renuka finished with a beautiful
quote
“Men of Quality
respect Women’s Equality”
Report By:-
Shrishti Arabatti
Divya Nayyar
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