The ICC remained vigilant and active throughout the academic year. It organized an essay writing competition on the broad theme “Virtual Harassment” on August 11, 2021. The topic for the essay was declared on the spot of the competition which was “Online Education – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.” Through this competition, students were able to express their thoughts and emotions via writing, gained a lot of information on virtual harassment, and learned ways to tackle it. The essays were evaluated by judges and the three winners were given certificates. The first position was bagged by Shreya Ghosh (History, Second year). The second position was won by Ayushi Singh (Political science, Third year) and the third position was shared by Amrita Kumari (Hindi, Second year) and Ashly Jiju (Political science, Third year).
On August 19 2021, ICC organized a webinar on ‘Sexual harassment at the Workplace’ by Mrs. Ankur Gulyani Panda, Advocate, Supreme Court of India. The session was an interactive one and the zoom webinar witnessed diverse questions from inquisitive young minds. Mrs. Ankur gave insights on the Vishaka Guidelines given by the Supreme Court and shed light on the importance of creating a gender-equitable society. She also shared her own experiences as a woman in the legal profession.
In her concluding remarks, Mrs. Ankur emphasized the importance of ‘conversations’ in our society. A dialogue is necessary to lead us toward the creation of an egalitarian society. More women should be visible in public spaces and acquire powerful positions.
An extempore poster making competition was conducted on 5th March 2022 in collaboration with IQAC on the theme ‘Her Story’. The topic “FROM WOMB TO DOOM” was given on the spot. Students made impeccable posters depicting the journey of a woman from her birth to death. Shagun Naik, from the Department of Psychology got the First position. Amaani Gujral, Department of History achieved Second position and Saumya Yadav from BA Program bagged Third position. These posters were also displayed by the Women Development Cell.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, 8th March 2022, ICC invited Mrs. Meera Chhiber, Advocate, Delhi High Court, as a speaker for a joint session with the North East Cell of LSR to speak on “Gender-Based Violence during COVID-19 Pandemic”. The session was deeply engaging and sensitized the LSR fraternity on how to prevent and respond to such situations. The speaker threw light on real time situations and the talk was well attended. The faculty advisors discussed the steps needed to be taken in college to create more awareness in this area.
LSR advocates the empowerment of women and has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. The college has an Internal Complaints Committee which looks swiftly and diligently into matters related to sexual harassment. Complaint boxes have been placed at three different places in college for the reporting of grievances. Boards containing details of all members of the Committee have also been displayed. LSR has tried to create awareness on the issue of sexual harassment by conducting workshops and lectures by lawyers and activists. Self-defence workshops have also been organised.
In the last few years the college has collaborated with the NGO Jagori undertaking a safety audit of the areas around college. An app named ‘safetipin’ was used to assess nine parameters namely lighting, openness, visibility, people, security, walk path, public transport, gender usage and general feeling. The app also allows the user to record hazards and harassments. The committee along with the Women’s Development Cell hosted a legal literacy workshop with respect to domestic violence and sexual harassment at the work place. The workshop was conducted jointly by Metropolitan Judicial Services Member Chetna Singh, Secretary Delhi Legal Services Authority Monika Saroha and Delhi Metropolitan Magistrate Shreya Arora Mehta.
Members
Chairperson: Ms. Shashi Bala Garg
Other committee members:
Dr. Tripti Bassi
Mr. Pradeep Kumar
Mrs. Meera Chibber
Student Representatives:
Aayushi Anand
Srishti Singh.
Shreya Yadav
Email: icclsr@lsr.du.ac.in
Time: 11:45 am
Venue: Manju Bharat Ram Hall
Ms. Sunita Sharma was the first SHO at the first woman managed police station in India. She is a firm believer in women empowerment, because when empowerment increases, vulnerability decresases. She elaborated on the defition of sexual harassment as per the Sexual Harassment atWorkplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. She brought to our attention that any act which makes a women uncomfortable is an act of harassment – it even includes seemingly innocent acts like patting, hand holding, etc. She highlighted the various Sections in the IPC under which complaints can be registered
Further, she explained about the role of an Internal Complaints Committee inthe redressal of sexual harassment at the workplace and in higher educational institutions. An ICC has the same powers as a Civil Court under Code of Civil Procedures, 1908. ICCs should be set up all over the country, and should be strengthened so that real issues can be addressed and solved. She made the session fun and interactive by sharing her own experiences and anecdotes when answering questions from the students.
Time: 1:00 pm
Venue: Amphitheatre
These were a group of some 30 college students from Pearl Academy, who delivered a powerful, heart-wrenching performance on sexual harassment and the normalization of harassment in society. Various everyday scenes like stalking, molestation, verbal abuse, etc. were enacted. The play used music and daphli to increase the impact of the strong scenes. The play ended by a monologue, which reminded us about our role as a society in curbing sexual harassment, and also enlightened the student body about the various mechanisms of the Delhi Police through which women can remain safe when they go out:
1091 – women’s helpline, 1096 – anti stalking helpline, 8800001091 – WhatsApp number on which live location can be sent when travelling alone in an unsafe area.
The play was followed by a Self Defencedemonstration was conducted by the Special Police Unit for Women and Child Cell, Delhi which accompanied ACP Sunita Sharma. Students were taught upper block which allows some protection when the incoming strike is guessed wrong and is aimed for the body, how to be safe and attentive when commuting in a bus or a metro. If the attacker is trying to put his body weight on you, grab you or try to touch you intentionally, different moves were taught to get out of attacker’s grip and do a counter attack. All these moves were enacted in different situations, and were also demonstrated in slow motion.
Conclusion
The event ended with the Student Members of ICC addressing the student body about the role of the ICC in LSR, and the various ways and situations in which they can reach out to us if they ever face sexual harassment (of any form).