Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at IISER Bhopal
An Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) has been set up at IISER Bhopal as per provisions of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act 2013, with the following aims:
- To ensure that no female employees (including permanent, temporary, and contractual employees) or female students are subjected to gender specific discrimination or sexual harassment.
- To provide a platform for all individuals to register a complaint if they are subjected to any act of sexual harassment at IISER Bhopal.
- To investigate and recommend action against any individual found guilty of harassing another individual of any gender.
- To facilitate a gender-sensitive and congenial working environment at IISER Bhopal so that individuals can work in an atmosphere free of gender specific discrimination.
What is Sexual Harassment?
The Supreme Court guidelines define sexual harassment to include
- Physical contact and advances
- Demand or request for sexual favors
- Sexually colored remarks
- Display of pornography
- Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature (including voyeurism and stalking)
The Supreme Court guidelines define sexual harassment to include
- Subjects another person to an unwelcome act of physical intimacy, like grabbing, brushing, touching, pinching etc.
- Makes an unwelcome demand or request (whether directly or by implication) for sexual favors from another person, and further makes it a condition for
employment/payment of wages/increment/promotion etc
- Makes an unwelcome remark with sexual connotations, like sexually explicit compliments/cracking loud jokes with sexual connotations/ making sexist remarks etc
- Shows a person any sexually explicit visual material, in the form of pictures/cartoons/pin-ups/calendars/screen savers on computers/any offensive written material/pornographic e-mails, etc
- Engages in any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, which could be verbal, or even non-verbal, like staring to make the other person uncomfortable, making offensive gestures, kissing sounds, etc.
Often such behavior goes unpunished because of hesitation on the part of victim to report such behavior out of a sense of shame or fear or both.
It is important to protest against any behavior that you find uncomfortable, harassing, unwanted, and unacceptable.
The Institute strongly condemns such behavior and advices all its members not to indulge in any such activity.
