The University Grand Commission (UGC) has formed a two-member monitoring cell to ensure that sexual harassment prevention committees at universities work efficiently and effectively.
The two-member cell consists of UGC Secretary Dr Mohammad Khaled, and the commission’s Deputy Director (Research Support and Publications Division) Mauli Azaad.
Confirming the formation of the cell, Deputy Director Mauli Azad, also member secretary to the previously formed UGC Sexual Harassment Prevention Committee, said their main duty was to ensure implementation of the High Court guideline on sexual harassment.
“The UGC has ensured that there are sexual harassment committees at more than 70% of the universities in the country, and has also made some crucial progress towards ensuring a harassment-free environment at the universities,” she added.
The UGC deputy director further said the monitoring cell has already begun their work, and are expecting to have a positive impact this year.
According to Mauli Azad, the UGC and UN Women sent a publication on the High Court guidelines to university authorities across the country in December last year, asking them to implement it.
In addition, the UGC and UN Women are set to organize an anti-sexual harassment campaign once more, after a previous campaign ended in September last year, this time focusing on teachers and staff members of educational institutions as well as students.
Dhaka University (DU) Assistant Professor Taslima Yasmin, who conducted a study commissioned by ActionAid Bangladesh, said although nine years had passed since the issuance of the High Court guidelines, the presence of an effective mechanism to address sexual harassment against women at educational institutions is still not visible.
Mahtabul Hakim, coordinator (Violence against Women) of UN Women, said they found that students are more sensitive to the problem of sexual harassment if the university authorities showed a proactive attitude towards combating the menace.
A platform for students to express their feelings
A campaign against sexual harassment titled the “Building capacity to prevent violence against women” project concluded in September last year. The project was conducted by UN Women with the support of Partners for Prevention and the Bangladesh National Women’s and Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA).
Under the project, around 28,000 students and 2,900 staff members of Jahangirnagar University (JU), Rajshahi University (RU), Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), and East West University (EWU) participated in discussions on sexual harassment at educational institutions.
Mahtabul Hakim said the four-year-long project succeeded in building a discussion platform for students to express their feelings and problems to others.
“The discussion helped students understand what sort of behaviour is unacceptable in any form, and what measures to take if they fall victim to sexual harassment,” he added.
Mahtabul said UN Women has decided to conduct further campaigns in collaboration with the UGC, with the aim of strengthening the connection between students, teachers, and sexual harassment prevention committees at universities.
BNWLA Director Advocate Towhida Khondker said action has already been taken to prevent sexual harassment at the four universities that participated in the project.
“As students become more aware of the problem, sexual harassment becomes less likely at campuses. The chances of crimes going unreported would also go down,” she added.
