New Delhi: In a bid to check false sexual harassment cases against male students, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently notified a new regulation that says apart from women and transgenders, males are also susceptible to such harassment.
According to a report in The Telegraph, the UGC (Prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment of women employees and students in higher educational institutions) Regulations was notified last month that makes sexual harassment gender-neutral.
The new regulation has also a provision for third-party complaints, meaning family, colleagues, friends or any person known to the victim can file a complaint on his/her behalf only if the s/he is unable to do so.
The UGC said that several instances of male students being harassed were brought to its attention in the recent years.
As per the new regulation, the complaint will have to be filed within three months of the offence.
The UGC has also directed every institute to set up an internal complaints committee to investigate such cases within 90 days and take actions within 30 days of receiving the report.
If found guilty, the management will have the power to rusticate a student while an employee or a teacher will have to face action as per service rules. Also, people filing false complaints will have to face a penalty.
In 2007, a sexual harassment complaint was filed by two male students against a senior teacher of Ramjas College under Delhi University. Soon after, the university amended its sexual harassment rules allowing male students to officially report such cases.
So far, individual educational institutions have had their own internal mechanisms to deal with sexual harassment cases.
