Katra, Dec 06: Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) in Collaboration with National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC), Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) organized a one day Awareness Campaign on “Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women and Students in Higher Educational Institution” at Matrika Auditorium, SMVDU.
The event inaugurated with the National Anthem. Sexual harassment is a serious problem throughout the globe including higher educational institutions. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has already issued directions to deal with issues of gender-based violence and gender sensitization programmes. The objective of this one-day event was to spread the awareness among the stakeholders of SMVDU in particular and higher educational institutions in general for preventing such harassments.
The Guest Speaker of the event was Advocate & Legal Consultant, Ms. Kiran Thakur. Ms Thakur highlighted that ‘Harassment’ is not a one-time action; it often involves repeated offensive, unwelcome behaviour that continues over time. It can be in words, actions or gestures that make someone feel uncomfortable, intimidated or humiliated. This ongoing mistreatment can have serious effects on a person’s well-being, such as, mental health issues, loss of self-esteem, difficulty in working or living peacefully.
The speaker elaborated on the POSH Act, 2013 and University Grants Commission (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015. Hon’ble Vice Chancellor SMVDU, Prof. Pragati Kumar, Chief Guest of the event congratulated the organizing team for making effort to expand the awareness on sexual harassment in SMVDU. He added that the host University is named after the name of divine mother that emphasizes more responsibility on SMVDU members to respect, protect women and make them aware of about their rights. He further pointed out that the moral value of equality should never be forgotten and communication should be maintained regularly to avoid such incidences. Sh. Ajay Kumar Sharma, Registrar SMVDU (JKAS), Faculty members, Non-teaching staff and students of SMVDU and SMVD College of Nursing attended the awareness campaign. Inclusion of Rangoli Competition, Poster Making and Awareness Rally made the awareness campaign more effective and appealing. Prizes were awarded to the winners.
