Women activists want a responsible Hall of Shame'

Hyderabad: Just as in workplaces and homes, so too in universities and colleges, women are subjected to various kinds of sexual harassment and offensive behaviour. 

The ‘Hall of Shame’, a list created by students publicly naming professors who have sexually harassed students or shown signs of predatory behaviour, is an attempt to break the silence that usually shrouds this kind of unacceptable behaviour. 

Jayant Dhupkar, the retired head of French studies from the reputed English and Foreign Languages University, is the only name from Telangana to appear on the list. There are 70 professors from India on the list with the highest numbers 20 being from Delhi, and 16 from West Bengal.

While such a list has its champions, there are several women’s rights activists who believe that circulating such a list online, without any context and without following due process, will only undo the work done by generations of feminists in bringing such men to book. 

A statement in support of the above view, signed by over 70 feminists and uploaded on Kafila.online, says: “One or two names of men who have been already found guilty of sexual harassment by due process are placed on par with unsubstantiated accusations.”  

The Hall of Shame is a Google spreadsheet started by Raya Sarkar, an Indian living in California, who decided to call out two political science professors from Jadavpur University for sexually harassing her. “If anyone knows of academics who have sexually harassed/were sexually predatory to them or have seen it first hand message me and I’ll add them to the list,” she posted.  

Jayant Dhupkar, the only professor from Telangana on the list, retired four years ago and is now in charge of hostels at EFLU. Suresh Kumar E., vice chancellor of EFLU, who spoke on behalf the professor, said, “I am not supporting or disapproving the same. However, it should be remembered that an anonymous complaint online cannot be considered authentic. The professor worked here for more than 30 years and is now in charge of hostels where his interaction with students is minimal. He is strict so a few students might have not been able to adjust to that.” He said that if a formal complaint is received, action will be taken. 

Formal complaints in universities go through an internal redressal committee; however, there is some doubts about how well these committees work. 

Meera Kumar (name changed), a student representative of such a committee in a known university, says, “These cases are common and we are supposed to protect the anonymity of the victim and the accused. The confidentiality clause puts a limit on the powers of the committee and these complaints get withdrawn. However, there were alarming cases in the science departments in my university and I have personally dealt with these cases.” 

Students of EFLU say that Sparsh, the gender issues redressal committee formed by students, is no longer active as committee members are not selected from the student community.

 Padmavati Pamarthy, a women's activist, says, "The redressal mechanism of any institution should be used despite the social stigma that is feared, or the unfairness shown to the victim. Only then can true justice be served. I understand that students will be afraid for their grades and certificates (if they speak out) but such a viral list will create panic among students." 

She also said that the Hall of Shame list, which is without concrete proof and in which names are anonymously entered, could be used wrongly by complainants for vengeance. "It is not making use of the legal system we have. Crowd sourcing is not the solution," she said.