Rethink approaches to women students’ safety

Delhi University’s recent advisory marks a sharp contradiction from the enabling role that university campuses can play in terms of providing women with a relatively safe space away from the disciplining gaze of the family, moral policing by the community and demeaning sexism of society.

In response to protests demanding accountability for a major security lapse at the festival of Indraprastha College for Women (IPCW), Delhi University (DU), which reportedly triggered a stampede and sexual harassment of women students, a high-powered DU committee this week released an advisory. The 17-point guideline is generic but some of its provisions are alarming in that they represent stifling of activities by students. The precedents for such an approach have been building up with the university campus witnessing the repeated curbing of the democratic voices of students. This time too, as students angered by the IPCW incident gathered in protest, rather than engaging in a dialogue with them, the administration fell back on high-handed police action and detentions.

Instances of security lapses in college festivals and sexual harassment of women at these events have often been reported in the past. Unfortunately, they are usually brushed under the carpet. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Instances of security lapses in college festivals and sexual harassment of women at these events have often been reported in the past. Unfortunately, they are usually brushed under the carpet. Typically, the authorities absolve themselves of their mismanagement by using the excuse of unpredictable numbers showing up for celebrity nights at festivals. While certain miscalculations by administrations during such events can be pardoned, the dismissal of women students’ claims and crackdowns on their protests are unforgivable.

What proved remarkable in the IPCW case was the sustained protests by women students, who questioned the mismanagement and institutional apathy about mass sexual harassment. However, the occasion was used by the authorities to press forward heightened surveillance or securitisation at the cost of students’ freedoms and privacy.

This institutional response marks a sharp contradiction from the enabling role that university campuses can play in terms of providing women with a relatively safe space away from the disciplining gaze of the family, moral policing by the community and demeaning sexism of society. It is distressing to watch university spaces transition into barricaded, camera-infested citadels.

While the advisory’s blatant attempt to regulate student life is appalling, there is also a need for students to deliberate on the cultural moorings within which cultural festivals, and in particular celebrity performances, are organised.

More than a meaningful cultural connect, these celebrity nights become a logistical nightmare, and represent something moribund about fest culture. Celebrity nights are expensive and competitive affairs, which depend on bringing as many people as possible to the venue. Higher footfalls fetch more corporate sponsors, who are more interested in promoting their brands. It is difficult to overlook that as popular singers take to the stage, the audience is reduced to an inert mass in heavily sponsored events that reproduce the same ossified, mainstream culture, which fails to rejuvenate the student community and inculcate newer sensibilities.

Maya John is assistant professor, Jesus and Mary College, and member, Delhi University academic council. The views expressed are personal