Madras HC issues series of directions to State to prevent sexual harassment in schools – The Hindu

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has issued a series of directions to the State to implement in order to conduct awareness and sensitisation programmes and prevent sexual harassment in schools.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and J. Sathya Narayana Prasad observed that sexual abuse was an assault on the dignity and the personhood of a child, leaving a lasting trauma hindering its overall development.

The court directed that a nodal body be formed with representatives from the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the School Education Department to coordinate and monitor government-led awareness and sensitisation programmes and monitor the operationalisation of mobile counselling centres.

It should ensure that Internal Complaints Committees were constituted in schools as required under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The schools could frame anti-sexual harassment policy and a copy of it should be distributed to the students and the teachers, the judges said.

The court passed the directions while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by activist A. Veronica Mary of Madurai, who sought a direction to the State to ensure proper functioning of mobile counselling centres to prevent sexual crimes against school students as per the G.O. issued in 2012.

The judges said sexual harassment in schools, colleges and other educational institutions was one of the evils which remained inadequately addressed. Prevention of and protection against sexual harassment were an integral part of the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

The judges said the 2012 G.O. was an effective initiative to prevent sexual abuse of children in schools by making psychological counselling services accessible. Mobile counselling centres were required to undertake sensitisation and awareness programmes among students and provide psychological counselling to teachers.

The court also took note of the fact that the government had recently announced a helpline number ‘14417’ which would be printed in all school textbooks and constitution of a dedicated team to handle calls coming through the toll-free number to help the students make complaints relating to child abuse and sexual harassment.

However, the court said it could not lose sight with regard to the non-functioning of the mobile counselling centres, as they were necessary to protect the schoolchildren from sexual crimes at the threshold itself. The court directed the State to consider the representation of the petitioner and take immediate action and if the mobile counselling services were found to be not proper, they should be made effectively operative forthwith, the judges said.