Sexual harassment in schools? Well, that must be very rare, right?

The truth is that it is absolutely rampant. To give you an idea as to how frequently these incidents take place in our schools, let me share with you what I found by simply Google news for sexual harassment incidents in schools. These are stories that made to the newspaper headlines in March of 2015. Today is March 26, and with 4 days to go, we already have plenty of headlines. I am presenting just 10 of them here – so that you can get a sense of how grave the sexual harassment problem in India is.

Don’t forget that for every incident that makes a headline, there are probably hundreds that go unreported and thousands of victims will never get justice.

If these sexual harassment incidents inside schools across India do not shock your conscience, then I don’t know what will.

Headline #1

Punjab: Government teacher arrested for obscene remarks in girl’s notebook – DNA (March 5, 2015)

In Punjab, A 50-year-old government school teacher was arrested for allegedly writing obscene remarks in the notebook of a 12-year-old girl student in Kartarpur of Rupnagar district. The teacher had earlier written similar remarks in the notebook of another girl student.

Headline #2

Teacher Sexual Harassment on 8th Class Student – AP Today (March 15, 2015)

In Hyderabad, a Physics teacher in a private school at Vanasthalipuram, was sexually harassing a 13 year old student for 2 months and threatened to issue a TC to the student if she told anyone about the issue.

Headline #3

High incidence of sexual harassment in schools – The Hindu (March 16, 2015)

In Odisha, five girls in the age group of 12 to 16, who were put up in tribal residential schools, became pregnant. 12 other girls in residential schools were raped or faced sexual advances. As many as 98 allegations of sexual harassment were received by the department which found truth in 59 cases. As per the department, teachers and non-teaching staff had been put under suspension.

Headline #4

Molested by teacher, Jhabua girl carries poison to kill self at school – Times of India (March 17, 2015)

Unable to bear the agony of alleged sexual harassment by a school teacher, a 13-year-old Class VI girl went to the school in Kalyanpura area of Jhabua district with a bottle of poison. However, she was spotted by classmates and the matter was reported to Kalyanpura police station by Oxford Academy School management.

Headline #5

Girl accuses teacher of sexual harassment – Hindustan Times (March 18, 2015)

A 13-year-old student of a government school in Bokaro has accused a para-teacher of sexually molesting her, a charge the accused termed as an attempt by a rival to frame him. The class-six student said she had not gone to school for the past 10 months fearing her science teacher. The girl’s family has written to the deputy commissioner of Bokaro and the chief minister. “We only want justice and hindrance-free education for our daughter,” said her father.

Headline #6

Principal of public school arrested for sexual harassment – Business Standard (March 24, 2015)

The Director and Principal of a public school in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing two girl students of class IX. Sanjib Singh was booked under section 354 of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He tried to trap the girls by promising them good marks in exams and wanted to have physical relation.

Headline #7

Pune IAS officer arrested for raping, molesting minor girls – Hindustan Times (March 20, 2015)

A counselor working at the municipal school on Sinhagad Road brought to light the alleged rape and molestation of four girls by an IAS officer, upholding the importance of school counseling and creating awareness among students about sexual harassment. But this counselor also said she had to visit seven schools in a week, bringing forth the need to have a less-hassled and better-supported counselor, one for every school, so that they are available for students who face such distressing situations.

Headline #8

Checking sexual harassment: UP govt tells teachers not to contact school students on social media – Firstpost.com (March 18, 2015)

The Uttar Pradesh government has issued a circular asking teachers and school staff not to interact with students on social media, phone or through e-mails, a move which it said is intended to check “sexual harassment” of students. The eight-page circular is based on Supreme Court guidelines and will be applicable to all educational institutions, including public and private, governed by all boards such as CBSE, ICSE and state Secondary Education Board.

Headline #9

Accusing collector of ‘sexual harassment’, principal attempts suicide in M.P – The Indian Express (March 1, 2015)

A principal of a government school in Panna tried to commit suicide after accusing district collector R K Mishra of sexual harassment. The victim consumed phenyl inside the school premises. The victim alleged that the collector once called her to his bungalow at night and since then he has been pressuring her often and sexually exploiting her.

Headline #10

Principal of public school arrested for sexual harassment – Business Standard (March 24, 2015)

The Director and Principal of a public school in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing two girl students of class IX. Sanjib Singh was booked under section 354 of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He tried to induce the girls by promising them good marks in exams and wanted to have physical relationship in return.

What can you do about this?

Indian schools and the authorities responsible for them need to take a more proactive attitude to solve the sexual harassment puzzle. It would appear from the above news articles that the threat of sexual harassment of school going children and even the staff is really high.

In light of this, here are a few things the government as well as authorities of private schools should implement right away:

• Setting up of internal complaints committees and emergency response teams

• Sensitization of entire staff and personnel of schools about sexual harassment

• Creating accountability structures and training head of institutions as well as some senior teachers to be responsible for student safety

• Appointing external experts to train and sensitize the staff and conduct mock drills

• Appoint counselors and organize regular counseling sessions with kids

Some helpful links:

Here is the kind of positive effect a counselor can have on children.

Here is a course that trains experts to deal with sexual harassment.

This article was written with assistance from Bala Vigneshwaran.