ORIGIN & EVOLUTION

 IIT B’s Women's Cell has been in existence since 2002, inquiring into grievances of sexual
ENVIRONMENT AND STAKEHOLDERS
harassment.  Internal Stakeholders: Students,
 After IIT Bombay's Policy on the Prevention, Prohibition and Redress of Sexual Harassment faculty, administrative staff, and
in the Workplace was passed in 2018, it was redesigned as the current Gender Cell, which other employees.
is empowered by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act (SHWW), 2013.
 External Stakeholders: Collaborations
 It accommodates the concerns of students of all gender identities with NGOs, government bodies, and
 Over the years, the Gender Cell has grown in its outreach, introducing multiple initiatives experts in gender sensitivity.
such as workshops, awareness campaigns, and collaboration with student bodies.
INTERNAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE

COMPOSITION/STRUCTURE OF GENDER CELL The ICC investigates cases of sexual harassment.

 It must have a minimum of 10 members. Currently, the GC-ICC

 Should have a minimum of 16 members, of which at least 50% are women.
has 16 members, of which 3 are student representatives (UG
 Headed by the Convener and Co-convener of the Cell.
girls’ nominee and 2 other PG students).
 Currently, the Gender Cell has 18 members of which 5 are student
representatives:  A subset of the GC-ICC is convened whenever a complaint is
 The Institute Gender Nominee (Hostel Affairs’ Girls Nominee) filed, in order to investigate the case and decide the next
 One Institute Secretary of Hostel Affairs (ISHA) steps.
 3 PG student members
Both the GC and the GC-ICC have 3 external members, Advocate
Veena Gowda, Dr. Chanyanika Shah, Dr. Asha Achunthan
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 GOALS OF THE GENDER CELL FUNCTIONS OF THE GENDER CELL
 GENDER AMITY: Promoting equality, gender justice  Gender Sensitization during the orientation (educating
and non-discrimination. students about consent, what constitutes harassment, how
 WORKSHOPS & TRAINING: Organizing workshops and to approach the Gender Cell, etc)
training programs to sensitize students and  Educating campus residents on harassment and how to
employees. approach gender cells through the current "GC101"
 INQUIRY & ACTION: Internal Complaints Committee (Gender in the Workplace) course.
(ICC) inquires into complaints in a fixed time frame  Conducting PoSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment)
and recommends action. sessions among other activites/workshops for awareness
and education
Scope of Complaints and Jurisdiction
The committee is required to assist everyone and ensure that if
The GC-ICC has the power to inquire into all complaints made they be approached, they will listen to every student, regardless
by: of gender.
 Women employees/students against a man The policy also contains clauses permitting the GC-ICC to
 Male/gender minority against a man investigate complaints outside of the aforementioned parameters
 Women resident/outsider in context of workplace:
 against a male student or employee when the after discussions within the committee.
harassment is alleged to have taken place within the The non-ICC members of the gender cell primarily look into social
campus or the workplace awareness and workshop/event management. The ICC looks into
 against a male service provider or outsider when the complaints and the process required to resolve them. The
the harassment is alleged to have taken place within members of the gender cell who are not part of the ICC, do not
the campus
look into the processes related to any complaints. 2
 SELECTION PROCESS OF GENDER CELL MEMBERS SELECTION PROCESS OF ICC MEMBERS
 The Convenor is generally selected by the Director.  Upon receiving a complaint, the Convenor forms an Inquiry
 A senior female faculty, who has been associated with the
Institute for a long time is generally selected as the Committee from amongst the members of the GC-ICC.
Convener.
 Sometimes the current convenor also suggests the names of  The quorum for hearing a complaint is at least three members,
the faculty members who she thinks is fit for the role. Based
including any external member of Gender Cell and the
on these, the Director takes the final decision.
 In order to maintain diversity and to ensure representation Convenor.
across all segments, members are chosen across all the
employee segments (faculty, staff, temporary/contract  If the complainant or the respondent chooses to disclose any
employee, students etc) as mentioned in the Policy. aspect of their marginalized social background or identity, the
 No legal expertise or experience in similar roles is sought for.
Members refer to the Gender Cell Policy to make Convenor ensures suitable representation in the Inquiry
judgements and external members with significant Committee being constituted, either from within the ICC or by
knowledge and experience in women rights are also present
to make sure that all decisions taken/judgements made are co-opting a representative for that inquiry.
as per the policy.
 The student representatives are selected through a process  If the complainant, respondent or witness is a student, one
of SOP and interviews conducted by the Convenor and co- student member is also a part of the Inquiry Committee.
convenor
 At least half of the members of the Inquiry Committee are
 The qualities that are looked for in the student women
representatives are critical thinking ability, responsibility,
sensitivity and diligence.
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 WORKFLOW/PROCESS OF ADDRESSING COMPLAINTS:
The Gender Cell will act only when a complaint is received. A complaint must be made within 3 months of the incident,
and in case of repeated offences, within 3 months of the latest incident.

RECEIPT OF COMPLAINT INQUIRY PROCESS ACTION ON ICC REPORT

1. ICC hears both the parties and their witnesses 1. The final report of the ICC is
1. A formal complaint is 2. Both sign the transcripts/statements of their given to the Director in case of
received, with available depositions. complaints against students, and
evidence and a list of 3. The statements/depositions of the both the to the Board of Governors (BoG),
witnesses. parties and copies of all evidence material are in case of employees, who
2. ICC determines if there provided to each other. decide the action to be taken
is a prima facie case of 4. Cross-examination is conducted through the based on ICC’s
sexual harassment. ICC and may not be face-to-face and the recommendations.
3. If yes, the respondent is responses are shared with the party 2. The respondents can make an
informed and provided concerned. appeal to the Director / Board of
with the complaint filed 5. ICC deliberates on the statements, evidence, Governors
and given 10 days’ time responses under cross-examination and any 3. The Director/Board of Governors
to respond with other material placed before it and writes its will consider the appeal
evidence and a list of report after due discussion. response and issue the final
witnesses, if any. 6. The period of inquiry and final report writing order on action.
4. The respondent’s shall be within 90 days + 10 days from the
response is shared with date of receipt of the complaint.
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the complainant.
 HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES/PERSPECTIVES

 Performance & Retention of Members: Faculty Members remain in the Gender Cell as per the tenures mentioned in
the Policy. Student representatives generally have a one-year tenure. There is no performance evaluation system as
such, but strong performers may be retained for another year.
 Case Prioritization: In instances of multiple cases or complaints, cases are handled based on urgency & complexity.
There is a 90-day limit to every case within which the Gender Cell has to submit its reports and that ensures timely
resolution.
 Decision-Making & Punishment: GC does not decide the punishment, it prepares the report and finding and gives its
recommendations, but Director/Board of Governors make the final decision in terms of punishment/ corrective
actions. In cases involving students, internal actions (like suspension, warnings) are taken. In cases involving
faculty/staff, major cases go to Board of Governors. If any complainants wants to file a criminal case, then the police
takes up the matter and the Gender Cell and the Institute provides all the necessary support to them.
 Confidentiality & Transparency: The Gender Cell ensures confidentiality and transparency by sharing statements of
both parties involved with each other so that both of them get a chance to give their opinion. Additionally, it upholds
the principles of natural justice in all proceedings.
 Updation of the Policy: The Gender Cell (GC) has the authority to revise policies as needed, subject to the director's
approval. There is no strict timeline after which the policies are reviewed, but whenever the team feels that some
change is necessary or some new points need to be incorporated, that can be done easily by the Gender Cell in
consultation with the director.

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 CHALLENGES/ ISSUES FACED BY THE GENDER CELL AND THEIR RESOLUTION STRATEGIES

 Workload Management: All members of Gender Cell have other responsibilities as well – Professors have their primary
responsibilities of teaching and on top of that they have to meet the duties of the Gender Cell as well. As a result, it becomes
difficult at times to find slots/ schedule meeting when all the members can be available. Sometimes cases are really time-
consuming and mentally exhausting, but teamwork helps to solve these issues. Further, Gender Cell also feels the need of
some clerical staff to help them in scheduling of meetings based on everyone’s availability and other related things.

 No Documentation Support: As the meetings proceed, all points have to be documented physically. There is no dedicated
staff; the members themselves have to note down everything along with asking questions and trying to judge the claims made
by the complainant/ respondent. Though the members divide the task and share their noted points to avoid missing out any
important information, a separate person who is well trained in such things is greatly needed to ease & improve the
operations.

 Evidence collection: During any inquiry, collection of evidence is a major difficulty. Statements of the witnesses are the main
evidence, which makes it slightly difficult to analyse cases.