Internal Complaint Cell

Internal Complaint Cell

Institute of Health Sciences, Bhubaneswar has constituted the “Internal Complaint Committee (Gender Sensitization Cell and Committee for Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Sexual harassment injects the most demeaning sexual stereotypes into the general work environment and always represents an intentional assault on a person’s innermost privacy.

Internal Complaint Committee (Gender Sensitization Cell and Committee for Prevention of Sexual Harassment)

Institute of Health Sciences, Bhubaneswar has constituted the “Internal Complaint Committee (Gender Sensitization Cell and Committee for Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Sexual harassment injects the most demeaning sexual stereotypes into the general work environment and always represents an intentional assault on a person’s innermost privacy.

What is Sexual Harassment?

According the Supreme Court order, sexual harassment is any unwelcome words or actions of sexual nature as:

• Physical contact and advances
• Demand or request for sexual favours
• Sexually coloured remarks
• Display of pornography

Any other unwelcome physical, verbal and non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.

Persuent to Supreme Court guidelines, Institute of Health Sciences is committed to a workplace free of Sexual Harassment and has adopted a policy for prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and established the Internal Complaint Committee.

Functions of the Cell

The office of the Cell is an educational resource as well as a complaint centre for the members of the faculty, staff and students of the University. Its mandate is :

• To provide a neutral, confidential and supportive environment for members of the campus community who may have been sexually harassed;
• To advice complainants of the informal and formal means of resolution as specified by the Cell;
• To ensure the fair and timely resolution of sexual harassment complaints;
• To provide information regarding counselling and support services on our campus
• To ensure that students, faculty and staff are provided with current and comprehensive materials on sexual harassment and assault; Handbook on Sexual Harasssment of Woman at Workplace
• To promote awareness about sexual harassment through educational initiatives that encourages and fosters a respectful and safe campus environment.

The Cell seeks to inform the campus community of their right to a respectful work and learning environment. It believes that if we practice respect, exercise empathy in our interactions with others so that we do not hurt anyone through what we say or do then we can create a campus that is free of sexual harassment. Simple respect for all on the campus community is thus the focus.

The Cell seeks to achieve these goals through:

• Dissemination of Information – Display of printed materials & posters.
• Awareness Workshops – about sexual harassment for faculty, non-teaching staff and students. The aim is to develop nonthreatening and non-intimidating atmosphere of mutual learning.
• Counselling – Confidential counselling service is an important service as it provides a safe space to speak about the incident and how it has affected the victim because sexual harassment cases are rarely reported and is a sensitive issue.

The Complaint Mechanism (Procedure to file/report a complaint):

• The complainant will have to submit a written and signed complaint addressed to the Director/Secretary of the Cell.
• The Cell will call the complainant for a personal meeting, usually within a week from the submission of the written complaint.
• The members of the Cell will discuss the complaint.
• If the case falls outside the purview of the Cell, the complainant will be informed about the same by the appropriate authority.
• If the case comes under the purview of the Cell, an enquiry committee will be set up. The Committee will submit a report and recommend the nature of action to be taken at the earliest by the appropriate authority.
• The individuals /victims who seeks to resolve the complaints of sexual harassment can also now contact through the web -page and lodge their complaints through the Online Complaint Registration form.