On Dissolving GSCASH in JNU

We, the undersigned, would like to share our concerns regarding the proposed dissolution of the Gender Sensitisation Committee against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in light of the decision to set up an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in compliance with the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation of 2015 and the gazette notification that followed.

We would like to draw attention to the fact that the Saksham report, authored by us via a mandate of the UGC in 2013, had provided the broad perspective and framework for the UGC’s initiatives and regulations to ensure gender sensitisation on campuses of higher education institutions (HEIs), to combat instances of sexual harassment after the Delhi gang rape of December 2012 and the subsequent enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.