– Sowjanya

As I have studied at EFLU for about six years, my comments on sexual harassment on the university campuses are mostly related to EFLU though a few references have been made to HCU and specified as such. The statement ‘Dalit women mostly associate themselves with other dalit women who are not organized under any political banner.’ is related only to EFLU and specific to the period between 2004 to 2009.
University campus is a space which seems to be politically well aware of caste and gender issues. This awareness makes it more complex to understand the dynamics of gender and caste on campuses. There is a notion that upper-caste women are sexually harassed by men of ‘underprivileged background’. There are incidents of suicide like that of Sunita, a dalit woman who had been sexually harassed by an upper-caste man. On the university campuses like EFLU, neither dalit men nor upper-caste men are outside the arena of sexual harassment. Dalits and other minority students organize themselves under the political banners like DABMSA1 and others that have come up more recently. Visible ‘student groups’ which seem to be secular and apolitical are groups of upper-caste students. There is a vast difference between the upper-caste groups and dalit groups in terms of culture and ways of living/moving on the campus. The upper-caste groups consist of both men and women participants. Dalit organizations are majorly male groups. As with traditional structures of caste and gender, it is a visible strategy even on campuses that upper-caste women do not often associate themselves with dalit men (there is a myth that dalit men having ‘access’ to upper-caste women would diffuse the sanctity of the caste). Dalit men participants most often move in their own dalit male groups.
Dalit men often complain that dalit women participants do not want to carry the identity of a dalit thus they do not join the dalit organizations or associate themselves with dalit males. Dalit women mostly associate themselves with other dalit women who are not organized under any political banner. At times it is the women of same linguistic background with whom dalit women associate themselves. The category of dalit women is often inconspicuous due to the absence of a formal political group for them.  Dalit women do not readily take part in any dalit organization not only because their voice is not heard but also for the fear of sexual harassment. Once a dalit woman becomes part of a dalit organization, her identity as a dalit becomes visible. She might become the easy target to the casteism which is very prevalent in prestigious institutions of India. A woman who is a dalit is more prone to sexual exploitation or harassment by both dalit and other men.
Dalit groups do not give attention to gender sensitivity even at the level of writing their manifestos. There is no history of a dalit students’ organization dealing with the issue of sexual harassment either at the theoretical level or at the individual’s level. Caste is the concern of men according to these groups. How the same structure of caste operates in a dalit woman’s life is always neglected. If the dalit woman encounters any kind of sexual harassment either from a dalit or upper-caste man, it is very difficult to get the support of dalit (male) groups. The entire issue will be melted down as an individual’s flaw or trouble rather than a factor of caste or gender discrimination. On the other hand, dalit women are not part of elite women’s groups. The number of dalit women on campuses is low and their assertion of caste identity would lead to caste discrimination at the hands of casteist people in the administration or faculty. She is an easy victim because her position is not strong even in the dalit organizations. In contrast, dalit men have strong political groups and they can get support from their group to fight discrimination.
Though a few women had complained about the sexual harassment to the Sexual Harassment Cell on campuses like HCU and EFLU, dealing with individual incidents would not ensure that women would not face sexual harassment in future. University campuses need to build up gender sensitivity as part of the culture. There should be efforts to bring gender sensitivity among all social groups on campus. Exclusion of lower castes and dalits also should be taken into consideration.

Sowjanya was previously a student at English and Foreign Languages University

Note:  1.     Dalit Adivasi Bhahujan Minority Students Association.