hostel wardens

IIT Bombay

sexism

sex ratio

Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle

APPSC

Soumyo Mukherjee

As a corrective measure, dean emails students andwarning them against sexist, misogynistic remarks.A #MeToo style poster campaign started by a group of students fromlast month, urging women students to share their campus experiences, has thrown up many instances offaced by female students at the institute. These include cases like women being barred from wearing shorts and being body shamed.In a bid to open up discussions on sexism in the light of a skewedon campus, the), supported by ‘Swara’, another student collective, had launched the campaign on March 4, ahead of International Women’s Day. Through posters, the campaign asked women students to write down their experiences and deposit them in drop boxes outside three women’s hostels.“We did get some responses, not many, and among those the attitudes towards sexism were quite polarised,” noted an APPSC pamphlet, which was circulated among students ahead of a scheduled talk on the campaign responses on April 7. Around 40 women students and a few male students had a discussion on the responses. The event was moderated by a faculty member.“A majority of the responses highlighted specific instances of sexism. Those which denied its existence argued in a way which showed that they had internalised sexism and failed to recognise it when it happened,” an APPSC member said.Among the responses, one pointed to an instance of moral policing for women students by dictating their attire. “Our campus is sexist. Especially my department (not named) has not allowed girls to wear shorts or even knee lengths or even sleeveless tops. But boys can comfortably wear shorts. We have been told by staff members that professors don’t want us to wear shorts in the department,” wrote a student. Another alleged that many women were subjected to body shaming. “A large percentage of women here are bodyshamed (be it for being fat, thin, tall or short). A lot is expected from girls in terms of how they naturally look and there are a lot of people giving free advice as to what could be done to improve the situation. This free advice is completely unnecessary… As people with brains (if this something we want to call ourselves), we must be able to appreciate all body types and stop caring about the outside more than the inside of a person……,” as per another response.On the other side, there were some students who wondered what the fuss was about and vouched for the liberal atmosphere on the campus.The campaign responses reinforce a public post calling out ‘casual sexism’ by a student Maitreyee Shukla early this year. “Students are still not able to talk about harassment despite the anonymity provided. The problem is getting recognition now after the campaign and many other previous initiatives put it on the table. Apart from highlighting sexism, the feedback also showed that people are still in a state of denial,” APPSC said.Strengthening the women’s cell is one of the priorities of the group as some students complained about lack of response from the cell. “We will use these responses to take up issues with the administration,” APPSC said.The PRO office directed Mirror to the women’s cell, but the cell did not respond to our queries.Signalling the impact of such a campaign and the volume of debate around the issue, the IIT administration is taking corrective steps.In an email to students and hostel wardens,, dean of student affairs, asked hostel councils to ensure that students do not indulge in “sexist and misogynistic statements”, obscene language and substance abuse at the valedictory functions at hostels. Sexist comments during these functions was one of the main concerns raised in Shukla’s post and also in a response received by the campaign. “One student had written a post and there were some complaints by parents and students. So I sent a mail today. This is a corrective measure,” Mukherjee told Mirror.