Strict and inflexible rules in educational institutions unreasonably stress students and silence them. This is the shared plight of students attending Christ (Deemed To Be) University in Bangalore where stringent rules for uniforms dictate the students’ everyday life.
Such incidents are not particular to Christ (deemed to be) University, but instead a pattern in many ‘deemed to be’ universities where moral policing and sexist rules are normalised. Sradha Satheesh, who was a student at the Amal Jyoti college hostel in Kottayam, was harassed mentally by college authorities and died by suicide.
Gendered uniform rules are imposed especially on women students, which prohibits leggings, kurtas that are knee-length or shorter, and mandate wearing a dupatta. Women students are not even allowed to wear Lucknowi kurtas because the sleeves are often translucent. These sexist rules are regulated by security guards who determine whether a student can enter the campus premises or not.
Adherence to such rules normalises the thinking that girls need to follow stricter rules, which implies an inherent inequality between genders. It also propagates the ideology that the onus is on women to dress “appropriately” to avoid being harassed. By implementing such rules, the University perpetuates the idea that it is acceptable to treat different genders differently. This speaks to a broader culture of gender bias, discrimination, rampant sexism and moral policing.
Students are regularly sent back from the gate by the security guards who are instructed to look carefully at women students entering the campus.
This happened with an M.A. student in her second year who has anonymously shared her experience with us. “After being sent back and returning to the campus after changing my outfit, I was told I could not enter the campus as I was 10 minutes late. With an 85% mandatory attendance, I did not wish to lose my attendance and so requested that I be allowed to enter but I was denied entry.” This is not a one time instance but something that regularly happens to other students as well.
Students are also mentally harassed and morally policed including interactions between women and men being frowned upon by college authorities.
In these cases it is important to note that the University Grants Commission (UGC), had notified that “concern for the safety of women students must not be cited to impose discriminatory rules for women in hostels as compared to male students. Campus safety policies should not result in securitisation, such as over monitoring or policing or curtailing the freedom of movement, especially for women employees and students.”
However, this regulation is only mandated for central universities affiliated to UGC and some state universities which receive funding from the UGC — all private universities do not necessarily have to follow it.
In the light of this, join us in demanding that UGC extend this regulation to all ‘deemed to be’ universities, including Christ (deemed to be) University!
We also demand that Christ (deemed to be) University repeal it's discriminatory dress codes.
Note: Such incidents are not particular to Christ (deemed to be) University, but instead a pattern in many ‘deemed to be’ universities where moral policing and sexist rules are normalised. Sradha Satheesh, who was a student at the Amal Jyoti college hostel in Kottayam, was harassed mentally by college authorities before she attempted death by suicide. This campaign, however, focuses on Christ because anonymous accounts of students discontent about rules at Christ are well known and Jhatkaa was informed about these arbitrary rules by a group of Christ students.
Strict and inflexible rules in educational institutions unreasonably stress students and silence them. This is the shared plight of students attending Christ (Deemed To Be) University in Bangalore where stringent rules for uniforms dictate the students’ everyday life.
Such incidents are not particular to Christ (deemed to be) University, but instead a pattern in many ‘deemed to be’ universities where moral policing and sexist rules are normalised. Sradha Satheesh, who was a student at the Amal Jyoti college hostel in Kottayam, was harassed mentally by college authorities and died by suicide.
Gendered uniform rules are imposed especially on women students, which prohibits leggings, kurtas that are knee-length or shorter, and mandate wearing a dupatta. Women students are not even allowed to wear Lucknowi kurtas because the sleeves are often translucent. These sexist rules are regulated by security guards who determine whether a student can enter the campus premises or not.
Adherence to such rules normalises the thinking that girls need to follow stricter rules, which implies an inherent inequality between genders. It also propagates the ideology that the onus is on women to dress “appropriately” to avoid being harassed. By implementing such rules, the University perpetuates the idea that it is acceptable to treat different genders differently. This speaks to a broader culture of gender bias, discrimination, rampant sexism and moral policing.
Students are regularly sent back from the gate by the security guards who are instructed to look carefully at women students entering the campus.
This happened with an M.A. student in her second year who has anonymously shared her experience with us. “After being sent back and returning to the campus after changing my outfit, I was told I could not enter the campus as I was 10 minutes late. With an 85% mandatory attendance, I did not wish to lose my attendance and so requested that I be allowed to enter but I was denied entry.” This is not a one time instance but something that regularly happens to other students as well.
Students are also mentally harassed and morally policed including interactions between women and men being frowned upon by college authorities.
In these cases it is important to note that the University Grants Commission (UGC), had notified that “concern for the safety of women students must not be cited to impose discriminatory rules for women in hostels as compared to male students. Campus safety policies should not result in securitisation, such as over monitoring or policing or curtailing the freedom of movement, especially for women employees and students.”
However, this regulation is only mandated for central universities affiliated to UGC and some state universities which receive funding from the UGC — all private universities do not necessarily have to follow it.
In the light of this, join us in demanding that UGC extend this regulation to all ‘deemed to be’ universities, including Christ (deemed to be) University!
We also demand that Christ (deemed to be) University repeal it's discriminatory dress codes.
Note: Such incidents are not particular to Christ (deemed to be) University, but instead a pattern in many ‘deemed to be’ universities where moral policing and sexist rules are normalised. Sradha Satheesh, who was a student at the Amal Jyoti college hostel in Kottayam, was harassed mentally by college authorities before she attempted death by suicide. This campaign, however, focuses on Christ because anonymous accounts of students discontent about rules at Christ are well known and Jhatkaa was informed about these arbitrary rules by a group of Christ students.