Srinagar: Vice-Chancellor University of Kashmir Prof Nilofer Khan on Tuesday flagged off a rally organised on the eve of International Women’s Day, celebrated across the world on March 8.

The rally, which was attended by faculty, research scholars and students, was organised by Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the University as part of its day-long awareness-cum-sensitisation programme on ‘Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace’.

Congratulating the ICC for organising regular sensitisation programmes involving students and civil society, Prof Nilofer said such programmes reinforce our institutional commitment to create a congenial work atmosphere in the campus and also reiterate the message of ‘zero tolerance policy’ for sexual harassment at workplace.

The Vice-Chancellor said both men and women have to come forward and join hands to achieve gender equality and make the society a better place to live in.

“Our University recently held a Civil20 Working Group Meeting on Gender Equality as part of India’s G20 Presidency. The meeting evolved a number of resolutions which are being submitted to the G20 platform for consideration. This shows that academic institutions can play a great role in spreading the message of gender equality,” she said.

Dean Research KU Prof Irshad A Nawchoo, Presiding Officer ICC Prof Aneesa Shafi, Director EMRC and Media Advisor Dr Salima Jan, Joint Registrar Asmat Kawoosa and other senior academics, officers and ICC members were present on the occasion.

The rally, led by Prof Aneesa Shafi, later passed through the main campus roads and culminated at Gandhi Bhawan, where academics and experts joined deliberations on Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace.

Prof Aneesa Shafi delivered the welcome address and introduced the theme of the programme after which three technical sessions were held.

In the first technical session, Ms Sleet Shah, SDPO Cyber Crime, spoke about ‘Sexual Harassment and Role of Police’, while Dr Heena Basharat, Assistant Professor, School of Law KU shared her experiences gained through an empirical study on the subject. In the second technical session, Dr Anil Kumar, Assistant Professor (Sociology), Department of Law at Central University of Kashmir talked about PoSH Act from 2013 to 2023 and Dr Salima Jan dwelt on PoSH Act and role of media. In the third technical session, Dr Himabindu M, Coordinator Department of Politics and Governance spoke about the ‘Impact and Intention: Outcomes of PoSH Act 2013’ while Dr Saima Farhad, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work KU, spoke on ‘PoSH Act and UGC Regulations’. Dr Mir Junaid Alam, Assistant Professor, School of Law KU talked about ‘Information Technology and Harassment Against Women’. The technical sessions were chaired by Dr Aliya Ahmad, Head, MERC KU and Prof Tabassum Firdous, Director CCAS KU.

KR Desk