This is the first year of the YIF
programme where sexual harassment training and workshops are mandatory.
Considering myself to be as woke a feminist as they come, I thought that I was well
aware of the sexual harassment and consent terminology and didn’t think that
there was anything else I could learn. So what is the point of having these
sessions? Led by Dr Madhavi Menon, all students were briefed on the Ashoka
sexual harassment policy; what constitutes as sexual harassment, how to make a
complaint to the Committee on Sexual Harassment (or 'CASH' for short), what the
procedure would be and what the penalties are if a student is found guilty. She
kick-started the session with a short video from AIB which challenged some of
the pre-conceived ideas of courting/stalking and other themes that are propagated
in Bollywood films. The batch was then divided in to groups and each watched a
series of short films, produced by Ashoka students which mimicked real-life scenarios
of incidents of sexual harassment and establishing consent. These videos were designed
to spark discussion on these topics and the discussion continued long after the
workshops ended.
Having studied in two prior
institutions, in Dublin and Paris respectively, I am ashamed to say that I have
not attended as comprehensive a workshop where the college’s policy on sexual
harassment was clearly presented. The closest thing that I could liken it to
would be the annual SHAG week (Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance), held in
University College Dublin where some conversation was held around consent and
safe sex. Apart from this, there was no clear policy brought to our attention of
how to report sexual harassment or what came in to the remit of sexual
harassment. This is worrying and this lack of understanding has been addressed
by the Irish young adult writer, Louise O’ Neill. Louise O’ Neill made waves in
bringing Ireland’s rape culture to the fore in her novel, Asking for It, which
deconstructs the issues of victim blaming, slut shaming and consent when a young
girl is gang raped by some students who she knows from school. Further to the
success of her book, she campaigned to have consent classes introduced for all
incoming college students as part of the #Notaskingforit campaign. However,
when Trinity College Dublin announced that it may hold mandatory consent
classes, it caused major controversy with commentators saying that it was "treating all students like potential sex offenders". UCD had to cancel its consent classes due to poor turn out at a cost to the Student Union
itself. Students either did not feel they needed or would benefit from these classes or were simply disinterested. Unfortunately, the necessity of these
workshops is not felt until it is too late, linked to the legal
principle: ignorantia juris non excusat; that ignorance of the law is not an
excuse. It is not a defense to say that you did not know that what you were
doing was sexual harassment, nor it is it a defense to say that you thought
your actions were appropriate or that the person was giving you 'signals'.
Why do we get so indignant at the
mention of sexual harassment workshops and consent classes? With reports of
sexual harassment on the rise on college campuses, I do not only think that
these workshops should be mandatory for all incoming first year students, but made
to be a compulsory as an ongoing part of the curriculum in secondary schooling
and beyond. This is also not just a generational thing, reflected in the recent
comments of a well-known Irish radio host, George Hook, who apportioned a part
of the blame on a woman who had consensual sex in a hotel room with a man she had met, when another man entered the room and raped her. He commented: “Why
does a girl who just meets a fella in a bar go back to a hotel room? She’s only
just barely met him. She has no idea of his health conditions; she has no idea
who he is; she has no idea of what dangers he might pose. But modern day social
activity means that she goes back with him, then is surprised when somebody
else comes into the room and rapes her.” Thankfully, he was forced to issue an
apology and there has been widespread condemnation of these comments. Clearly,
this shows that rape culture and other views on consent are pervasive in all
generations and that people need education to challenge these prejudices.
We need to become better at
understanding what sexual harassment is, how to report it and how to establish
consent. I, myself, am guilty of not reporting things that have made me feel
uncomfortable as I think they are not 'severe enough' to warrant reporting –
meanwhile allowing the offender to continue perpetrating the same behaviour,
sometimes escalating it further. By standing idly by, we also become complicit
in the sexual harassment itself. We act like seeking consent is not 'sexy' and
kills the mood, when it must become a vital part of our sexual relationships. We
need to start realizing that there is nothing sexier than ongoing and
enthusiastic consent from a willing partner.
So what have I learned? I learned that sexual harassment covers a
multitude of things – but that the underlying factor is that it is conduct
which is unwanted, unwelcome and makes another person feel uncomfortable. I
learned that we need to be aware of this in all our interactions to provide a
safe and comfortable space for everyone and that the policy governs all
relations involving Ashoka students, be it on, or external to, campus. I
learned that we need to interrogate our own assumptions of what are normal sexual
advances to us and to never impose this on others who may not be on the same
page.
But the most important revelation
that I gained from these workshops is the need to utilize the existing
avenues for the reporting of sexual harassment, so that the complaint can be
processed and tried accordingly and that both parties have the right to
represent themselves, to have their voices heard, for the merits of the case to be
weighed in the presence of the committee and for a punishment to be served, as
the case may be. Non-reporting or indeed, making allegations without further follow-up
has the effect of irreparably tarnishing a person’s reputation and forcing them
to serve a penalty of unknown length, without the error of their actions having
been pointed out to them for redress. This does nothing to rehabilitate a
perpetrator, nor does it serve the potential future victims of the perpetrator.
Justice needs to be done and to be seen to be done to act as a public deterrent to
others. I understand that many survivors of sexual harassment are
unwilling or unable to speak out against their harasser but we need to break
the silence. We need to break the stigma. We need to start reporting even the
smaller grievances as it is only when we address harassment at a root level
that we will be able to weed it out.
Let’s say it together:
Consent is necessary.
Consent is sexy.
Consent is bae.
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