*Associate Professor, Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Muzaffarnagar Medical College, Muzaffarnagar (UP) E-mail: drvinita7@rediffmail.com
**Assist. Prof., Dept. of Pathology, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, Kangra (HP)
***Prof. & HOD, Dept of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida
****Professor & HOD, Dept. of Forensic Medicine, Muzaffarnagar Medical College, Muzaffarnagar (UP)
Online published on 26 October, 2012.
Sexual harassment of women at work place is prevalent throughout the Globe. India is no exception especially in health care set up, is a grave form of human rights violation of a almost half of the human folk. The SC in Visakha case (1997) has framed guidelines to deals with sexual harassment of woman at workplace and a Bill is also pending with the Union Government.
This study was conducted to explore the awareness, understanding and reporting patterns of sexual harassment among students of Muzaffarnagar Medical College (UP). A self-reported questionnaire was developed for this study. The result indicated sexual harassment occurred among students, with 21% of all the participants reporting to have been sexually harassed. Reporting of sexual harassment was found to be minimal, with only a 5% of those who were sexually harassed having told someone about the act. The majority of those who were sexually harassed did not make a formal complaint because they were embarrassed or they did not believe any action would be taken. Awareness creation, education and a reporting mechanism are essential ingredients of the response to address this issue.
Sexual harassment, Supreme Court guidelines, Awareness in students, Human Rights
