Achieving gender awareness and women’s empowerment is integral to design a generation of progressive women who are the embodiment of ethical values and professional excellence. At Sacred Heart College (Autonomous). Chalakudy we believe that promoting gender awareness is crucial in accelerating our mission of holistic development of an individual. The policy derives its circumferential shape from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Further deep, the layers of the college policy reflects the nuances of the constitutional and university decreed regulations for safer learning and working environment like Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 , Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, POCSO, Information Technology Act, 2000 and also the new legislations which are being introduced in the country. The college shall abide by the recent legal developments ordered by the state and national regulatory bodies like Gender and Empowerment Policy 2010-2020 and Kerala State ‘Women’s policy that work for women safety, welfare and empowerment.
The College shall adopt and reside in gender equality policies for all the academic and administrative matters including appointments, nominations and elections to decision making and advisory bodies. The administrative and academic faculty composition shall incorporate personnel with preferences directed towards talent rather than gender. The opinion and services of the employees shall be respected impartially. The infrastructural capacity of the institution shall also be maintained and developed on governmental norms with gender neutrality to accommodate the academic and professional requirements of its stakeholders.
The college shall engage in gender awareness by conducting gender sensitization activities and programs for the students, teachers and staffs as a customary routine in every academic year of Sacred Heart College. Orientation programs shall be offered for students to acquaint them with the procedures for comprehending and reporting any anti-social activities occurring in the campus. Specialized cells and committees are to be formed as per the regulations of the University of Calicut and norms of governmental bodies to address campus inclusive grievances of any degree. Fair functioning and implementation of actions the cells and committees will be ensured through de-centralised governance. Gender sensitive and gender empowering psychological counselling would be introduced to address the gender related issues of students, staff and workers. Any type of gender barrier would be identified and removed. Safety audit of the campuses would be conducted periodically and a SAFE (Sexual Abuse Free Environment) would be guaranteed. We support ‘zero tolerance for gender based violence’ including physical, verbal, emotional and economic violence based on gender and hence the campus will be under strict surveillance to detect and redress of any form of sexism and gender based violence in the premises. The college shall engage in excluding gender biased incidents that hinder opportunities for growth and development of student and teachers. Classroom level discussion and debates are to be encouraged by the teachers to provide a liberal and comprehensive platform for deliberating on gender sensitive issues at the ground level. Co-curricular and curricular workshops, seminars and events shall be organized frequently to reflect on the current social issues that will promote the students to take an independent stand on their civic duties. The teachers and students shall be encouraged to explore the dimensions of gender perspectives in curricular aspects through projects, dissertations and thesis of students and teachers. The college has initiated Women’s Study Cell to promote critical thinking and research aptitude among students and teachers.
The college campus shall be a secured enclosure with adequate monitored exit and entry points minimalizing unwanted entry of outsiders into the campus. The institution shall appoint full time security guards with the responsibility of monitoring unwarranted entry into the campus. They shall be endowed with upkeep of the entry-exit registers at the college gates. The campus has mounted necessary CCTV cameras at required points and shall hold the rights to take strict action against any mutilation attempts. Safety, first-aid, self-defense, disaster management and cyber security drills are to be conducted in the campus with the support of the IQAC, NCC, NSS and other related internal and external departments and committees. The college can instantly assign a committee comprising the head of the institution to investigate and act upon any cases of violation of the gender equity and safety policy of the institution.
