Are we not safe on campus anymore?

A commentary on the systems that safeguard us

A 21 year-old female student was molested on IIT-BHU campus on Thursday morning. Around 2000 students boycotted academic activities and staged a protest demanding arrest of the perpetrators, enhanced security on campus, and resignation of the institute’s director. As per preliminary report, authorities have taken action and increased security on campus.

Crime against women in a society

Crime in society is seen as an indicator of the general conscience and aspiration of the people. There is an established negative correlation between the prosperity and welfare of a society and crime rates in that society. Although it is not possible to reduce crime rates to zero, the kind of crimes committed gives us a window into the value system of the inhabitants. Women crime is one of the lowest and most demeaning forms of atrocities that a society has to face, perhaps only above war crimes and totalitarian compromise of human rights. When one woman’s safety is compromised, fingers are not only raised on the perpetrator but on the society as a whole. And to imagine the crime committed inside an educational institution often touted as an “Institute of Eminence” is not just a compromise of human rights but an attack on our fundamental values.

Reactionary vs Precautionary

Once again, the systems that we have established to safeguard our citizens are often based on what I call the “reactionary” model rather than the “precautionary” model. We wait for something to go wrong before trying to fix the damage rather than evolve precautionary systems that would never let anything go wrong. From a pragmatic perspective, reactionary models are preferred because predicting everything that can possibly go wrong is almost impossible or just too expensive. This is why security systems tend to grow complacent over time and wait for something bad to happen before springing back to action. Security cameras go bust and nobody bothers to fix them, security guards stop diligently checking identity cards, and even students start flouting rules because “as everything is going well, they will probably also go well in the future.” This is why precautionary systems with humans in the loop tend to fail.

Curbing the oppressed

One of the characteristics of reactionary systems is heightened response to a failure in an attempt to contain the damage and repercussions. Historically, in the case of transgression against women, this translates to stronger monitoring and more regulations for appropriate conduction and lifestyle of women. Gradually, the rules become more restricting and constrain the freedom of the oppressed. Policing systems evolve to restrict the movement of women around campus and more stringent monitoring systems will be put in place. I am not in a position to comment on the efficacy of such an arrangement to protect women but it will surely cost the oppressed group a systematic exclusion from enjoying basic human rights such as the choice to go for a walk at 1 am without any fear - something that most of us take for granted.

What institutions and policy-makers should realise is that this approach is detrimental in the long-run as it intrinsically creates an environment where the oppressed come to see themselves as the cause of the problem. What’s worse is such systems percolate down and pollute our languages and hence our conscience with phrases and ideas, thereby strongly biassing us towards a particular narrative. For example, attire is often targeted as a means to criticise the oppressed and justify an unwanted incident.

Possible roads ahead

What must be done to ensure that our temples of learning maintain their sanctity? A gradual overhaul of our beliefs and biases starting right from the words we use to address victims and criminals to starting a collaborative community-driven approach to formulating rules and regulations should be the first step. The onus of reform should shift from the victims to the transgressors who are generally men - a lifelong reform program to instil in our men a deep seated respect for women. And finally, ensuring that future laws and policies do not systematically demonise the oppressed. Building a truly safe campus is possibly a distant utopia but any attempt towards such a utopia is progress.