Women Development Cell

Vision

To contribute in designing an unprejudiced ,egalitarian , apprised and compassionate society

Mission

Enrichment of the society through holistic education for women and their empowerment

Gender Discrimination is a systematic, unfavourable treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender, which denies them rights, opportunities or resources within any given society. The Women and Gender Development Cell (WGDC) is a mandated body as per Section 3.2 (15) of UGC Guidelines (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of women employees and students in higher educational institutions) Regulations, 2015.

We at Somaiya college believe gender justice on campuses is clearly not an ‘isolated operation’ requiring quick fix solutions, but it is an intense exercise involving an effort to make a shift in the perspective and would result in setting down the norms of respect, non-discrimination and the unacceptability of any abuse of power . This has to be the purpose of a new pedagogy within which issues of gender justice are seen as an integral part - not just as ‘women’s issues’ to be added on to academic or curricular agendas as a mere mandatory process.

Given the diverse backgrounds of the students, purely disciplinary approaches to issues of the ‘safety’ of women and gender sensitization serves little purpose in terms of meaningful intervention. Instead ,approaches must be continuous and sustained focusing on empowering young people through educative, preventive and correctional strategies. The Women and Gender Development Cell (WGDC) therefore is mandated to work towards such processes based on the recognition that women and other persons in gender-marginal locations are not ‘victims’ who need ‘protection’, but rather have agency and capability, which they need to be empowered to exercise effectively. Hence all measures of WGDC are directed at promoting such practices, foster mechanisms that safeguard fundamental rights and increase participation and visibility for students in all realms of the academic world.

Understand and progressively engage with issues of gender as well as other vulnerabilities.

• Identify discriminatory behaviours towards persons in gender marginal locations, or discriminatory behaviour towards nonnormative sexualities and expressions.
• To initiate dialogue on these questions and promote gender-awareness within the staff and the students.
• Providing support and creating a conducive environment for sharing anxieties, problems and difficulties faced by persons marginalised on account of gender and sexuality.
• Make recommendations to the administration for changes/elaborations in the rules for students in the prospectus and the byelaws, to make them gender just and to lay down procedures for the prohibition and prosecutions of acts of discrimination and sexual harassment against women, by students and employees.
• Train and coordinate the work of Gender Advocates who can champion gender awareness through workshops and other activities.