Mumbai: Casual sexism prevalent at alarming levels in IIT-Bombay, finds survey

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Even as the ongoing criticism levelled against IIT-Bombay's casual sexism rages on, a new survey by the students' media body at the institution has confirmed these accusations. References to groups of women as "hariyali", calling an effeminate man as "meetha" and using the term "non-male" for a woman whose appearance doesn't follow conventional notions of female beauty are all regular phenomenon at the IIT-B campus, the survey stated.

Results of this survey were published in the recent issue of Insight, IIT-B's student magazine, published on Saturday. While 75 per cent of the respondents were heterosexual males and 20 per cent of respondents were heterosexual females, five per cent belonged to the LGBT community. The study, which was conducted over 22 months with 740 student respondents, included research on the subject and interventions to put an end to this. The findings have sparked a new conversation on campus.

The report states that while "dire and direct forms of sexual harassment" exist, there is yet another form called "casual sexism". Rishabh Israni, chief editor of Insight, said, "As the institute is largely male-dominated, we wanted to know how it is to be female on the campus. Members of the team felt that 'casual sexism' is indeed a problem here. At the same time, through the authorities' eyes, it is not a problem which has looked at as one which needs immediate concern."

Meanwhile, Falguni Bannerjee, PRO of IITB, told mid-day that she won't be able to respond as she hasn't read the report.

Also read - Lindsay Pereira: A nation groped by casual sexism