In December 2014, a DU student was bashed up and dumped off a car by boys enrolled in the university. The case went unreported due to concerns related to protecting the victim’s identity. This was a clear case of homophobic violence as the language used was: ‘gandwe, gaand marwaata hai’ (expletives to refer to the victim’s sexuality), ‘aaj tujhe sabak sikhaayenge’ (we will teach you a lesson today). Filing an FIR meant disclosure of identity. Neither the university administration nor individual colleges have any institutional support structures for LGBTQ students, where an incident like this could be reported.
There have been several other instances where LGBTQ students have been subject to mockery, abuse and bullying because of their sexual or gender identities. Each time the cases go unreported because the university lacks primary grievance redressal mechanisms and the victims often do not wish to have their identities revealed. The absence of institutional support renders LGBTQ students vulnerable and paves the ground for campus violence.
Through this protest, we want to send the message – loud and clear – that violence against LGBTQ students won’t be tolerated and the university must immediately come up with measures to address complaints of bullying and harassment by students who do not conform to normative ideas of gender or sexuality. We urge you to join in large numbers!
Date : Friday, 24th April
Time : 10.30AM
Venue : Faculty Of Arts, Delhi University (north campus), VIJAY NAGAR, New Delhi, India 110007
