An Educational Environment Free of Sexual Harassment

Executive summary:

Sexual Harassment is one of the major challenges that women in Afghanistan constantly face, which affects their progress in the society. According to this report “Muhit-e-Salim Research Report 2015”, one of the major challenges in the way of women empowerment and leadership in the tribal, male dominated and religious society. Family dignity is the top priority and women as representative of family’s dignity are the very first to be victimized. In order to keep family’s honor and dignity, women sacrifices their basic rights such as education, right of social mobility, and the right of employment. The issue of sexual harassment in higher educational institutions not only affects women as individual but it also the whole society. The need of the time is to scientifically find out the magnitude, dynamics, and the context of these social problems and weed them out. This struggle of cleaning our environment is the responsibility of both men and women at all levels. We need to return to our high standards of ethics and make the environment at home, in public, in educational institutions, and at workplace safer for all women and men.

The research report shows the following main points which need immediate attention:

The research report is indicating that 99.9% of the respondents say that many kinds of Sexual harassment do exist within educational environment.
There is a greater need for a proper and official complain mechanism that harasser can be careful of his/her attitude and also the victim can seek justice by legal mechanism.
87% of the respondents say that any women faced with continuous sexual harassment leave their higher education and accept forced marriages and domestic violence silently.
The figures are very high and shocking compared to the research report in 2007, policy makers have to take this issue very seriously and any investment in education and empowerment without addressing the issue of sexual Harassment will go in vain.
There is need of breaking the chains of silence and Public awareness and raising attention among the population are very important. The problem is increasing due to silence of the victims, policy makers and civil society.

The Research report is a situation analysis to see the magnitude, dynamics, and the context of Sexual Harassment found particularly in twenty higher educational institutions (government & private. The research study was designed and conducted during Oct – Nov 2014 addressing the concern about increased level of sexual harassment within educational environment, which has become a hug hurdle abstaining women from continuation of higher education. The main Goal & objectives were as follows:

Goal of the research Report: Understanding the forms of sexual harassment are prevalent in the educational institutions.