Blacklist Professors Guilty of Sexual Harassment in Labs, Demand Scientists

 

Scientists across the country have issued a statement expressing deep concern about the harassment of students in science laboratories, which has been recently brought into the spotlight by the Jawaharlal Nehru University incident. They have urged “Indian scientists, and women scientists in particular, to support the young complainants’ quest for justice, and to further this effort to publicly acknowledge and spread awareness on this extremely serious issue.”

The statement reads:

The recent allegations of sexual harassment that have been brought up against a Professor at the School of Life Sciences in the Jawaharlal Nehru University by not one, but several women students, have once again trained the spotlight on the issue of sexual harassment in science labs. That the alleged incidents span several years and multiple victims, all students/ project employees, points to a pattern that appears to be specific to the nature of working conditions for women in scientific labs in India. While not every science lab in the country is an unsafe space for women, yet to think of this as an isolated case of an individual wrongdoing would be an oversimplification and an understatement of the problem.

By no imagination is sexual harassment at the workplace exclusive to the world of scientific research, yet some features of how science is organised, makes its authority structure especially perilous for women. Scientific research in India, particularly its higher echelons, remain predominantly the preserve of men. What adds to this power and authority is the need for mobilising large amounts of funding required for experimental research which the scientist or laboratory head provides. The absence of women in decision making bodies, their lack of adequate representation in committees and academies all come together to create an environment in which women and their concerns all appear marginal to the “serious business” of the scientific enterprise. While the growing numbers of women in the university has encouraged serious reflections and engagements with the gender question in humanities and social sciences, the world of science has remained unaffected and unwilling to question its ways of doing things.

With the numbers of women enrolling for science degrees often exceeding that of men in recent years, many of whom aspire for careers in scientific research, there is an urgent need for Indian science to address issues of sexism, prejudice and harassment. It is time that Indian science woke up to its changing social reality and gives up its business-as-usual attitude. It is also time to hear from the Indian science academies and funding bodies clear policies of inclusion and representation. In addition, sexual misconduct should not only be condemned, it should invite black-listing from serving on scientific committees, receiving funding, awards and election to academies.

We call upon Indian scientists, and women scientists in particular, to support the young complainants’ quest for justice, and to further this effort to publicly acknowledge and spread awareness on this extremely serious issue.
 

1. Riddhi Shah, Jawaharlal Nehru University

2. Gaiti Hasan, National Centre for Biological Sciences

3. Shobhana Narasimhan, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

4. Shobhona Sharma, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

5. Anna George, National Institute of Immunology

6. Sandhya S Visweswariah, Indian Institute of Science

7. B K Thelma, University of Delhi, South Campus

8. Ranjini Bandyopadhyay, Raman Research Institute

9. Sudha Bhattacharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University (retired)

10. Vineeta Bal, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

11. Chetana Sachidanandan, CSIR-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology

12. Jayashree Sengupta, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (retired)

13. Prajval Shastri, Astrophysicist, Bengaluru

14. Satyajit Mayor, National Centre for Biological Science

15. Spenta R Wadia, International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bengaluru

16. Satyajit Rath, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

17. P Rajamanickam, General Secretary, All India Peoples Science Network

18. M S Raghunathan, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

19. S G Dani, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence Basic Sciences, Mumbai

20. Sumathi Rao, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

21. Enakshi Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

22. Jaishree Paul, Jawaharlal Nehru University (retired)

23. Abha Dev Habib, University of Delhi

24. R Geeta, University of Delhi

25. Namita Surolia, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

26. A Mani, University of Calcutta

27. Alok Bhattacharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University (retired)

28. Amala Bhave, Jawaharlal Nehru University

29. Amit Kumar Yadav, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute

30. Amitabh Virmani, Chennai Mathematical Institute

31. Amitabha Bhattacharya, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

32. Anindya Dutt, University of Calcutta

33. Anirban Kundu, University of Calcutta

34. Antar Bandyopadhyay, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

35. Anu Venugopalan, Guru Gobind Singh, IP University

36. Arjun Bagchi, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

37. Arockiasamy Arulandu, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

38. Arunava Chakrabarti, Kalyani University

39. Arunava Mandal, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

40. Ashok Kapoor, Chennai Mathematical Institute

41. Ashoke Sen, Harish-Chandra Research Institute.

42. Asmita Patil, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

43. Atreyi Dasgupta, Baylor College of Medicine

44. Aurnab Ghose, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

45. B Sury, Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru

46. Bhavtosh Bansal, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata

47. Bindusar Sahoo, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram

48. C.S. Lalitha, University of Delhi, South Campus

49. Chandan Singh Dalawat, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

50. Chayanika Shah, Independent scholar and queer activist

51. D P Sen Gupta, Indian Institute of Science (retired)

52. Debarshi Das, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

53. Debashis Ghoshal, Jawaharlal Nehru University 

54. Deepali S Ghelani, Sahiyar

55. Dibyendu Sarkar, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology

56. Dileep Jatkar, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

57. Dinesh Abrol, "National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (retired)

58. Dinesh Mohanta, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

59. Dipshikha Chakravortty, Indian Institute of Science

60. Durgadas P. Kasbekar, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics

61. Elangbam Geetanjali, University of Delhi

62. G. Krishnmoorthy, Anna University

63. Gauhar Raza, "National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (retired)

64. Gautam I Menon, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

65. Geeta Venkataraman, Ambedkar University

66. Girish Kulkarni, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

67. Gurcharan Kaur, Guru Nanak Dev University

68. H Shakila, Madurai Kamaraj University

69. Jagmohan Singh, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh

70. Jasjeet Singh Bagla, "Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali

71. Jayanta Kumar Sarma, Tezpur University

72. Joyee Ghosh, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

73. Jyoti Basu, Bose Institute

74. Jyotsna Dani, University of Mumbai (retired)

75. Kalyani Menon Sen, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology

76. Karthick Bittu Kondiah, Ashoka University

77. Karthikeyan Vasudevan, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad

78. Kasturi Mukhopadhyay, Jawaharlal Nehru University

79. Kaushal Verma, Indian Institute of Science

80. Kaushar Vaidya, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

81. Krishna B Garg, University of Rajasthan (retired)

82. Krishna Maddaly, Ashoka University

83. Krishnendu Sengupta, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

84. L.S. Shashidhara, "Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

85. Lekha Nair, Jamia Millia Islamia

86. M A Sofi, Kashmir University (Emeritus)

87. M Sundari, Chennai Mathematical Institute

88. Mahajan M J, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

89. Mamta, S G T B. Khalsa College, University of Delhi

90. Manavendra N Mahato, Indian Institute of Technology, Indore

91. Maneesh Thakur, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

92. Manoj Verma, Jawaharlal Nehru University

93. Manu Aggarwal, University of Delhi

94. Mayurika Lahiri, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

95. Mitaxi Mehta, Ahmedabad University

96. Mubeena T, Govt. College, Kasaragod

97. Mugdha Kulashreshtha, Science reviewer, Cactus Communications

98. N. Raghavendra, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

99. Nalin Mehta, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

100. Nandita Das Gupta, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

101. Naveen Gaur, University of Delhi

102. Neelkamal Rastogi, Banaras Hindu University

103. Nisha Biswas, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute

104. Nisha Tapryal, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

105. Patrick Das Gupta, University of Delhi

106. Pradeep Parrack, Bose Institute

107. Pradipta Bandyopadhyay, Jawaharlal Nehru University

108. Pratibha Singh, Jawaharlal Nehru University

109. Preeti Kharb, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics

110. Rabeya Basu, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

111. Raghunand R. Tirumalai, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad

112. Rahul Roy, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi

113. Rajeswari Sarala Raina, Shiv Nadar University

114. Ram Shilpa, Forbesganj College, Bihar

115. Rashna Bhandari, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics

116. Ravi Mazumdar, University of Waterloo

117. Remya Nair, Kyoto University

118. Rickmoy Samanta, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

119. Rina Shah, M G Science Institute

120. Rishikesh Vaidya, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

121. S. Ilangovan, University of Hyderabad

122. Sagari R Ramdas, Veterinary Scientist, Food Sovereignty Alliance 

123. Sameena Khan, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute

124. Sandhya Choubey, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

125. Sanjay K Banerjee, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute

126. Sanjay Kapoor,  University of Delhi, South Campus

127. Saradindu Bhaduri, Jawaharlal Nehru University

128. Saurabh Basu, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

129. Sejal Shah, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

130. Shahid Jameel, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (retired)

131. Shilpa Jamwal, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute

132. Shiraz Minwalla, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

133. Shiva Shankar, Chennai Mathematical Institute

134. Shrihari Sridharan, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram

135. Soma Marla, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources

136. Soumitro Bannerjee, Indian Institute of Science Education's and Research, Kolkata

137. Sreelaja Nair, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

138. Sriparna Bandopadhyay, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

139. Srubabati Goswami, Physicist, Gujarat

140. Subiman Kundu, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

141. Sudhir Raniwala, University of Rajasthan

142. Sudipta Maiti, "Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

143. Suhita Nadkarni, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

144. Sunil Kumar Mukherjee, Indian Agricultural Research Institute

145. Supratim Sengupta, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata

146. Surekha Bhanot, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

147. Surjeet Kour, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar

148. Suvankar Dutta, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal

149. Swapan Chakrabarti, University of Calcutta

150. Swati Saha, University of Delhi South Campus

151. T Govindrajan, Chennai Mathematical Institute

152. T. Pareek, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

153. Tabish Qureshi, Jamia Millia Islamia

154. Teena Gill, Filmmaker

155. Tejinder Singh, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

156. Ujjwal Sen, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

157. Umesh Dubey, Harish-Chandra Research Institute

158. Utpal Chattopadhyay, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

159. V. S. Sunder, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai

160. Vijaya Satchidanandam, Indian Institute of Science

161. Vikram Vyas, Ajit Foundation

162. Vinay Nandicoori, National Institute of Immunology

163. Vineeta Bal, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

164. Yashwanti Mudgil, University of Delhi

165. Yogesh Kumar Srivastava, National Institute for Science Education and Research Bhubaneswar

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