Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some frequently asked questions regarding the Policy, and the procedure of filing complaints. These FAQs give a brief overview of some common concerns that students have about the processes. These will also help them understand the Policy and raise awareness within the LUMS community.
The complainant can be anyone who is aggrieved by the conduct of any member of the LUMS community when harassment takes place on the LUMS premises or in the context of LUMS-related activities on any other premise. Harassment can occur outside working hours and the workplace. It is the access that a perpetrator has to the person being harassed by virtue of an academic/LUMS related situation or relation that is relevant here.
No.
A. Policy 4(1): “Harassment is defined by Section 2(h) of the 2010 Act as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature, or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the complainant for refusal to comply to such a request or is made a condition for employment, admission and, engagement.”
(3) To facilitate the understanding of sexual harassment as per Clause 4 and this Policy, the following are offered as examples:
(a) Asking female students to meet supervisors/authorities in-charge out of the institution’s premises with the promise of improvement in grades.
(b) Financial and sexual gratification from graduate students (PhD, M-Phil, Masters) by their supervisors.
(c) Intimidation of faculty/staff by students/colleagues in order to tarnish the reputation (character assassination) of faculty/staff.
(d) Harassment by senior students of junior students, or minority students.
(e) Unwelcome sexual advances – whether they involve physical touch or not.
(f) Asking female students to visit the personal offices of their supervisors/authorities in-charge after office hours to discuss their grades and assignments.
(g) Sexual epithets, jokes, written or oral references to sexual conduct, or gossip regarding one’s sex life.
(h) Comments on an individual’s body, comments about an individual’s sexual activity, deficiencies, or prowess; displaying sexually suggestive objects, pictures, or cartoons.
(i) Unwelcome staring, whistling, brushing against the body, sexual gestures, or suggestive or insulting comments.
(j) Inquiries into one’s sexual experiences.
(k) Discussion of one’s sexual activities (even if males are discussing this, it is done deliberately in front of female students or colleagues).
(l) Using derogatory and abusive language that refers to others’ mother’s or sister’s or daughter’s bodies.
(m) Acts of sexual connotation relating to the same as a common usage in conversation.
(n) Male head of department deliberately touching or hitting the body of female employee with a stationery item.
(o) Male teachers referring to female bodies and reproductive cycles to embarrass female students during class lectures.
(p) Ogling at female students' bodies.
(q) Needy female students are given financial support by faculty members in exchange for sexual favors.
(r) Teacher telling vulgar jokes with sexual innuendos during classes.
(s) Supervisors/teachers spending long hours locked away in the office with a young female colleague or student.
(t) A male student making vulgar comments about a female student on social media or verbally relating vulgar material about her to his fellow students.
(u) Students sending written notes and emails with requests for intimacy in exchange for grades.
(v) Character assassination of female teachers to gain political, academic, or financial gains
(w) Female student initiating intimacy for benefits of grades, employment or, finances.
(x) Using vulgar language to address females (student, faculty and, other employees).
(y) To touch one’s intimate parts in the presence of females without any reason.
(z) Transferring a younger member of the faculty to another department against her will by the authorities as a punitive measure for not complying with undue requests for sexual favors.
(aa) Threatening female students by using forged/fake documents and pictures to blackmail them into compliance.
(bb) Anonymous letters/pamphlets/e-mails leading to defamation or character assassination of employees/teachers/students.
A. Major and minor penalties are defined by the Policy as under:
(a) Minor penalties:
(i) censure;
(ii) withholding, for a specific period, promotion or increment;
(iii) stoppage, for a specific period, at an efficiency bar in the time-scale, otherwise than for unfitness to cross such bar; and
(iv) recovery of the compensation payable to the complainant from pay or any other source of the accused;
(b) Major penalties:
(i) reduction to a lower post or time-scale, or to a lower stage in a time-scale;
(ii) compulsory retirement;
(iii) removal from service;
(iv) dismissal from service; and
(v) fine to be given to LUMS. A part of the fine can be used as compensation for the complainant.
For students, the penalties depend on the nature of the complaint. These range from expulsion from LUMS, to community hours.
A. High standards of confidentiality are maintained throughout the inquiry. Policy 10 (4) states: “The Inquiry Committee and their support staff will be subject to administrative disciplinary action for inappropriate breaches of confidentiality on their part.”
A. Informal complaints require notice to the accused and typically lead to mediation, which does not require any direct contact between the complainant and the accused. Formal complaints require both notice and cross-examination. In formal complaints, both sides have an opportunity to cross-examine the parties, witnesses, and evidence. Formal complaints may result in penalties for the accused. In all cases, both sides may retain a representative. The committee will generally make every effort to allow for cross-examination through writing, representatives, or other means that do not require a meeting between the accuser and the accused; however, confrontation will sometimes be necessary. Any retaliation by either side during or after the investigation is strictly prohibited by law and university policy.
A. Yes. The appellate forum is the Provincial or Federal Ombudsman for harassment.
A. A pool of six members from within the LUMS Community constitute the SHIC. For any given case, a panel of three out of the six members is formed for that particular inquiry. At least one of the three members on the panel has to be a woman.
A. No. Filing a complaint is your right.
A. You may be accompanied by a representative.
A. You may file an informal complaint anonymously.
The complaint as well as inquiry is strictly confidential.
A. No. According to Policy 10(8): “No one shall be compelled to proceed with a complaint.”
A. Yes.
A. No. Unless one of them is named as a representative by the complainant themselves.
A. Yes, if you are a current student.
A. Report to the Committee immediately.
A. Yes.
A. 30 days, subject to the cooperation of the parties.
The process requires the collection of evidence, cross-examination, interviews of both parties and their respective witnesses, and deliberation by the Committee.
A. There is no time limit on filing a formal complaint. However, you may not be able to file a complaint if a) both parties are alumni or b) if the incident took place before the accused was affiliated with LUMS. If this describes your situation, please reach out to harassment@lums.edu.pk to confidentially discuss whether you would be able to file a formal or an informal complaint.
A. According to Policy clause 8 (4) “The Inquiry Committee may, if deems fit, issue interim no-contact or other orders between the complainant and the alleged accused. LUMS can also decide to send the accused on leave, or suspend the accused in accordance with the applicable procedures for dealing with the cases of misconduct, if required.”
A. Because the proceedings of the SHIC are confidential.
A. The SHIC cannot look into cases that are made without at least one individual coming forward and filing a complaint. There are multiple reasons why, but the most important is victim advocacy. When someone experiences sexual harassment or sexual violence, their agency is taken away from them. An inquiry into such matters necessitates detailed interviews and sharing of evidence. Forcing a traumatised person to go through such a process without their consent, in a way reliving the events, would be taking away their agency once again. At the same time, without such evidence, any decision of the SHIC against an offender would be likely overturned on appeal to the Ombudsperson. Therefore, the SHIC is only able to pursue cases in which a survivor of harassment is ready and willing to provide detailed statements and evidence.