Sexual harassment by teacher
On September 25, I wrote in these columns about a friend who was lured into an affair by a male teacher, who persisted on her to continue the relationship, in secret, when she got out of it and married elsewhere. I wrote the letter at the time when JN University students were holding daily public protest against systematic sexual harassment by a male teacher, and were featuring in news headlines.
M Anam, in his letter (8/10) saw the affairs as 'flirting' and wrote that it should not be equated with sexual harassment. Her ending the affairs and getting married, to him, was 'the teacher backing out' as he put: 'the guy who was flirting with her friend happened to be a teacher by profession'.
Teacher-student links, just as much as lawyer-client, doctor-patient, employer-employee contacts is fraught with power structure imbalances within the engagements. Presumption of exploitation and abuse of position cannot be ruled out and the engagements should be governed by a code of conduct, as is the norm in advanced societies. Social mores that once governed teachers-student relationships here are faltering, the JN incident is an example.
Teachers' professional duty is to see to their students' educational interest. Any self-respecting teacher should terminate his/her position before entering into a sexually-oriented relationship with a student. Or else, it would be tantamount to exploitation or abuse of position, insisting on to continue it illicit is damn right harassment.
The letter writer missed the point.
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