Safeguards or Symbolism: Evaluating the UGC’s 2015 Regulation amidst the Rise of Sexual Violence in Indian Higher Education

This paper analyses the University Grants Commission's (UGC) 2015 regulations regarding the prevention, prohibition, and redressal of sexual harassment of women in higher educational institutions (HEIs) in India, in light of the alarming rise in sexual violence on campuses from 2015 to 2025. The UGC framework, instituted as a pivotal policy under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, has often been marked by procedural formalism and inadequate institutional accountability in its implementation. This study analyses the discrepancy between legislative intentions and actual-life events, considering notable cases. This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, incorporating policy research, media reports, to illustrate that Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs), as outlined by UGC norms, often exhibit shortfalls in independence, training, and transparency. The research investigates the influence of societal and political dynamics, institutional hierarchy, and cultural stigma on underreporting and the delay of justice. Despite the periodic amendments to the UGC framework in 2017, 2021, and 2023, the persistent occurrence of sexual abuse suggests that legislative protections have often served more as symbolic gestures than as transformative mechanisms. The article concludes by advocating for a range of reforms, including mandatory third-party audits of ICCs, survivor-centred reparation mechanisms, and the integration of gender sensitization into academic curricula. Also this study underscores the essential need for a shift from compliance to commitment to preventing sexual harassment in higher education institutions by placing the UGC's regulatory framework within the broader discourse on gender justice in Indian academia.