UPSC CARE Mains Practice 27th November 2025

Substantive / Design Challenges

1. Narrow treatment of consent
   • The Act does not explicitly recognise “informed consent” or consent obtained through power imbalance, manipulation or emotional coercion, especially in teacher–student or boss–subordinate relationships.
2. Emotional and psychological harassment under-addressed
   • The law focuses more on visible, “provable” acts but is weaker on grooming, manipulation, betrayal of trust, which may not leave clear evidence but cause deep psychological harm.
3. Short limitation period
   • Complaints must be filed within 3 months (extendable by 3 months), even though survivors subjected to coercive relationships may take much longer to recognise the abuse and gather courage and evidence.
4. Digital-age harassment not fully captured
   • The Act does not lay down detailed protocols on disappearing messages, encrypted chats, single-view images; ICCs are often ill-equipped to handle such evidence.
5. No clear framework for inter-institutional harassment
   • Misconduct by visiting faculty or professionals across multiple campuses/institutions lacks a coordinated response mechanism, allowing repeat offenders to escape scrutiny.

Implementation & Institutional Gaps

1. Non-constitution / improper constitution of ICCs
   • The Supreme Court (2023) flagged “serious lapses”: many ministries, universities, sports bodies and PSUs either lack ICCs or have illegally constituted ones (no external member, inadequate women representation).
2. Low awareness, especially in informal sector
   • Over 80% of women workers are in the informal sector, where Local Committees (LCs) are weak, poorly publicised, and logistically hard to access, making the law largely invisible.
3. Power imbalance and fear of retaliation
   • Survivors fear loss of job, grades, recommendations or reputational damage within tightly knit institutional spaces; provision for action against “malicious complaints” can be misused to intimidate them.
4. Procedural delays and “legalism”
   • ICCs often mimic court-like processes without training in gender sensitivity or trauma-informed inquiry, leading to over-reliance on direct evidence and dismissal of pattern-based complaints.

Reforms and Way Forward

1. Substantive amendments
   • Explicitly recognise informed consent, emotional coercion and abuse of authority as sexual harassment; expand the law’s illustrations to include digital and psychological abuse.
2. Revisiting limitation period
   • Introduce a longer or flexible time limit, especially in cases involving manipulation, or allow discovery-based limitation where the survivor realises the misconduct later.
3. Digital evidence protocols
   • Frame Rules for collection, preservation and appreciation of digital evidence, and mandate technical training for ICC/LC members.
4. Stronger monitoring & accountability
   • Designate nodal authorities at Central/State level to:
     • maintain data on ICC/LC constitution and case disposal,
     • link compliance to licensing, accreditation, grants and contracts for institutions.
5. Victim-centric processes
   • Provide counselling, protection from retaliation, academic/employment safeguards, and treat “malicious complaint” proceedings as a rare exception with high threshold.
6. Capacity building & outreach
   • Regular training for ICCs; targeted campaigns for students, interns, gig and informal workers on rights and complaint mechanisms.