Kerala church body yet to take Vishaka guidelines on sexual harassment seriously

The guidelines issued by parental body CBCI in September 2017 clearly state that Internal Complaints Committees need to be formed at all institutions that fall under its purview. These committees are to be headed by women except in cases where the complainant is a man, according to the guidelines. Fifty percent of the members of such committees must be women, again, with the exception of cases where the complainant is a man.

But the KCBC is yet to come up with specific guidelines that would provide protection to women. It has also not formed Internal Complaints Committees, as mandated by the CBCI guidelines, that would help victims of sexual harassment make formal complaints within an organisation.

The arrest of the Bishop associated with KCBC recently in the context of the alleged rape of a nun has brought the Church in Kerala under spotlight. But going by the repeated instances of rape and sexual assault at religious institutions belonging to all religions and across the country, it is clear that all such institutions need to be verified as Vishaka Guidelines-compliant (guidelines and norms laid down by the Supreme Court against sexual harassment at the workplace).

Father Jolly Vadakken said majority of the church people don’t know how serious matters pertaining to sexual harassment are. “We are now discussing modalities for formation of internal committees and other requirements. We are also holding workshops for the purpose. We will come out with a new document that will stipulate formation of internal committees too,” he said. “When these committees are formed women will find significant representation in them including nuns. But I don’t know how soon this can be implemented,” he added.

On Bishop Franco’s arrest, Father Jolly Vadakken said “personally we don’t think” he is guilty. “He told me personally also that he has not committed the crime. This is a concocted matter. This sister had some problems with superiors,” he said.

Another priest associated with the Labour Cell at KCBC said over the phone that there was some resistance from some institutions against formation of the internal committees. “But we will force them to constitute the committees.” This priest did not want to be named.

Father Jolly Vadakken handed over a copy of guidelines issued by the KCBC this June aimed at prevention of harassment of minors and vulnerable adults in particular. He shared the document with this writer as evidence of progress made by KCBC in the sphere of dealing with sexual harassment although it does not deal with cases of harassment against women.

However, the document in itself appeared to be questionable in the eyes of the law. Legal experts pointed out that the document would not stand the test of law and that its drafting could be viewed as an act of the institution entering into areas that are beyond its purview.

This transgression is worthy of being highlighted, they advised, as there needs to be clarity on what religious institutions need to do in order to deal with cases pertaining to abuse and what they clearly are not authorised to.

Detailing the procedure for dealing with cases involving sexual abuse of minors, the guidelines discuss a four-layer process for dealing with complaints pertaining to abuse of minors. In the first instance, a complaint is made with the Bishop or a religious superior. They forward it to a Preliminary Enquiry Committee. The Committee is to present its report to the Bishop within 30 days. If there appears to be truth in the allegations, he refers it to a Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In case, the Congregation has directed the Bishop or Major Superior to proceed with further examination of the case, the case is entrusted to a special Sexual Offences Committee.

At various points, these authorities are to decide on matters such as sending the alleged offender on administrative leave, keeping in touch with the victim and his or her family. At a later stage, dismissal of the accused from all charges in the case of charges being proved true is also discussed.

It is only as a one-page appendix that the document mentions the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 (POCSO), which calls for immediate reporting of such cases to the police.

Former Judge of Kerala High Court, Justice B Kemal Pashasaid: “By taking shelter under the cover of Canon Laws (system of laws and legal principles made and enforced by the Catholic Church), a religious denomination is not empowered to make rules violating laws of the land. Already there are legislations in terms of POCSO and Indian Penal Code. They (KCBC) are not authorized to make these guidelines. These guidelines deviate from procedure and laws of the land and is a nullity in the eye of the law.”

Senior lawyer at the Kerala High Court, John S Ralph said: “The portion pertaining to Canon Laws cannot be looked into once they mention POCSO.

Those paragraphs on POCSO override everything else mentioned in the document pertaining to actions to be taken in cases of alleged abuse of minors. It appears they (KCBC) got advice which made them refer to POCSO after they had drafted the document in terms of formulating an internal system within the Church for dealing with minor abuse cases. They cannot go with the Canon Laws in such cases and it appears they have simply saved themselves by inserting a few paragraphs on POCSO.”

They have not even touched upon the issue of harassment of women and they have to set up an Internal Complaints Committee to deal with cases pertaining to harassment of women, Ralph emphasised.

Lastly, vulnerable group of adults as mentioned in the document refers to people with disabilities and there is no mention of abuse of adult women, who form a large chunk of people associated with the Church such as nuns and female devotees. The vulnerable adults as defined in the document are almost non-existent in these institutions barring for some exceptions, he added.

Father Augustine Vattolli, who led the protest demanding arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, also said the absence of any mention of guidelines pertaining to abuse of women was suggestive of the insensitivity towards the issue. “The sexual harassment guidelines brought out by CBCI was the model for KCBC as I understand. In that case, guidelines brought out by KCBC should have targeted workplace harassment against women.”

“In the document offered by KCBC (as evidence of their work done in the context of sexual harassment), they are talking about minors. But such guidelines in the context of minors cannot be brought out by any organisation. That in itself is against the legal system. According to the law of the land, in the case of minors, then and there the authorities concerned in the legal framework need to be informed.” That is the only procedural recourse, he indicated.

“The KCBC should have brought out a specific set of guidelines based on Vishaka Guidelines and the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act that would help women,” he emphasised.

Father Varghese Vallikkatt, the spokesperson for KCBC, did not respond to a questionnaire or repeated phone calls.