Hazing

Paddling depicted on 1922 cover of College Humor magazine

Hazing refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person's willingness to participate.

Hazing is seen in many different types of social groups, including gangs, sports teams, schools, cliques, universities, military units, prisons and fraternities and sororities. The initiation rites can range from relatively benign pranks to protracted patterns of behavior that rise to the level of criminal misconduct. Hazing is often prohibited by Law or institutions such as colleges and universities because it may include either physical or psychological abuse, such as humiliation, nudity, or sexual abuse.

Psychology, sociology, purpose and effects

See also: Initiation  and Rite of passage

The practice of ritual abuse among social groups is not clearly understood. This is partly due to the secretive nature of the activities, especially within collegiate fraternities and sororities, and in part a result of long-term acceptance of hazing. Thus, it has been difficult for researchers to agree on the underlying social and psychological mechanisms that perpetuate hazing.

Initiation rituals, such as those employed in hazing, have been theorized to lead to the development of social cohesion though group identification and identity fusion. As well as group attraction, hazing initiations can also produce conformity among new members.

Hazing supposedly serves a deliberate purpose of building solidarity. Psychologist Robert Cialdini uses the framework of consistency and commitment to explain the phenomenon of hazing and the vigor and zeal to which practitioners of hazing persist in and defend these activities even when they are made illegal. Studies of hazing in college fraternities and sororities, suggest that severe initiations produce cognitive dissonance. Dissonance is then thought to produce feelings of strong group attraction among initiates after the experience, because they want to justify the effort expended.

On the other hand, rewards during mild initiations have important consequences in that initiates who feel more rewarded express stronger group identity: A reward led to higher group identity than no reward. ... Interestingly, a mild initiation followed by a reward led to more group identity than a severe initiation followed by a reward. Such findings support the idea of group socialization proposed by Levine and Moreland in which the relationship between the individual and the group "is assumed to change in systematic ways over time and both parties are viewed as active social influence agents."

There are several psychological effects that both the hazer and hazee endure throughout the hazing process. Hazing can result in some positive outcomes: During the hazing process, a bond between the two parties (the hazer and the hazee) grows. Many people view hazing as an effective way to teach respect and develop discipline and loyalty within the group, and believe that hazing is a necessary component of initiation rites.

In military circles hazing is sometimes assumed to test recruits under situations of stress and hostility. Although in no way a recreation of combat, hazing does put people into stressful situations that they are unable to control, which allegedly should weed out the weaker members prior to being put in situations where failure to perform will cost lives. The problem with this approach, according to opponents, is that the stress and hostility comes from inside the group, and not from outside as in actual combat situation, creating suspicion and distrust towards the superiors and comrades-in-arms.

Methods

Traditionally, college fraternities and sororities conduct initiation rituals known as hazing for potential new members ("Pledges"). Hazing activities can involve forms of ridicule and humiliation within the group or in public, while other hazing incidents are akin to pranks. A "snipe hunt" is such a prank, when a newcomer or credulous person is given an impossible task, such as being sent to find a tin of Tartan paint, or a "dough repair kit" in a bakery.

Spanking may be involved, mainly in the form of paddling, sometimes over a lap, a knee, furniture, or a pillow. A variation of this (also as punishment) is trading licks. This practice is also used in the military.

Submission to senior members of the group is common, often with meaningless tests of obedience such as waiting on others (as at fraternity parties) or various other forms of housework. In some cases, the hazee may be made to eat raw eggs, peppers, hot sauce, or drink too much alcohol. Some hazing even includes eating or drinking vile things such as bugs or rotting food.

The hazee may have to wear an imposed piece of clothing, outfit, item or something else worn by the victim in a way that would bring negative attention to the wearer. Examples include a uniform (such as a toga); a leash or collar; infantile and other humiliating dress and attire; and partial (or possibly complete) nudity.

Scope

United States

Hazing practices in fraternity life began to appear shortly after the Civil War. Veterans brought the hazing practices of their battalions back with them, adopting such activities into fraternity life. The purpose of hazing was perceived as a way of providing young males an outlet to prove their manliness through rites and trials, showing themselves to be men and not boys. Other hazing practices served to put an individual in his place, reducing his sense of personal omnipotence to "subsume his individuality into something larger and better than himself."

A 2007 survey at American colleges found 55 percent of students in "clubs, teams, and organizations" experienced behavior the survey defined as hazing, including in varsity athletics and Greek-letter organizations. This survey found 47 percent of respondents experienced hazing before college, and in 25 percent of hazing cases, school staff were aware of the activity. 90% of students who experienced behavior the researchers defined as hazing did not consider themselves to have been hazed, and 95% of those who experienced what they themselves defined as hazing did not report it. The most common hazing-related activities reported in student groups included alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation, and sex acts.

Police forces, especially those with a paramilitary tradition, or sub-units of police forces such as tactical teams, as well as rescue services, such as lifeguards, also commonly have hazing rituals.

Europe

Hazing is also quite common in Europe in both educational and military contexts. It is known by a variety of terms in the different languages.

Educational institutions

In some languages, terms with a religious theme or etymology are preferred, such as baptism or purgatory (for example Baptême in Belgian French, doop in Belgian Dutch, chrzciny in Polish) or variations on a theme of naïveté and the rite of passage such as a derivation from a term for freshman, for example bizutage in European French, ontgroening ("de-greenhorn") in Dutch and Afrikaans (South Africa and Namibia), novatada in Spanish (from novato, meaning newcomer or rookie). In Latvian, the word iesvētības (literally "in-blessings") also stands for religious rites of passage, especially confirmation.

Hazing rituals are a common practice in Belgium in student clubs (fraternities and sororities, called studentenclubs) and student societies (called studentenverenigingen, studentenkringen or faculteitskringen). The latter is attached to the faculty of the university, while the first ones are privately operated. Hazing rituals in student societies have generally been safer than those in student clubs, precisely because they are to some extent regulated by universities.

In the Netherlands, the so-called 'traditional fraternities' have an introduction time which includes hazing rituals. The pledges go for a few days to a camp during which they undergo hazing rituals but are meanwhile introduced in the traditions of the fraternity. Often, pledges collect or perform chores to raise funds for charity. At the end of the hazing period, the inauguration of the new members take place.

Freshman being "baptized" by older students

The Portuguese term Praxe (from the Greek praxis) describes the whole of student traditions in universities or, more often, to the initiation rituals freshmen are subjected to in some Portuguese universities. The Praxe is meant to initiate the freshmen into the University institution and to encourage the loss of social inhibitions. Tradition, ritual, humor, joy and parody are some of the main ingredients of Praxe. Older students tend to produce funny situations and jokes with the freshmen; giving a warm welcome to them through initiation rituals. In most Portuguese higher education institutions, girls and boys have some gender-separated rituals to preserve dignity and respect.

The roots of Praxe go as far back as the fourteenth century, but it became most known in the sixteenth century, under the name of the "Investidas", in the University of Coimbra, the oldest of its kind in the country. From Coimbra, the tradition spread into Lisbon and Porto in the nineteenth century, when those cities gained access to higher education and students from those same cities transferred closer to home and brought the Praxe and its customs with them. The ritual burning of the ribbons of Queima das Fitas, the tradition of ripping and tearing of the newly graduates academic suit, the Festa das Latas with its Latada parade where the freshmen walk throughout the streets with cans on their feet, the Cortejo da Queima parade of Queima das Fitas, among many other rituals, festivals, and traditions, are examples of events which are associated with Praxe.

Military

In the Italian military, the term used was nonnismo (from nonno, literally "grandfather"), a jargon term used for the soldiers who had already served for most of their draft period.

A similar equivalent term exists in the Russian military, where a hazing phenomenon known as dedovshchina exists referring to the senior corps of soldiers in their final year of conscription. Dedovshchina (lit. reign of grandfathers) is the informal practice of hazing and abuse of junior conscripts historically in the Soviet Armed Forces and today in the Russian armed forces, Internal Troops, and to a much lesser extent FSB, Border Guards, as well as the military forces of certain former Soviet Republics. It consists of brutalization by more senior conscripts, NCOs, and officers.

Dedovshchina encompasses a variety of subordinating and humiliating activities undertaken by the junior ranks, from doing the chores of the senior ranks, to violent and sometimes deadly physical and psychological abuse, not unlike an extremely vicious form of bullying or torture, including rape.

Asia

Ragging is the term used for hazing in the Indian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Ragging involves abuse, humiliation, or harassment of new entrants or junior students by the senior students.

Several highly reputed Indian colleges, especially medical ones have a history of ragging. Sometimes it is even considered to be a college tradition.

Ragging is widely prevalent in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka inception of ragging can be pleasant at first, hence the name 'Mal Samaya'. During this week or so, all newcomers are ordered to memorize the name and hometown of their peers as well as details of their immediate relatives. The objective of this exercise is said to be increasing the friendship among batch mates (locally termed as batch fit').

Controversies and efforts to curtail hazing

There have been numerous reports of problems related to hazing, ranging from damage to property, to injuries of various degrees of severity, including death, to criminal activities. As a result, there have been many efforts to curtail the practice, both on the instiutional and national levels.

The "Scenes of Hazing", as portrayed in an early student yearbook of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, circa 1879.

United States

Hazing is often cited as one of the most harmful aspects of fraternities and sororities and poses a major threat to their existence, drawing great criticism from educators and administrators.

Hazing incidents including "beating or kicking to the point of traumatic injury or death, burning or branding, excessive calisthenics, being forced to eat unpleasant substances, and psychological or sexual abuse of both males and females." Reported coerced sexual activity is sometimes considered "horseplay" rather than rape. Between 1970 and 1999, 56 hazing deaths were reported.

Colleges and universities sometimes avoid publicizing hazing incidents for fear of damaging institutional reputations or incurring financial liability to victims. Also, hazing injuries are often not recognized for their true cause in emergency medical centers as hazing victims sometimes hide the real cause of injuries out of shame or to protect those who caused the harm. In protecting their abusers, hazing victims can be compared with victims of domestic violence.

As fraternities and sororities are very diverse in their structures, regulations, governing entities, and memberships, and as hazing can take on many forms, the issue of hazing within these organizations is complex and multifaceted.

Generally, institutions of higher education will have their own definitions of hazing, though they may closely mirror definitions found in their respective state statutes. For example, the University of Arizona notes that hazing is a violation of University of Arizona policy and Arizona State law, and provides the following definition of hazing in its "University of Arizona Hazing Policy":

"Hazing" means any intentional, knowing or reckless act committed by a student, whether individually or in concert with other persons, against another student, and in which both of the following apply: (a) The act was committed in connection with an initiation into, an affiliation with or the maintenance of membership in any organization that is affiliated with the University.

(b) The act contributes to a substantial risk of potential physical injury, mental harm or degradation or causes physical injury, mental harm or personal degradation.

Many American educational institutions have developed anti-hazing programs, which encourage alternatives to hazing through the planning of purposeful activities, inform students of how to take action and avoid being a bystander, and provide clear consequences for those students and/or organizations who violate hazing policies. Additionally, hazing has become a central focus of programs designed to help Greek letter organizations become more value congruent through institutionalized standards and expectations

Individual national Greek Letter Organizations have taken the initiative against activities related to hazing. For example, Phi Beta Sigma fraternity adopted an anti-hazing campaign to eradicate hazing practices in its individual chapters, providing numerous support resources to effectively combat the practice.

Attempts at preventing hazing have also targeted Greek letter organizations at the national level, even encouraging the closure of chapters that consistently partake in illegal and risky activities and pose threats to their local and university communities. Some have proposed the creation of a recognized pledge program in which national fraternity and sorority leaders participate, under the recognized supervision of university officials, as well as the yearly evaluation of fraternities and sororities to determine their eligibility for continued recognition and sponsorship.

However, such programs are difficult to implement since many Greek letter organizations, such as those governed by the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and the National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), prohibit their pledges (also known as “interests” or “new members”) from revealing their association with their organization until they have been initiated. As a result, it is difficult for institutions to reach out to members in anti-hazing efforts and virtually impossible for these pledges or interests to reach out for help, especially if they wish to remain members, pledges, or interests of their organizations.

Europe

Belgium

In 2018, twenty-year-old student Sanda Dia died from multiple organ failure in the Reuzegom hazing ritual. The student society had attracted negative attention in the past, having been accused of animal cruelty during a hazing incident in 2009, for which the members involved were forced to pay a fine. KU Leuven drew up a hazing charter that was to be signed by student societies, fraternities and sororities. Signing the charter would have been a pledge to notify the city of the place and time of the hazing ceremony, and to abstain from violence, racism, extortion, bullying, sexual assault, discrimination, and the use of vertebrate animals. However a number of clubs refused to sign the new charter, arguing they did not want to lose their independence and rejected the rule that obliges them to report each hazing ahead.

Portugal

Criticism

However, the civilized post-modern Praxe Académica has been corrupted, misused, and abused by some groups of students, regardless of whether they belong to large ancient institutions or to the smaller ones. Some Praxe rituals have been accused of going against the principles set in the modern codes of the praxe, more akin to hazing-like sadistic practices meant to humiliate and demean the freshmen.

Most of the freshmen's rituals are performed collectively in order to avoid open ground for abusers. However, the older students sometimes take the Praxe too far, when the initiation rituals, jokes and traditions are degraded into humiliation and violence, a violation of the code and values of the praxe. The president of the Associação Académica de Coimbra and the Dux Veteranorum of Coimbra (ruling body of the Praxe in Coimbra) has described such incidents as a stain in its principles, and supports legal action being taken against perpetrators. One of the mottos of Praxe is Dura Praxis Sed Praxis (Latin for the Praxe is harsh, but it is the Praxe, like dura lex sed lex). These incidents have led to criticism against the Praxe, and the creation of student organizations against it.

The tone of criticism around Praxe, however, may sometimes reach levels of "excessive humour", in response to what happens with excessive Praxe practices.

Judicial proceedings

In the 2000s, the Ministry of Higher Education, Mariano Gago, was called by students who wished to see justice applied against abusers, as the institutions themselves ignored their complaints. The first case of abuse in the Praxe involving court action against 6 perpetrators, happened in 2003 at an agricultural polytechnic institution from Santarém – the Escola Agrária de Santarém of the Instituto Politécnico de Santarém involving – among other things – forced facial contact with pig excrement. Driven by a driver of the polytechnic, a van from the school was used in the process. In 2008, the students were convicted of the crimes of bodily harm and coercion. Other noted case happened in Bragança at the Escola Superior de Tecnologia e Gestão of the Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. Other case involved a female student of the Instituto Piaget, a private higher education institution – in December 2008, the court required the Instituto Piaget to pay nearly 40,000 euros to the student.

Among the sadistic practices sometimes found in praxe, specific humiliations of the freshmen by older students are the most common, such as by forcing them to perform large numbers of push ups, "kiss the ground", or stand in uncomfortable positions for prolonged amounts of time. There are also more extreme events, such as accounts of violence, for instance, when two freshmen from the University of Coimbra were assaulted by older students, which created a strong wave of criticism inside the Associação Académica de Coimbra.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=

}} In another case, eight freshmen had to hide from a mob of older students to avoid being hurt (incident which later resulted in police intervention). {{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=

}} There are also instances where sexual acts are simulated between older students and freshmen, the older students taking the form of the active participant. Not participating in the praxe also warrants consequences to the freshman in question, such as not being able to participate in praxe-related traditions and activities and being actively discriminated from academic life, as freshmen are encouraged to set aside and discriminate those who are anti-praxe.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=

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In 2001 Diogo Macedo, a 4th year Architecture student of the Universidade Lusíada of Vila Nova de Famalicão would die from wounds resulting of massive trauma to his spine which the coroner would rule as having been dealt by a blunt object during a praxe event.

Judicial proceedings would come to find that the university was guilty of not supervising such events on campus grounds and award the parents of the deceased student 90,000 euros. Two suspects were arraigned as defendants but in 2004 the case would be closed due to insufficient evidence to proceed any further.

On the night of 15 December 2013, six members of an academic troupe of the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias would drown after being caught by a rogue wave on the Meco beach with the sole survivor, João Gouveia, Dux Veteranorum of the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias of Lisbon alleging temporary amnesia regarding the events, over allegations of the students having been caught by the wave while performing a ritual related to praxe and academic tradition João Gouveia would go on to be judged as to whether he was guilty of reckless endangerment.

On 23 April 2014, during an in praxe course face off between Informatics Engineering students and Medicine students at Gualtar Campus, part of Universidade do Minho, four freshmen of Informatics Engineering climbed a 4 meter wide by one and a half meter tall concrete wall to celebrate their victory. The wall end up collapsing in a few seconds, crushing to death three other Informatics Engineering male students between the ages of 18 and 21, that were standing at the bottom. The veteran students present were accused of homicide by negligence from the Public Ministry, but end up being absolved by the Braga Court.

On the night of 23 September 2015 a female freshman of the Universidade do Algarve would end up being hospitalized in an alcoholic coma, after hazing rituals in Faro which involved burying the freshmen in the beach and forcing them to drink alcoholic beverages. After the event the university started an internal investigation to determine disciplinary procedures to those involved. The state prosecution proceeded to open an inquiry regarding the events.

Republic of Ireland

Hazing incidents are rare in the Republic of Ireland, but are known at certain elite educational institutions.

Hazing is known to occur in sports. A report on Gaelic games county players noted that 6 percent of players reported were aware of forced binge drinking as a form of hazing.

At Trinity College Dublin, an all-male society, Knights of the Campanile, was implicated in a hazing incident in 2019, where initiates were required to eat large amounts of butter. Campus newspaper The University Times was criticised for using secret recording devices to record the event. Dublin University Boat Club are also known for hazing, with rituals including consumption of alcohol, stripping to ones underwear, caning with bamboo rods, push-ups, being shouted at, standing in the rain, being tied together by shoelaces and crawling a maze while being hit with pillows. Hazing is common at Trinity sports societies and teams. Zeta Psi fraternity has a presence at Trinity as well, and some hazing has been reported.

Hazing also took place at Dublin City University's Accounting & Finance Society in 2018, where first-years standing for committee positions had to complete a variety of sexualized games. The club was suspended for a year as a result.

Russia

Many young men are killed or commit suicide every year because of dedovshchina. The New York Times reported that in 2006 at least 292 Russian soldiers were killed by dedovshchina (although the Russian military only admits that 16 soldiers were directly murdered by acts of dedovshchina and claims that the rest committed suicide). The Times states: "On Aug. 4, it was announced by the chief military prosecutor that there had been 3,500 reports of abuse already this year (2006), compared with 2,798 in 2005". The BBC meanwhile reports that in 2007, 341 soldiers committed suicide, a 15% reduction on the previous year.

Overall, the Russian state has done little to curtail dedovshchina. In 2003, on the specific issues of denial of food and poor nutrition, Deputy Minister of Defence V. Isakov denied the existence of such problems.

Since 2005, the Russian Ministry of Defence has published monthly statistics of incidents and crimes including cases of death.

Russia has changed some of the rules made in 1967. Most notably, criminals are no longer accepted into the army.

Beginning in 2007/08, the conscript service time was reduced from two years to one; dedovshchina primarily occurs when second year conscripts abuse first year conscripts so this measure is partially intended to curtail the practice.

Asia

Ragging is a practice similar to hazing in educational institutions in the Indo subcontinent. Ragging involves abuse, humiliation, or harassment of new entrants or junior students by the senior students. It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture. In 2009, the University Grants Commission of India imposed regulations upon Indian universities to help curb ragging and launched a toll-free 'anti-ragging helpline'.

It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture. In 2009, the University Grants Commission of India imposed regulations upon Indian universities to help curb ragging and launched a toll-free 'anti-ragging helpline'.

Ragging is a subset of bullying. Unlike various complex forms of bullying, ragging is easily recognisable.

Dress code ragging

The freshmen are asked to dress in a specific dress code for a particular period of time. The dress code prescribed is generally unusual, e.g. dressing completely in white or black with the hair oiled and combed in a particular style, dressing shirts that do not contain stripes, dressing long skirts for girls. Dress code ragging may make freshmen feel uncomfortable, as it often brings them unnecessary attention from everybody else. Some cases say that the juniors were also forced to carry condom packs with their penis size written on the pack mandatorily as an attempt of further abuse.

Verbal abuse

Verbal torture involves indulging in loose talks.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}} }} The freshmen may be asked to sing the lyrics of any vulgar song or use abusive language in the presence of a large number of peers. During this time, seniors assign an abusive and demeaning nickname, known as card, to the juniors and they have to be called by that name throughout their entire university life. In some universities, this nickname is changed to a less vulgar name after the ragging period. These aliases are used primarily as a means of preventing the university authorities identifying the students who are involved in ragging and other unlawful activities. The form of verbal ragging differs from one institution to another. In some universities, students have to memorize poems made up of filth and recite them in front of others. The juniors had to call seniors as sir/ma'am and in some cases the seniors are told to refer all male seniors as "Baap", i.e. father, in order to abuse the senior.

Physical abuse

The freshers are asked to do various tasks, such as sit-ups or push-ups, sitting in the murga pose, being forced to address seniors as 'sir'/'ma'am' , or removing their shirts. On an attempt to resist carrying out the activities, they may beat the fresher with bats or slap them.

Though, in India, if a complaint is lodged against that senior, he/she (and others who were present that time) will be given a strict punishment such as expulsion from university, imprisonment for a year etc.

Sexual abuse

The freshers, mostly the male juniors, were often made to strip all their clothes and stand naked in front of their seniors and are entitled to other kind of sexual abuse as well. Several reports present that boys were often made completely naked in hostels in the name of ragging and ice-breaking. Earlier times reported boys being completely naked at public places as well like railway stations as a part of ragging which is very humiliating. Other kinds of sexual abuse also used to happen. Some answers on Quora says that boys were forced to drink urine, swallow semen, masturbate and much more sexually abusive and humiliating things under the name of ragging.

Academic performance

The seniors may attempt to harass or threaten the junior to complete their assignments, bunk classes, not to take part in any activities or be a part of clubs related to politics etc. But sometimes reverse is done by not letting freshers to do any academic related activity except for attending lectures during university hours which is said to be in order to prepare the freshers for heavier workloads during their upcoming years.

Although it comes under extreme cases of ragging and on complaint will lead to strict punishment to the seniors.

Ragging is a subset of bullying. Unlike various complex forms of bullying, ragging is easily recognisable. Ragging involves existing students baiting or bullying new students. It often takes a malignant form wherein the newcomers may be subjected to psychological or physical torture.

In 2009 the University Grants Commission of India imposed regulations upon Indian universities to help curb ragging, and launched a toll-free 'anti ragging helpline'. The effectiveness of these measures are unknown; many accused of ragging freshmen are either let out with a warning or saved from legal action by political or caste lobbyists.

Although ragging is a criminal offense in Sri Lanka under the Prohibition of Ragging and other Forms of Violence in Educational institutions Act, No. 20 of 1998 and carries a severe punishment, several variations of ragging can be observed in universities around the country. Through the years this practice has worsened to all types of violence including sexual violence, harassment and has also claimed the lives of several students. The university grants commission of Sri Lanka, have set up several pathways to report ragging incidents, including a special office, helpline and a mobile app where students can make a complaint anonymously or seek help.

Philippines

According to R. Dayao, hazing, usually in initiation rites of fraternities, has a long history in the Philippines, and has been a source of public controversy after many cases that resulted to death of the neophyte. The first recorded death due to hazing in the Philippines was recorded in 1954, with the death of Gonzalo Mariano Albert. Hazing was regulated under the Anti-Hazing Act of 1995, after the death of Leonardo Villa in 1991, but many cases, usually causing severe injury or death, continued even after it was enacted, the latest involving Darwin Dormitorio, a 20-year old Cadet 4th Class from the Philippine Military Academy.

India

Ragging has become increasingly unpopular in India due to several complaints of serious injury to the victims and stringent laws pertaining to ragging. At the national level, ragging is currently defined as: "Any act of physical or mental abuse (including bullying and exclusion) targeted at another student (fresher or otherwise) on the ground of colour, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, gender (including transgender), sexual orientation, appearance, nationality, regional origins, linguistic identity, place of birth, place of residence or economic background." Following Supreme Court orders, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline was launched by the Indian government.

A high-level committee in 2009, which probed the death of Aman Kachroo, revealed that alcohol was the main reason leading to serious form of ragging and violence in the campus.

A report from 2007 highlights 42 instances of physical injury, and reports on ten deaths purportedly the result of ragging. Ragging has reportedly caused at least 30 deaths in the last seven years. In 2007, approximately seven ragging deaths have been reported. In addition, a number of freshmen were severely traumatised to the extent that they were admitted to mental institutions.

Ragging in India commonly involves serious abuses and clear violations of human rights. Often media reports and others unearth that it goes on, in many institutions, in the infamous Abu Ghraib style, and on innocent victims.

However, the Anti-Ragging NGO Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) has supported that ragging is also widely and dangerously prevalent in engineering and other institutions, mainly in the hostels.

Anti-Ragging Helpline and anonymous complaints

Following a Supreme Court order, a National Anti-Ragging Helpline was created to help the victims and take action in cases of ragging, by informing the head of the institution and the local police authorities of the ragging complaint from the college. The main feature of the helpline is that the complaints can be registered anonymously.

India's National Anti-Ragging Helpline started working in June 2009 to help students in distress due to ragging. It can be reached through email and a 24-hour toll-free number. Provision for anonymous complaints was considered of utmost important at the time of establishment of the helpline, since the victim after making the complaint remains with or close to the culprits, away from a fully secure environment. Since many ragging deaths, like Aman Kachroo's, occurred due to seniors taking a revenge of the complaint made, anonymous complaints were equally allowed at the helpline.

As per UGC regulations, it is mandatory for a college to register an F.I.R.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}} }} with police against the culprits if any violence, physical abuse, sexual harassment, confinement etc. takes place with any fresher. After receiving any such complaint from the helpline, it becomes the duty of the head of the institution to register the F.I.R. with police within 24 hours. In 2013, a police case was registered against the director, dean and registrar of a reputed college in Delhi for, among other charges, not informing the police and registering F.I.R. within 24 hours of receiving the ragging complaint. (failing to inform a public authority, IPC 176).

The database of the Anti-Ragging Helpline indicates that it has been to an extent successful in ensuring a safer environment in colleges from where it registered the complaints. In many cases, it forwarded the complaint to the University Grants Commission (UGC) for an action against those colleges which refused to take any action against the culprits.^{[citation needed]}

Legislation

In 1997, the state of Tamil Nadu first passed laws related to ragging. Subsequently, a major boost to anti-ragging efforts was given by a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court of India in May 2001, in response to a Public Interest Litigation filed by the Vishwa Jagriti Mission.

Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999

In 1999, the Government of Maharashtra enacted the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1999 to prohibit ragging which it defines as the:

Display of disorderly conduct, doing of any act which causes or is likely to cause physical or psychological harm or raise apprehension or fear or shame or embarrassment to a student in any educational institution and includes— (i) teasing, abusing, threatening or playing practical jokes on, or causing hurt to, such student ; or (ii) asking a student to do any act or perform something which such student will not, in the ordinary course, willingly, do. Template:Cite act

The objective of the act is to create a framework to establish ragging as a criminal act, and lay out possible punishments under the law. Section 4 of the Act states:

"Whoever directly or indirectly commits, participates in, abets or propagates ragging within or outside any educational institution shall, on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and shall also be liable to a fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees."Template:Cite act

Students who have been convicted under this act may also be dismissed from their educational institution, and not be allowed to enroll in any other educational institution for five years. In addition, the act lays out a procedure by which education institutions should handle accusations of ragging, with suspension of the accused student(s) and investigation of the allegations, and holds those institutions accountable if they fail to act in the manner described. Under Section 7 of the Act, the head of the institution who fails or neglects to properly investigate such allegations :"shall be deemed to have abetted the offense of ragging and shall, on conviction, be punished as provided for in section 4", Template:Cite act In other words, the school principal, chancellor, or other head faces the same punishment as a student who has been accused and convicted under this law.

It was applied in 2013, and resulted in the suspension of six students from Rajiv Gandhi Medical College in Mumbai. The most notable case in which it has been applied is the Suicide of Payal Tadvi, in which three senior medical students were charged under this act as well as under the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and the Information Technology Act, 2000. The charge-sheet filed by the Mumbai Police alleges that the ragging in this case consisted of harassment, humiliation, and discrimination, which directly led to her suicide. Since 2018, at the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, the University which supervises the Topiwala National Medical College where Payal Tadvi studied, six of seven accusations of ragging could not proven. In 2010, 18 students at the Seth GS Medical College were arrested and charged with ragging under the Act.

In 2015, L.K. Kshirsagar, principle of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering, was arrested and charged under Section 7 of the Act, for failing to investigate and neglecting his duties under the law, in a case involving three students who had been accused of ragging the previous year.

In June 2019, after the suicide of Payal Tadvi, there were calls to strengthen the anti-ragging laws to check anti-caste bias. The law itself does not mention caste-based discrimination or other specific forms of bias.

Central Government and Supreme Court Legislation

The Indian Supreme Court has taken a strong stand to prevent ragging. In 2006, the court directed the H.R.D. Ministry of the Govt. of India to form a panel which will suggest guidelines to control ragging.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), following a directive by the Supreme Court, appointed a seven-member panel headed by former CBI director Dr. R. K. Raghavan to recommend anti-ragging measures. The Raghavan Committee report, submitted to the court in May 2007, includes a proposal to include ragging as a special section under the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court of India interim order (based on the recommendations) dated 16 May 2007 makes it obligatory for academic institutions to file official First Information Reports with the police in any instance of a complaint of ragging. This would ensure that all cases would be formally investigated under the criminal justice system, and not by the academic institutions' own ad-hoc bodies.

Welcoming the Supreme Court's judgment on ragging, Dr. Raghavan said, "there are finally signs that the recommendations to prevent ragging in colleges will be taken seriously".

In 2007, the Supreme Court directed that all the higher educational institutions should include information about all the ragging incidents in their brochures/prospectus of admission.

2009 UGC Regulation

In 2009, in the wake of Aman Kachroo's death, the University Grants Commission (UGC) passed UGC regulation on curbing ragging in higher educational institutions. These regulation mandate every college responsibilities to curb ragging, including strict pre-emptive measures, like lodging freshers in a separate hostel, surprise raids at night by the anti-ragging squad and submission of affidavits by all senior students and their parents taking oath not to indulge in ragging.

Subsequently, UGC has made few amendments to the Regulation. As per these,

1. It is no longer required to get the verification of the affidavit done by an oath commissioner.
2. The definition of ragging is updated to read: "Any act of physical or mental abuse (including bullying and exclusion) targeted at another student (fresher or otherwise) on the ground of colour, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, gender (including transgender), sexual orientation, appearance, nationality, regional origins, linguistic identity, place of birth, place of residence or economic background."

Anti-ragging movement in India

With the situation of ragging worsening yearly, there is emerging a spontaneous anti-ragging movement in India. Several voluntary organisations have emerged, who conduct drives for public awareness and arrange for support to victims.

Online groups like Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), Stopragging, No Ragging Foundation became the major anti-ragging groups on the Internet. Among them, the No Ragging Foundation has transformed into a complete NGO and got registered as Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) which is India's first registered anti-ragging nonprofit organisation (NGO).

The Indian media has exposed ragging incidents and the indifference of many concerned institutions towards curbing the act. The Supreme Court of India has directed, in its interim judgement, that action may be taken against negligent institutions.

Sri Lanka

There is no record to suggest that ragging is an indigenous phenomenon or was present in the ancient Sri Lankan educational institutions such as Mahavihara or Abhayagiri Vihara. It is widely considered to have been introduced during the post-World War II era. Sri Lankan soldiers returning from war re-entered the college educational system and brought with them the tradition and techniques of military style ragging. These techniques were used in the military as a mechanism of breaking down an individual so that success was achieved through team effort rather than personal goals or motivation. As fewer military persons entered the universities, ragging devolved into a violent and hazardous exercise that has been largely utilized for political purposes and thuggery.

Ragging continues in most government universities and several private institutions with some efforts being made to contain the problem although there is hesitation from administrations to get involved. These efforts have been largely hindered by students themselves who consider ragging as a rite of passage. The creation of 'safe spaces' and travelling in larger groups are just some techniques employed by a growing movement of students trying to combat ragging.

Traditionally, ragging would entail seniors mocking or jeering at freshers within a dedicated period of time – usually the first few months of an undergraduate's university life. This period is known as the 'ragging period'. In Sri Lanka, several variations of ragging can be observed.

Ragging has been frequently associated with a broad spectrum of physical, behavioral, emotional and social problems among victims and is attributed to the increased risk of suicide and drop-outs among students attending Sri Lankan universities. Ragging at private universities and higher education institutes are at a minimum as compared to government universities which has prompted many students with financial means to enroll in private establishments. Ragging is not merely a sociolegal problem and has a certain psychological basis too. Many senior students state they do not wish to rag juniors but succumb to peer pressure. On the other hand, although some new students or freshers enjoyed being ragged by their seniors, other students despised it. Following their ragging they did not even wish to talk to the senior students who subjected them to "inhumane mental and physical torture".

Major incidents

• In 1974, ragging of trainee mathematics teachers at the then Vidyalankara University (now University of Kelaniya) prompted Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike's Government to appoint V. W. Kularatne Commission to probe the incident. As a result, 12 undergraduates were expelled and four officials were penalized for their failure to take appropriate action. This was the first major step taken against university ragging by a Sri Lankan government.
• In 1975, the University of Peradeniya reported the first ragging-related death when a 22-year-old female student of the Faculty of Agriculture, Rupa Rathnaseeli became paralyzed as a result of jumping from the second floor of the hostel Ramanathan Hall to escape the physical ragging carried out by her seniors. It was reported that she was about to be sexually penetrated by a foreign object as part of the ragging initiation – she jumped out of the hostel building to escape the abuse. Rupa Rathnaseeli committed suicide in 2002.
• Prasanga Niroshana, a student from Hakmana, died as a result of undisclosed injuries he sustained from ragging at the School of Agriculture, Angunakolapallassa.^[a]
• In 1997, 21-year-old S. Varapragash, an engineering student of University of Peradeniya, died from kidney failure following severe ragging by senior students.
• In 1997, Kelum Thushara Wijetunge, a first-year student at the Hardy Technical institute in Ampara, died from kidney failure after he was forced to do tough exercises and drink excessive quantities of liquor.
• In 2002, Samantha Vithanage, a third-year management student at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, who pioneered an anti-ragging campaign, was killed at a meeting while in a discussion on ragging after being surrounded by a mob of 200, being struck with shards of glass, & then having a computer monitor dropped on his head— resulting in his death 2 days later.
• In 2006, Prof. Chandima Wijebandara, the vice-chancellor of University of Sri Jayewardenepura, resigned from his post as a result of students failing to comply with his orders to eliminate ragging from the university.
• In 2014, the body of a student, D. K. Nishantha, was found hanging from a tree within the premises of the University of Peradeniya, in a shrubbery area located not far from the Marcus Fernando Boys' Hostel. According to police reports, the young man had been a witness to the sexual assault of his friend which took place in 2010, perpetrated by several other students residing in the dorm. Police stated that D. K. Nishantha had not attended the university since the time of the alleged sex abuse case. The death was later ruled a suicide.
• In 2015, a 23-year-old student of the Sabaragamuwa University, Amali Chathurika suicide due to ragging
• In 2019, Dilhan Wijesinghe a 23-year-old student of the University of Moratuwa committed suicide due to ragging. He was previously studying in the University of Jaffna where he was subjected to physical ragging and then received a transfer to the University of Moratuwa. Unfortunately the ragging at the University of Moratuwa was more severe and he could no longer tolerate the ragging and committed suicide.

Legal framework

The human rights of citizens of Sri Lanka are protected in terms of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka which is the supreme law in the country. According to this Constitution, any citizen can produce a petition to the Supreme Court in terms of the article 126 of the Constitution in case of a human right violation or a case closer to the infringement. The Constitution further highlights ruthless, brutal or contemptuous treatment to any party by another as a violation of human rights. University students are also considered as citizens and are subjugated to the Common Law that prevails in the country. Accordingly, the constitutional constrains specified above are equally applicable to university students. Any form of civil or criminal offence executed by them are liable to be punished and in an instance of violation of such rights committed by university students, they shall be produced before the relevant court and subject to suitable punishment that followed by the trial. After the series of ragging-related incidents happened in 1997, Prohibition of Ragging and Other Forms of Violence in Educational Institutions Act, No. 20 of 1998 was passed in the Sri Lankan parliament. As specified in the detailed note of the Act, it is identified as an Act to eliminate ragging and other forms of violent and cruel inhuman and degrading treatment from educational institutions. The Act specifies the relevant Higher Educational Institutions coming under the Act and that includes all the Higher Educational Institutions established under the Universities Act No. 16 of 1978.

Anti-ragging movement

Unlike in India, there is no official anti-ragging movement in Sri Lanka. But with the situation of ragging worsening yearly, there is a spontaneously emerging anti-ragging movement in each and every faculty of the universities that ragging exists. In the case of University of Peradeniya, the largest university in Sri Lanka, anti-ragging movement emerged in the year 1996. Prior to that, there was no movement against ragging, but certain individuals managed escape from the ragging. In the meantime, anti-ragging movements started to appear in all other universities. Several faculties in several universities have become rag-free due to these movements, strengthened laws as well as practical difficulties in conducting ragging such as not providing accommodation facilities to the first-year students. Internal clashes have erupted several times due to the friction between ragging and anti-ragging movements, best example being Samantha Vithanage, a third-year management student at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, who pioneered an anti-ragging campaign that was killed at a meeting while in a discussion about ragging. The higher education minister at the time, S. B. Dissanayake, stressed that firm action will be taken against those who are found guilty of such activities in future and would be expelled from the university. In December 2011, he claimed that the levels of ragging has gone down drastically in the recent times and "only Peradeniya and Ruhuna are still affected by this 'malaiseTemplate:'".

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Aman, Reinhold (ed.). Maledicta 12. Maledicta Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0916500320
• Cialdini, Robert. Influence: Science and Practice. Allyn & Bacon, 2000. ISBN 978-0321011473
• Nuwer, Hank. Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking. Indiana University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0253214980
• Nuwer, Hank (ed.). The Hazing Reader. Indiana University Press, 2004. ISBN 0253216540
• Sweet, Stephen. College and Society: An Introduction to the Sociological Imagination. Pearson, 2001. ISBN 978-0205305568

• Reeves, Madeleine. Border Work: Spatial Lives of the State in Rural Central Asia (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014), 184–197. 

• Jones, Ricky L. (2004). Black haze: violence, sacrifice, and manhood in Black Greek-letter fraternities. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-5976-8. 
• Kimbrough, Walter M. (2003). Black Greek 101. London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 978-0-8386-4024-1. 

• (2008) Black Greek-letter organizations in the twenty-first century. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2491-9. 

External links

All links retrieved

• Hazing at Cornell
• Stop Hazing

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