As a dad of two daughters I feel very sad about eve-teasing, sexual abuses etc. This is a wonderful project. My heart felt so heavy when I read these experiences by girls some of them too young to experience these shameful acts.
Thanks to Divya of Best of Desi for writing about it and bringing it to my notice.
8 comments:
I think Blank Noise is just making noises. What we have to think about is not doing some publicity stunt like BNP people do, but finding the effective way to cure this. Do you think men who does this don't know that its a humiliation or a serious crime? Or the victims do not know that this is a serious issue?
Jo I do not agree with your view. The men do this just because, the victim cannot do anything - men feel that they are more powerful than women and can get away with whatever they are doing. How many families want to raise a voice against these atrocities? At least these people are making some noise about it. We (men) may not understand what they are going through just like many African Americans feel here in US. The blacks always say the discrimination and antipathy can be felt only when you live as a Black. Let us not bash it. At least let us support it.
hello jo, atleast one thing bnp is doing and that is letting the world know that there are lot of women who face thsi problem..
Second thing, by letting a girl like me know that there are other girls out there like me, who have suffered and yet dare evryday, it gives me confidence, and doesn't make me feel ashamed of myself...
so it isnt; just noice....
I had no idea the problem is so big. Thank you for sharing this.
JO - The men who do this ...should realize that their mothers, sisters and daughters are also women. Noise or not..this has to start somewhere. With that in mind what's wrong in supporting them?
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Ambi - I agree - Most women don't report it..and blame it on our culture...they don't want to make it big. Also..whom to report to? When the cops don't do anything about it??
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Monu - Sorry to hear that!
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Idea S - Hmm..what can I say. What did you think??
>> Ambi: I am surprised that you say we need something like BNP to make people aware that eve-teasing is happening. Because atleast 90% knows about it from a very young age. Men and women. Most of the youngsters have faced eve-teasing and all the worst forms of it from their very young age. When I was a boy, I had to face pedophiles publically. There were boys in the same age who were sexuall assaulted by senior women. By cousins, friends of their sisters, neighbors etc. No, am not referring to a sleazy porn movie. Both men and women face this from a very young age. Men do not face it after a certain age though. So its not about 'making them aware of it'.
To me, the BNP street intervention and blog-a-thon contest all sounds like a publicity stunt. I again stress on my point that people are aware (atleast the majority of them, in any age) of this social evil. So making noise is not the solution. This is time to prepare women to do something about it. Not just doing a ramp show kinda thing in the sub-ways or shopping malls. Putting up the photo of the perpetrator in the Internet would be a good idea in the USA, consdering that most of their population (literate, or not) are intense Internet users. Perhaps you can consult with someone to know what percentage of the Indian population are into Internet and if any of these men
The BNP project might have started off with well intentions, but look at their posts like this. It has really turned out to be a noise making urbanistic machine and nothing else. What do they "effectively" do for the women and girls who commute by daily trains, buses, or walking on the roads, being in the crowded places etc? I am laughing as I am typing this - imagining these girls waste their time standing in the subways 'wearing what they want' like doing a stage drama, hoping this is going to eliminate eve-teasing, as it is 'not a oublically known thing' !!!!)
Oh and well, I have four sisters, just to let you know that am not being ignorant in this case. :-) We have to think about the "effective" ways to solve this issue.
PS: You can read my post on BNP and another thoughtful blog post here.
hi narayan
ungal blogai indru daan kandaen. you have some good posts in it.
eve teasing oru level mael pogum bodu daan ithanai kodumaigal. naanum oru pennirku thagappan aagi irukkaen (7 months back). ill come back to read your posts.
ive just started to blog casually. pass on ur comments when u get time at
kittu-mama-solraan.blogspot.com
thanks everyone! I got here by sheer chance and am truly enjoying the discusion above.
Here's my late contribution-
Jo, if you strongly believe that this is a publicity stunt, so be it. The only thing i can offer you is an invite to come work with us and then hold onto your opinion.
As for why women dont report- there could be a number of reasons
1. that they dont know its a criminal offence.
2. its subtle- how does a woman say that it was just in the way she was ogled at that she was sexually harassed- where is the proof? and street sexual harassment is intangible.
3.its only 'eve teasing'- a joke or a prank- nothing serious- just something that happens everyday.
4.somewhere she believes that its her fault if she experienced it- embedded values- ' i asked for it.'
5.they dont have faith in the system- report- fir- court- it is a long tedious process..
6.?
any others ?
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