• About Us
    • What Is Street Harassment?
    • Why Stopping Street Harassment Matters
    • Meet the Team
      • Board of Directors
      • Past Board Members
    • In The Media
  • Our Work
    • National Street Harassment Hotline
    • International Anti-Street Harassment Week
    • Blog Correspondents
      • Past SSH Correspondents
    • Safe Public Spaces Mentoring Program
    • Publications
    • National Studies
    • Campaigns against Companies
    • Washington, D.C. Activism
  • Our Books
  • Donate
  • Store

Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Harassment Stories
    • Blog Correspondents
    • Street Respect Stories
  • Help & Advice
    • National Street Harassment Hotline
    • Dealing With Harassers
      • Assertive Responses
      • Reporting Harassers
      • Bystander Responses
      • Creative Responses
    • What to Do Before or After Harassment
    • Street Harassment and the Law
  • Resources
    • Definitions
    • Statistics
    • Articles & Books
    • Anti-Harassment Groups & Campaigns
    • Male Allies
      • Educating Boys & Men
      • How to Talk to Women
      • Bystander Tips
    • Video Clips
    • Images & Flyers
  • Take Community Action
  • Contact

Public Debate Needed in India Re: Eve Teasing

June 23, 2009 By HKearl

Today I read more about the idiotic ban of certain clothing for women in colleges in Uttar Pradesh, India, as an effort to combat “eve teasing” by men there. Via the Telegraph:

“The ban has now been extended to colleges throughout the state and has caused outrage among student groups and women’s rights campaigners who say girls are being blamed for encouraging sexual harassment. The list of ‘vulgar’ clothes which the colleges claim can provoke sexual assaults include sleeveless blouses, tight tops, miniskirts and high-heeled shoes, as well as jeans. Instead, girls should wear traditional saris or kurta pyjamas – long baggy shirts and trousers to conceal their curves…’A dress code would check eve-teasing to some extent and also ensure that girls don’t waste their time selecting what clothes to wear. If girls wore salwar-kurta or Indian clothes, cases of sexual harassment near college campuses would decrease,'” (said Meeta Jamal, Principal Dayanand College, a woman).

Many women are not standing for this:

“The comments were fiercely rejected by the campaign group Blank Noise, which organises street protests against ‘eve-teasers.’

Jasmeen Patheja, a spokeswoman for the group, said the principals had reinforced the old fashioned view that ‘women are asking for it’ by wearing provocative clothes…

She said her group’s extensive research, including a campaign to persuade women to send them the clothes they were wearing when they were sexually harassed, had shown that ‘eve-teasers’ picked on conservatively-dressed women in traditional Indian outfits just as much as those in Western clothes.

The All-India Democratic Women’s Association said it was planning a series of demonstrations against the ban, which it described as ‘dictatorial’ and ‘unconstitutional.’

College and university officials say there has been an increase in ‘eve-teasing’ – which covers a range of behaviour from unwanted flirting to serious sexual assault.

Campaigners say the increase reflects rapid social change in India, where young, educated middle-class women are enjoying greater personal freedom – choosing careers, drinking in bars, and dating without family chaperones…

Ms Patheja said the college principals were wrong to shift the responsibility for eve-teasing from the male perpetrators to the female victims. She said India needs a public debate on the difference between sexual harassment and ‘acceptable ways of wooing.’

Yay Blank Noise & the All-India Democratic Women’s Association for standing up to the idiocy!

Share

Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: banning clothing, banning jeans, Blank Noise, Dayanand College, eve teasing, Jasmeen Patheja, Meeta Jamal, sexual harassment, street harassment

Comments

  1. administrator says

    June 23, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    related article: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/college-principals-body-now-bans-mobile-phones-jeans-for-girls/480125/

  2. beckie Weinheimer says

    June 24, 2009 at 7:05 am

    Jeans? High Heels? What are they doing going back to the dark ages?

    This is horrible!

  3. Sohan says

    September 18, 2009 at 10:44 am

    Indeed, the line between wooing and harrassment can be quite blurred in a country where wooing in many films is simply a man chasing a woman around, with hordes of his buddies, singing to and pestering her, until she comes around to him in the end of the song. Lesson: if a woman is annoyed by your advances, just annay her some more to show her how much you “love” her.

Share Your Story

Share your street harassment story for the blog. Donate Now

From the Blog

  • #MeToo 2024 Study Released Today
  • Join International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2022
  • Giving Tuesday – Fund the Hotline
  • Thank You – International Anti-Street Harassment Week 2021
  • Share Your Story – Safecity and Catcalls Collaboration

Buy the Book

Search

Archives

  • September 2024
  • March 2022
  • November 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • January 2021
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008

Comment Policy

SSH will not publish any comment that is offensive or hateful and does not add to a thoughtful discussion of street harassment. Racism, homophobia, transphobia, disabalism, classism, and sexism will not be tolerated. Disclaimer: SSH may use any stories submitted to the blog in future scholarly publications on street harassment.
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Join Us
  • Donate
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 Stop Street Harassment · Website Design by Sarah Marie Lacy