Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Education on street harassment in Delhi, India

By

This guest blog post is written by Parul with Jagori/Safe Delhi, in Delhi, India.

Discussion on the gendering of public spaces

The first day of The Global Anti Street Harassment Week 2012 was marked by an extensive discussion on the gendering of public spaces. Students from the Department of Human Development [at Delhi University] shared their personal experiences of ‘Gender’ as an identity that impacts their choices and opportunities to live equally in the city. The students deliberated on gaps in service provisions, like public toilets or well lit parks to also talking about the role of larger society to create an enabling environment for all.

Safe Delhi performances

With the remark that safety is a woman’s right to the city, the students undertook a ‘class to class campaign’, sharing with other students the message against sexual

harassment on streets and also sharing some emergency helpline numbers for women.

Two days later, an open lawn discussion with girls from Lady Sri Ram College for Women on ‘Reclaiming of Public Spaces’ occurred. There was an interesting discussion on the factors that make a place safe and unsafe.

A street play by the students on homosexuality marked the beginning of the discussion. The girls then shared a poster on ‘Helpline numbers’ in Delhi with their fellow students.

Other activities occurring so far include a photography competition on the topic the “Right to a Safe and Inclusive City” as well as online activities.

Share

“Kick them straight in the balls”

By

This is part of the advice that Shiraz Singh (the woman on the right) gives her daughter when faced with aggressive street harassers.

Watch as women like Singh in Delhi, India, one of the least safe cities for women in the world, explain how they defend themselves against street harassers in a New York Times video (there is an accompanying article, too).

Share

Anti-Harassment Petition: Please Mend the Gap

By

Harassment on public transportation is rampant. In Delhi, India, it’s no different. To address the harassment, many governments around the world have instituted women-only subway cars and buses (usually only during rush hour and without offering them often enough or in enough volume for all women to use them). The Delhi metro system is one example. The segregation is not working, however, and the harassment is as bad as ever. The Please Mend the Gap campaign is trying to change that.

Via an online petition site the organizers write:

“We believe that a majority of women do not feel safe while travelling in the Delhi Metro. We have spoken to a cross-section of Metro commuters who have shared with us their experiences most of which include instances of verbal and physical harassment mostly faced by women, specifically in the women’s-only compartment.

In fact, a few days ago, some of the members of our group who were traveling at night observed that the women’s-only compartment was populated with men who had occupied almost all the seats forcing the women to stand, leaving them with no choice but to actively demand the seats they were entitled to. The men were unapologetic and dismissive. Most shrugged off the women’s protest by claiming falsely that the women’s-only compartment turns general post 9 p.m..

Women who choose to travel in the general compartment are also harassed. There have been many instances where men have told women that they are not welcome in this compartment and should use the compartment reserved for them. This attitude has become so deeply entrenched in commuters’ mindsets that most accidentally refer to the general compartment as the ‘men’s compartment’. There have been times when authorities have driven out men from the women’s-only compartments, but without having imposed any fine whatsoever.”

Already, Please Mend the Gap activists spearheaded a flash mob on the metro to raise awareness about the issue. On June 1, they launched a petition with 10 demands for the transportation authorities to fulfill in order to make the system safer, and harassment free. The petition reads:

We the commuters on the Delhi Metro have the following suggestions to make to ensure a safer, friendlier and more respectable environment for women within the Metro premises.

1. Ensure regular announcement inside the Metro train and within the Metro stations stating categorically that, “Any person involved in, assisting in, or indulging in any activity that outrages a woman’s modesty, including but not limited to molesting and eve-teasing, will be punished with imprisonment and/or fine. The announcement should clearly state the Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code under which sexual harassment is a punishable crime.

2. Announcements like, “Men entering the women’s compartment will be fined Rs. 250,” should be made at regular intervals on the public announcement systems. Spot fines should be collected by DMRC Staff posted at the Metro Stations from men caught travelling in the women’s compartment.

3. Adequate training should be given to DMRC staff and CISF personnel stationed at platforms in handling of such cases with specific focus to sensitize the DMRC staff to handle victims with greater care and concern.

4. Every Metro Station should have at least one lady officer who is specially trained and equipped to handle such cases including registration of such offences, counseling the victim and the like.

5. The current system where one has to go to Kashmere Gate to file a FIR for cases related to the metro needs to be decentralized urgently. Every metro station should have a complaint cell conveniently and prominently located within the premises of the metro station and should be able to handle/register cases for the entire duration for which the metro runs daily, i.e. between 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. A system should also be evolved whereby the metro helpdesk/officials assist the victim in registering any case successfully.

6. Information Boards should be installed at every Metro station at strategic locations, such as near the ticketing counter, with detailed directions for lodging a complaint against an instance of harassment as well as emergency contact numbers of Delhi Metro officials, laws against molestation and other necessary information.

7. CCTVs must be installed inside the Metro compartments and information on how to procure CCTV footage, if and when required, should be made available to commuters at the earliest.

8. A section of the advertisement space available inside the Metro should be compulsorily reserved for displaying information relating to the legal assistance available to victims of molestation and harassment and remedies for the same.

9. The DMRC ought to provide details of helpline numbers and contact numbers/email addresses of important Metro authorities in the Metro Map Brochure and also inside the Metro train so that commuters are aware of the same and can contact the required persons in times of emergency. It has been brought to our notice by various commuters that some of the numbers are not functional. It is the prerogative of the authorities to ensure the helpline numbers are functional and are consistently monitored for efficiency and efficacy.

10. The DMRC ought to monitor, review and increase security arrangements and make authorities more accountable for lapses in security. It is our earnest request that our above demands be heard and implemented by the concerned authorities at the earliest. This will go a long way in ensuring that women feel safe commuting by the Delhi Metro and in fulfilling the DMRC’s mission of providing world-class service to the citizens of Delhi. This petition is drafted and supported by ‘PLEASE MEND THE GAP’, a citizen- led initiative to promote gender equality and commuter safety in public spaces.

Sign the petition and join their Facebook page for more updates on their campaign.

Share

“We have sent a Man to the Moon, and Women walk around with Mace in their handbags”

By

Lets see what have we done.

We’ve come a long way. Man on the moon, Satellite in space, heart transplants, liver transplants, all possible.

And yet, when we walk on the road, we do not look at each other, nod and smile.

When was the last time you walked to the market and smiled and nodded to every woman you met on the way?

You simply don’t. Men have done so much street harassment that each woman walking on the street, going to work, driving to work, going to the market, going shopping or simply going for a walk thinks that the man coming in front of her will pass a remark or stare at her breasts or try to at least brush past her.

And it is not unfair to say that men have earned this tag of being synonyms of harassers. It is a badge we have earned over the years after having stared at the breasts of almost every woman we pass by on the street.

Take a minute. Read this. Sit down. Think.

When was the last time your wife/daughter/sister went on a public transport and came back without even a single strange male trying to touch her indecently.

When was the last time you yourself were on a bus/train and saw some random man try and get close to a random woman and you made an effort to raise a voice against that man?

Most probably, you just turned the other way around and thought to yourself this happens everyday.

When was the last time you stood in the aisle while in a bus or a train and did NOT try to peek inside the shirt of the woman sitting on the seats?

Men must realize that every action they do nonchalantly does hurt the sentiments of someone a lot. We have created this whole big mess for ourselves wherein just because we do not speak out against injustice happening on the streets in the form of harassment we too get stressed. Every time the wife of the daughter goes out she has a story to tell when she gets back home. We have started this. We must come forward together as one to stop it.

We must educate the boy child from the very beginning that it is not alright to stare at random woman on the street. We must teach them to respect the fairer sex as much as they would respect a their own mothers. It’s not alright to pass remarks to woman on the street/bus/train/park & everywhere else. All woman are not their honey/sweetheart/sweetie.

Walk on the streets like you would expect other men to walk when your wife/daughter/sister is out walking alone. Seriously men, women’s breasts are not museum exhibits. It’s not alright to stare. It’s not alright to stare down their shirts. It’s not alright to turn back while walking and ogle at their waists and hips. It’s not alright to whistle. It’s not alright to pass remarks. They are NOT your honey. And no, she will not suck you or have sex with you or sit on your lap. Please keep your organs inside your pants. If you cannot control your urges, go help yourselves. Do not expect every random woman on the street to jump in the sack with you. They are not your playthings. Come together as one, reach out, voice out against street harassment. A little effort from all of us can go a long way in ensuring the women can feel safe on the street. It has to be a collective effort. One man alone cannot do it.

But you have to stop staring and ogling. You have to start re-thinking your actions. There is a very thin line between a gentle flirtatious glance and a stare that would make someone uncomfortable. If you don’t get the difference between the both of them, please do neither and help keep some women’s sanity intact.

Do we realize what have we done to this world? We have sent a Man to the Moon, and the Woman walk around with Mace in their handbags.

I would suggest, let’s send all the men to the Moon. At least Mace would be able to concentrate on manufacturing other toys that kids could use.

– @TbgDgc in Delhi, India

Visit his blog at: Desi Ghee and Coffee

This post is part of the weekly blog series by male allies. We need men involved in the work to end the social acceptability of street harassment and to stop the practice, period. If you’d like to contribute to this weekly series, please contact me.
Share

Nonconfrontational intervention to stop eve-teasing in Delhi

By

Nai Sadak Book Market

It was the start of 3rd semester when I, with one of my friends, went to Nai Sadak to buy some of our course books. For those who don’t know, Nai Sadak is a well known and famous place in Delhi, India. You can find all course books there. While returning back to Chandni Chowk Metro Station we took a short cut. The short cut was quite remote, which we realized later.

We took a right turn and 5-6 meters ahead of us was walking a girl, constantly being followed by 2 local boys who were passing lewd remarks on her. Unaware of us, time to time they were making comment steep on the chart of lewdness. She was holding a poly-bag in her right hand and a bag was on her shoulder, seems she too was there to shop for books.

While walking by something shot into my solitude. This is eve-teasing, right? I questioned myself. I’ve read about it but never faced any situation quite like this.

“How should I stop it?” was the next question.

I told it to my friend, he too was concern. We cannot fight them like this. We needed to figure out something diplomatic. And that was the time when an idea struck into my mind.

We hurriedly went to the girl, passing by the boys, and started walking by her sides. At first she didn’t notice, perhaps because she was busy in figuring out how to get out of the mess she was in. Soon she noticed the halt in lewd remarks and two fellows walking along her sides and joking on their school life. The boys following her were still following us. I think it was instincts more than understanding that the girl realized that we were there just to help.

I passed a smile to her and she returned it back. Within no time we reached Metro Station. Not saying much she thanked us for our help. We parted our ways. She went off to catch a bus while we took  the Metro.

This was the first time I ever took such a step and perhaps the first time I ever saw eve-teasing and dared to intervene before it could turn ugly.

India is a country of freedom but freedom is at times taken in a sense of “Free-To-Do-Anything”.

– Prateek Bagri

Location: Delhi, India

Share your street harassment story today and help raise awareness about the problem. Find suggestions for what YOU can do about this human rights issue.

Share