Stop Street Harassment

Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming

Street harassment snapshot: January 16, 2011

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Image from The City Fix

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New police initiatives in Delhi to deal with rise in reports of eve-teasing, rape

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Women’s reports of rape and molestation rose in Delhi during 2010. In response, this week the Delhi police force held a press conference to announce several new initiatives to make the city safer for women.

Via Sify News, here are what the initiatives include:

  1. All Police Control Room (PCR) vans had been ordered to help stranded women at night and women “in distress” can call 100 and get dropped off at the nearest safe spot.
  2. PCR vans with women police officers will be deployed around women’s colleges and schools.
  3. There will be a women’s help desk at all police stations, managed by women officers.
  4. Women police beat staff have been deployed in areas prone to crime against women.
  5. A 24X7 specialized mobile team will deal with domestic violence.
  6. Police teams will also conduct surprise checks in buses, markets, universities and areas prone to eve-teasing, especially in the mornings and evenings.

This is quite a lot of activity. Hopefully it will deter some of the street harassment and assault that is rampant in Delhi (just as it is in so many major cities around the world) and also provide survivors with ways to seek justice.

UNIFEM and Jagori are also working on initiatives to make Delhi safer for women.

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“How come your hand doesn’t slip over a hot oven?”

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A guy on a bus in India thinks it’s funny to “accidentally” let his hand slip to touch a female passenger. His buddies seem to think it’s funny, too. Watch what happens when he tries to touch her a second time…

This video clearly shows how a bystander can end a harassment incident and help change the social acceptability of harassment, especially when the woman experiencing harassment may not feel able to respond. The bystander did not back down and he thought fast on his feet with his retorts. (Side note: I am against the use of violence if at all possible).

What other responses do you think the bystander – or the woman facing the harassment – could have given when “Romeo”‘s asserted that his hand slip was an accident?

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Weekly Round Up: November 7, 2010

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Story Submissions Recap:

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In Bangladesh, students protest eve teasing, police talk strategy

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I just came across two articles about eve teasing in Bangladesh:

Protesters, Image via BBC

1. School and college students held a rally in Dhaka to protest against ‘eve teasing’ and the sexual harassment of women in the latest in a series of protests following a number of suicides and killings involving women subjected to bullying and harassment. The protesters are urging the Bangladesh government to take proper steps to curb sexual harassment and provide better protection for women.

Via BBC News:

“Unable to bear the insults, some women have committed suicide. Activists say stalking and sexual harassment has led to the deaths of more than 24 people, most of them women, since the beginning of this year. In recent days, some who have spoken out against sexual harassment have been murdered. A 50-year-old woman died after a motorcycle was driven over her when she protested against the bullying of her daughter last week. A college teacher who spoke out against such bullying was also murdered.”

Outrageous!

“Following the suicides and killings, the High Court has asked the government to take measures to prevent stalking. Officials in the district of Tangail are now offering karate training to all female school and college students. Learning martial arts makes girls better able to protect themselves, they say.”

And will there also be trainings for boys and men to not harass girls and women?!

2. In the Daily Star, police talk about their strategies for dealing with eve teasing. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker requested the media to term ”eve teasing” as an offence so that harassers are held accountable. He said he is also considering assigning personnel to whom victims of harassment can send SMS for help.

Because there tends to be more harassment around festivals like Eid-ul-Azha, over 50 thousand additional law enforcers will span the country as of November 11.”A three-stage security arrangement will be designed to make sure the safety of people before, after, and on the Eid day,” Khandker said.

It is sad that it took suicides for people will take this issue seriously in Bangladesh (UNICEF even has programs there now, earlier this year the first jail sentences were given to harassers, and the government declared an Eve Teasing Protection Day). And now, in many ways, Bangladesh is doing more than many countries – including the US – to deal with this issue. Will it take suicides in the US before stakeholders pay attention? Apparently murders aren’t enough.

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