Making Public Spaces Safe and Welcoming
It’s sad how often public holidays become synonymous with street harassment, from Eid in Egypt to Halloween in the USA, to Diwali in India. The amazing organization Breakthrough in India launched a bystander campaign ahead of Diwali tomorrow. Check it out, share the image, and speak out when you see harassment happening. Everyone deserves a safe Diwali.
Street harassment is rampant across India and activists and leaders there have tried various tactics to deal with it, from women-only public transportation to safety audits to rallies. Here’s a new tactic: In Guwahti, the police force is introducing a special 100 women division to tackle street harassment.
“We have trained 100 women constables in the martial arts, arms drill, and silent drill to make them tough. We are going to launch this force at a function on Friday. The 100 women constables are from various battalions of the state police and were specially trained in Tamil Nadu,” said Assam Police DGP JN Choudhury.
During the launching ceremony, the Viranganas are going to display the various tactics they were taught.
The concept of a special women’s force emerged from the greatest women warriors, who sacrificed their lives to protect the society. The Virangana ideal commends physical training and active deployment of the body in combat.
“We have many Viranganas in our history. From Kanaklata and Mula Gabhoru of Assam to ‘Jhansi Ki Raani’ – Laxmi bai, many women leaders and warriors rose to fight for the greater interest of the society,” said a senior officer of Assam Police.
The Virangana force is likely to have a different uniform with a sword. “We can beat anyone. We are trained to restrain any kind of assault towards women. We hope this force can add a landmark in maintaining law and order in the city. We want all women to cooperate with us in protecting their modesty,” said Bimala, a cadre of the force, who is trained in martial art.
“The strength and efficacy of the Viranganas are in many respects similar to those of the warring goddess Durga or Kali, her defeat of threatening enemies corresponding to the goddess’ punishment of evil demons. The Viranganas, thus, conjoin physical prowess and moral strength in a startling counter paradigm of Indian womanhood,” added another Virangana cadre.”
Thoughts?
Anti-street harassment group Blank Noise in India invites you all to participate in their initiative Recall, “An online event that asks individuals to recall and share their first memory of street harassment.”
They invite you to participate in the following ways by July 13:
1. Recall your first memory of street harassment and send it to us via the online form (scroll down).
2. Announce the event to your friends — share it on your Facebook wall, twitter, mailing lists, and blog. Let Blank Noise know if where you post it so they can link to it from their blog.
All testimonials will be published here on the weekend July 14/15th.
So, what was your first memory?
From Aditya Pillai via email:
“[This video is part of] a social campaign against Eve Teasing. That is where Indian men just stare at you on the streets, pass really lewd comments, molestation, even kidnap and rape.
It is a horrible experience and no women should have to go through it. It is a form of public sexual harassment of women and a real problem in the Indian sub continent. This kind of violence against the women in India just has to stop. This campaign needs a lot of international eyeballs for people to understand how serious the problem is India.
The campaign includes women from all over Mumbai speaking out against these men. The more people that see this the bigger the voice for women in India.”
Interesting approach to dealing with street harassers in India — what do you think?
“Frustrated after the failure of its repeated attempts to tackle the growing menace of eve teasing in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut town, the police have come up with a special plan to rein in roadside majnus.
The police have decided to photograph ‘diehard majnus’ and paste their pictures at busy thoroughfares and public places across the town. Police said people can then identify their faces easily.
“Public display of their pictures will also create a guilty feeling among the majnus,” said a police officer.
The police also plan to ascertain the criminal history of eve teasers across Meerut through Operation Majnu.
“A history sheet of such persons will be opened at police stations and the Gangsters Act will also be slapped on them,” said the officer.
He said the town has been witnessing a growing menace of roadside eve teasers, who had made life miserable for girls.
“These majnus roam around girls’ schools and colleges and markets frequented by women. At times they even make indecent gestures towards women,” the official added.”