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Reflecting on Street Harassment

April 11, 2019 By Meghna Bhat

Experiences from India to the US:  Prevention, Allyship & Community Accountability

This Sunday, April 7th, marked the beginning of the 9th Annual Anti-Street Harassment Week (7-13 April, 2019) hosted and organized by Stop Street Harassment (SSH). Being a SSH blog correspondent in the past and a proud volunteer and advocate of Stop Street Harassment, I feel honored to contribute my experiences and insights to this important movement to prevent and end street harassment across the globe.

I was born and raised in the city of Mumbai, India, and I have been living in the US for the past 15 years. I identify as a cisgender woman, first-generation immigrant from India, of Hindu ethnicity, and my pronouns are she/her/hers.

Mumbai Buses (c) Meghna Bhat

Recently, I was in India for several weeks and street harassment was sadly part of that experience. In fact, every time I visit my family in India, I can’t help but tense up over the “possibility” of being groped, touched, teased, or catcalled by men we encounter in public spaces because of what I have experienced there in the past. When I was in middle school, when an uncle laughingly told me, “consider it [being harassed] as a compliment.”

 

A screenshot of the NDTV Indian News segment

When as a young girl, I received such dismissing and trivializing responses (intentional or unintentional) from the community, my experiences of feeling violated are “normalized.” Further, when this is combined with toxic, unhealthy, glamorized and romanticized examples of street harassment, non-consensual contact and touching, and “romantic” aggressive love conveyed through popular culture, namely Bollywood Indian cinema—it was very easy to fall into the sinkhole wanting to believe in the “normalized,” “romanticized”, and “glamorized” notions about street harassment and sexual violence.

What traumatized me while growing up in India was also a lack of concept of physical and emotional space, setting boundaries, getting consent or asking permission, especially during Indian festivals such as the festival of color, Holi, is an alien concept. These spaces shared with our family and friends or with our neighbors and communities are intended to be safe and to enjoy the festivities without worrying about feeling violated, groped, touched and unpleasant.

Now, I am perceived as a party pooper when I am asked to join Holi celebrations here in the diaspora, but many don’t realize how it can be triggering and traumatizing to those who have been harassed and experienced sexual violence in these festive community spaces. I recognize that although not all Indian festivities especially Holi may be unsafe & unpleasant or/and not everyone who celebrates may have experienced these unwanted behaviors from others, we need to acknowledge and recognize that religious and community festivals such as these are often used as avenues for exerting power and control through harassment. To look out for one another and intervening when someone is feeling uncomfortable, or incoherent, unconscious or is saying no but is still being harassed or coerced, are essential steps we as allies can do to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Mumbai Couple Using Cell Phone (c) Victorgrigas

In my recent trip to India, I was disheartened overhearing a group of young college students in the train sharing their stories of how they and their respective partners were harassed, policed, questioned, and threatened by local police officers for loitering and spending time in public spaces such as a public park or bus stop or the promenade. These girls and women were frightened and traumatized with the police misuse of power and control. The questioning and moral policing targeted at the girls is based in sexism, patriarchal notions of sexuality and pre-marital relationships, and lack of belief in women’s autonomy.

Bhopal Queer Pride Parade (c) Mukesh bari

Even after the overturn of Section 377 in India which was used to criminalize homosexual relationships– LGBTQ-identified folks including the hijra community continue to be harassed and assaulted by police officers in their custody. So now, in addition to figuring out how to not get harassed and catcalled, vulnerable groups such as young girls and women, LGBTQI, and also individuals with disabilities all across the world also have to take extra steps to make sure they are not targeted by authorities and the state.

We have to acknowledge the prevalence of sexism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia, ableism and other intersectional forms of oppression before we tackle street harassment in public spaces and sexual violence.

A lot of my points above may overlap with a blog on SSH I had written in 2015, but I feel we need to have these conversations of how to be an ally and bystander with our family and friends- no matter how uncomfortable it may be! We have to be mindful of not to publicly out other possible survivors who may have disclosed their experiences to us or force folks to share their stories. Learning to respect victims/survivors’ decision of sharing their stories and their way of healing is a must.

Also, what about our individual responsibility and collective accountability to address prevalence of street harassment and create safe, inclusive, accessible, and supportive public spaces shared by all?

Shouldn’t we all want to envision such a beautiful, safe, harassment-free space for our children and youth?

The younger and future generations must be able to focus on their education, employment, good quality of life and health without the hassle. In the movement to prevent and end all forms of gender violence across all identities, it is absolutely crucial that the responsibility of prevention must not come solely on the shoulders of the marginalized and vulnerable groups especially survivors at the expense of their mental, physical, and psychological health.

 Last but not the least, I want to underline the importance of how this post is not just about experiencing street harassment growing up in India or that this problem exists only in South Asian or “developing countries” as perceived by western countries. For instance, the 2018 SSH study indicates street harassment is highly prevalent in the US. Unfortunately, street harassment is a worldwide problem, a human rights violation, and a public health epidemic affecting all. It needs to be given urgent attention in terms of prevention, intervention, accessible resources, and survivor-centered and trauma-informed support.

 

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Filed Under: anti-street harassment week, police harassment, public harassment, Stories, street harassment Tagged With: anti-street harassment, harassment on holiday, India, IPC section 377, mumbai, police harassment, street harassment stories

Mumbi Police Tackle Holi Harassment

March 23, 2016 By HKearl

Image via Wonderful Mumbai
Image via Wonderful Mumbai

The Mumbai police are taking action to help ensure women can have a safe and enjoyable Holi celebration.

Via Vagabomb:

“If you’re dreading the creeps who use Holi as an excuse to do disgusting things like throwing semen-filled balloons, condoms, eggs, forcibly applying colour on people, or simply groping them, the Mumbai Police has decided to do something very smart this year.

People who throw water balloons or colour at women on the streets can be booked for crimes against women by the Mumbai Police, which will take the strictest action against the perpetrators.

Victims of such assaults can simply take a picture of the location of the assault, and if possible, the perpetrator, and upload them to the Mumbai Police’s Twitter handle, @MumbaiPolice. They should also mention their own names. When the complaint is received, the police will deploy personnel to the location and book the person accused…

The police is afraid of people misusing the initiative and lodging false complaints, which is why they will be verifying the authenticity of each complaint, and the victim will be required to go to the police station.

This is a terrific initiative, and we request everyone in Mumbai not to misuse it. At the same time, please do not hesitate to lodge a complaint if you actually feel harassed. “Bura na maano Holi hai” is a regressive excuse to get away with harassing people.”

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: festival, Holi, India, mumbai, police

Mural Against Harassment in Mumbai

December 7, 2015 By HKearl

Safecity and students in Mumbai painted the ‪#‎TalkingWall along Peddar Road, outside Sophia College.

SafeCityMumbaiMural-Dec2015-2

SafeCityMumbaiMural-Dec2015-3

SafeCityMumbaiMural-Dec2015-4

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Filed Under: Resources, street harassment Tagged With: college students, India, mumbai, Mural, safecity

Chal Hatt Tharki

September 5, 2012 By Contributor

Editor’s Note: This guest blog post was written by Janvi Mankani.

Eve teasing is a highly concern worthy issue in all of India and consequently in Mumbai today. Cat calling and snide comments against women have become such an inevitable part of the society and that calls for attention.

All the men who think they can get away with this kind of behaviour need to be addressed. “Chal Hatt Tharki” as a campaign is not directed towards men, asking them to stop cat calling and eve teasing. Instead, as the name itself suggests, is directed towards women; asking them to raise their voices against inappropriate behaviour. The very words, “Chal Hatt Tharki” here, encourage and support women to take a stance against eve teasing.

Chal Hatt Tharki is about empowering women, making them aware and letting them know that if they stand up for their rights, no one will be able to take them for granted. For when the women speak up, the men will learn their lesson with respect to eve teasing by default. It’s high time all the Eves got their due, and fearlessly stood up for their safety, their existence, and for themselves.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChalHattTharki

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChalHattTharki
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Filed Under: Activist Interviews, street harassment Tagged With: Chal Hatt Tharki, eve teasing, mumbai, sexual harassment, street harassment

80 percent of women in Mumbai experience street harassment

March 4, 2012 By HKearl

We The People Foundation interviewed 1,000 women in Mumbai, India, about their experiences with street harassment. Eighty percent had experienced some form of street harassment on a regular basis. Mumbai is supposed to be one of the safer cities for women in India and perhaps that’s why the statistic was “only” 80 percent, while in Delhi, over 90 percent of women feel unsafe leaving home alone.

The majority of the harassment takes place on crowded trains and railway platforms, and 60 percent had faced harassment while commuting by train and 40 percent while commuting by another public transportation system, like a bus or taxi.

Via Daily News & Analysis:

“The statistics are worrying especially as women do not take concrete steps to stem the menace,” said Jason Temasfieldt, founder-member of the organisation, which addresses the issue of women’s safety in public places in Mumbai.

Only one out of 10 women lodges a police complaint, and not more than two confront the perpetrator or attempt to stop him.

“Only two out of every 10 women glare angrily at the offender. The rest just ignore him or worse, feel embarrassed or ashamed of themselves,” said Sacha Lobo, a college students who joined the organisation after being interviewed during the survey.

Another worrying finding was that most women do not consider catcalls or lewd comments as sexual harassment, but an “unfortunate drawback” of being a woman.

“Any unwanted physical or verbal action by a man is nothing but harassment. And it is high time both men and women did their bit to stop this menace,” said Temasfieldt.

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Filed Under: News stories Tagged With: India, mumbai, study

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