Eve Teasing in India

[KirKS]

Someone gave a wonderful metaphor for men to really understand what it feels like being subjected to eve-teasing on streets. Yes, it's hard for many men to understand what it really feels like.

"Walking down a street filled with stray dogs is a great way for a man to understand eve-teasing"

[hydp]

Eve teasing capital of India: where women feel most unsafe?

from my personal experience in travelling public transport in Chennai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad what I'll tell you is fact: and that is worst place is Kolkatta. Never in my life I had such a bad experience anywhere else. If you are grown up girl in a crowded bus in Kolkatta then you will experience any or all of the following:

breast groping: sneaky hands will target you when you get in or out of the bus or when you walk in crowded streets.

standing very close to you and as and when bus slows down, men will press their hard willy against you while innocently looking away

pinching: can happen any crowded place

I could not believe culture 'bhadralok' bengali males (not all) are pervert in disguise and they prey on girls like hungry hyenas.

If you have teen age girls, never ever allow them to board a bus in kolkatta in rush hour. They might have worst possible experience in their life.

BTW, compared to kolkatta, hyderabad, bangalore is heaven!

[GutsyGibbon]

Progress has given us AC cars, and tinted windows. Without this- life can be very hard for women. What can one do when the auto drivers adjust the mirror to look at the passengers. You get to the stop light, and the bike riders try to get a peek, or pass snotty comments. All the women/girls I know refuse to sit in a car that is not heavily tinted. If you talk to other teenagers, you will get a list of crowded places to avoid, the bus conductors to avoid, the teachers in school to avoid, the relatives to avoid, dad's of relatives to avoid, etc, etc. I see women run away from inappropriate contact. Things like "how are you dear" with a pat on the back, or the sleeveless shoulder. These seemingly harmless gestures, when done by people who are not really close can be very irritating. You cannot pick a fight with these folk, but women use networking and commonsense to avoid such places and people. There is no maturity, and its not limited to uneducated people. I see such people in the US as well, little more cautious, but the ingredient in the brains is still at work.

That said, this is all a part of the R2I package deal. Certainly not on the list of concerns for the women I know. They will certainly not step in public transport/crowded places. Fortunately, almost everyone I know have access to AC cars with tinted windows.

[Sid]

#36, I wanted to thank your post, but the situation you described is so sad and infuriating that I didn't press the button. But its great that you came out and described the painful situation.
We should ban this word "Eve Teasing". Sexual Harassment better describes it.

[willynilly]

Eve teasing capital of India: where women feel most unsafe?

from my personal experience in travelling public transport in Chennai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad what I'll tell you is fact: and that is worst place is Kolkatta. Never in my life I had such a bad experience anywhere else. If you are grown up girl in a crowded bus in Kolkatta then you will experience any or all of the following:

breast groping: sneaky hands will target you when you get in or out of the bus or when you walk in crowded streets.

standing very close to you and as and when bus slows down, men will press their hard willy against you while innocently looking away

pinching: can happen any crowded place

I could not believe culture 'bhadralok' bengali males (not all) are pervert in disguise and they prey on girls like hungry hyenas.

If you have teen age girls, never ever allow them to board a bus in kolkatta in rush hour. They might have worst possible experience in their life.

BTW, compared to kolkatta, hyderabad, bangalore is heaven!

Make no mistake, that such incidents are very common in the general compartments of Mumbai locals too. If an unfortunate woman enters a general compartment in a local, she is almost certain to come out feeling violated, sad but true. :thdown:This does not mean that city on the whole is not safe for women, but some perverts do exist, there are good and bad people everywhere, there's no need to paint all people of any community in a particular color for it, IMO. I've had some cousins describe exactly what you've mentioned, happen to them in DTC delhi buses, i think anytime there's a crowd, and a helpless woman trapped in the middle in India, some perverts ( and cowards ) would always be there, to take advantage of her. I'm sure some girl who has faced similar issues in bangalore/hyderabad buses, would differ with your last comment.

While on the topic, i remember watching one episode of ' The Amazing Race', where the teams had been to India, and one of the tasks was to travel by mumbai locals from one point to the other, and some unsuspecting american women, got into the general compartment ( not knowing that there are women's compartment's too) and they too were groped, pinched, poked, and prodded, even though there was a camera around, but that didn't stop the perverted men around from violating the women, you could see those women, getting mad and cursing out all the men around them, it was disgusting to watch, never have i ever been so ashamed of my home town. :109:

[M V]

Bumping up thread as topic is related to it.

Are girls/women sometimes responsible for eve-teasing that happens to them? I don't think so, but when growing up, was sometimes made to feel responsible for some eve-teasing that came my way. Anyway, a general question:

Can girls/women who live in India sometimes be said to "invite" eve-teasing? By their dressing choices, way of talking, general behavior etc?

[nj_tina]

Bumping up thread as topic is related to it.

Are girls/women sometimes responsible for eve-teasing that happens to them? I don't think so, but when growing up, was sometimes made to feel responsible for some eve-teasing that came my way. Anyway, a general question:

Can girls/women who live in India sometimes be said to "invite" eve-teasing? By their dressing choices, way of talking, general behavior etc?

Answer to the question : Eve teasing no, undue attention may be.

More questions ...
why dressing not "prudent" should be unsafe?
Why a woman's morality and safety is linked to her cloths and not mens'?
Is a man in skimpy cloths a subject for mishaps? (they say that Indian gay population is on a new high.)
Also a woman of loose morals should be subjected to physical violation?

[Desi]

Can a thief get away by suggesting that Walmart invited theft by keeping its "goods" open / visible with no one around?

[gwldaddu]

Can a thief get away by suggesting that Walmart invited theft by keeping its "goods" open / visible with no one around?

No. The thief cannot get away legally. But consider the following case.

A hungry poor is walking on the road. He has no money. But he is not a thief. He works hard and earns two meals a day. Today is one of those days when he cannot afford to buy food. He sees a hot dog stand. No owner nearby. He goes and picks up a hotdog. Eats it.

Legally, he is thief. But did hotdog owner not encourage this theft?

If you offer an opportunity to steel something to someone who is deprived of that.. you are encouraging him/her to steel.

Hungry can be hungry for food, or hungry for other things…

[willynilly]

No. The thief cannot get away legally. But consider the following case.

A hungry poor is walking on the road. He has no money. But he is not a thief. He works hard and earns two meals a day. Today is one of those days when he cannot afford to buy food. He sees a hot dog stand. No owner nearby. He goes and picks up a hotdog. Eats it.

Legally, he is thief. But did hotdog owner not encourage this theft?

If you offer an opportunity to steel something to someone who is deprived of that.. you are encouraging him/her to steel.

Hungry can be hungry for food, or hungry for other things?

WOW!!! Can you please explain as to who is deprived of what when they eve tease random women ? Also, going by your analogy of hotdog vendor encouraging the theft in case of eve teasing ( I don't see how he did encourage but that is besides the point), what about the women who are fuly covered, even sometimes in a saree or salwar-kameez getting eve teased ? What are they encouraging ? So, the ultimate answer is burqa, i guess. Does anyone have any statistics for comparison on burqa wearing women getting eve teased ? :emcrook: