In Pakistan, women will often tell you that just going shopping downtown is a gauntlet--especially if you're new there or haven't been there for a while.
About time someone took this up in a concerted manner. The only other thing I have heard of is the Delhi Police having an "Eve Teasing Squad" (excuse the grammatical oddity in the name). The problem is global, but we in South Asia do seem to have about the worst record (short of the Taliban and Saudi Arabia, of course) and the fact that we have our own very specfic name for the phenomenon is noteworthy.
Now folks in the blogosphere are stepping in. And notice that it's not just women at the meetings--always a good sign about the health of the effort in my experience:
http://www.blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com/
Technorati tags applicable to this post: Eve Teasing - India - Pakistan - Sexual Harassment - Women's Issues
1 comment:
The Delhi police need to do more than set up an "Eve Teasing Squad": that city is probably the rape capital of the sub-continent, and no other major metropolis that I've heard of in India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh appears to have its crazy prevalence of sexual assault...sometimes it seems that not a week goes by without some new, especially sordid atrocity being reported. Sadly, the reaction ranges from the offensive (with a college or two saying girls should "dress more conservatively") to the farcical (pious statements to the effect that the government is "aware of the problem" and is "taking steps to address" it)...
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