Everywhere in the world young people tease each other. Boys tease girls and girls also tease boys in their own subtle ways. In the animal kingdom also there is a lot of teasing going on…. Nothing wrong or worrisome in this harmless good natured teasing; in fact, it makes the world go round! But where does teasing end and harassment begin?
It is worrisome that a serious issue of sexual harassment that has driven many a women to end their lives, is being trivialized by terming it as teasing and that too as ‘Eve teasing’! Indian mythology has many pious female characters but we prefer the name of the biblical first woman “Eve” who tempted her man Adam into eating the forbidden fruit. And in conformity with the term used, an invisible accusing finger always points towards the victim. This is more so in the ‘virtuous’ parts of the country, untouched and “unpolluted” by western culture. It is, therefore, not surprising that most women here silently put up with the harassment, humiliations and assaults that go on in the name of Eve Teasing to escape further victimization. If they complain to the home authorities, their activities are promptly curbed and a dress code is imposed. If they complain to the police, it’s even worse… . The cops are known to ask pointed questions like “why do you dress like this” and “why did you go there” clearly betraying the perverted mentality prevailing in our society. Not everyone who goes to the club is characterless and not everyone who goes to the temple is pure!
Statistics may be like bikinis, but they do speak for themselves: women in miniskirts as well as women in Salwar Kameez and burqas are sexually assaulted in equal measure. Women of seventeen, seventy and seven are abused. Pub-going as well as school going and women going to temple/church/Mosque are molested and raped. Obviously, it`s not the dress, the age nor the culture or religion! Every moment women across the globe, cutting across social, economic, religious, racial and geographical boundaries , are subjected to assaults to their body, mind and soul.
But the big difference is that while women in the developed western world are fighting this out with all their might, the women in the world of the Aditynaths and Dhavalikars are silently suffering the humiliations and assaults. Surely, it is the mindsets that need a change!
In Uttar Pradesh, the Government have set up what they call Anti-Romeo Police squads to crack down on “Eve-teasing”. All that these guys do is round up soft targets (young men from poor backgrounds) whom they brand as Romeos and publicly trash their butts off with their lathis. If William Shakespeare, the celebrated playwright was alive, he would have most certainly sued the Uttar Pradesh Government for defaming the title character in his classic love story, Romeo & Juliet. Shakespeare’s Romeo, the epitome of everlasting love, never went around eve teasing, leave alone sexually harassing, molesting and raping women. He loved just one woman, Juliet!
