Indian women who are suffering from daily sexual harassment in public transportation facilities such as buses and subways are mobilizing ‘tools’ such as clothespins to fight back.
The British BBC reported on the 20th (local time) that Indian women continue to testify on social media such as Twitter that they carry clothespins to punish sexual harassers.
Deepika Shergil, who said she was repeatedly sexually harassed by a ‘man in his mid-40s in a gray suit’ in her 20s, intentionally kept close to the man whenever she encountered her, and whenever the driver hit the brakes, she made physical contact. He said he tried The men did the same thing over and over for months.
When Shergil offered no resistance, the man even masturbated behind her back. That night, Cher Gill, who took a longer-than-usual shower, thought she “couldn’t take it anymore.”
The next day, swearing revenge, Shergil boarded the commuter bus wearing high heels and holding a pin in his hand. Shergil trampled the foot of a middle-aged man approaching him with a high heel and stabbed his forearm with a clothespin. After that, the middle-aged man did not appear in front of the Sherpa.
According to a survey conducted in 2021, 56% of Indian women responded that they had experienced sexual harassment on public transport. Only 2% reported reporting to the police. The majority said they ignored the situation or avoided the seat.
Those who responded that they would respond directly were known to use umbrellas, fingernails, clothespins, and high heels. Over 52% of respondents said they turned down job opportunities because of concerns about sexual harassment. In several global survey agencies, India ranked first in the category of sexual harassment in public places.
Kalpana Viswanath, founder of ‘SafetyPin’, which works to make public spaces safer for women, said that low civic awareness of sexual harassment in India is based on the Indian stereotype that ‘women are bullied because men like women’. and said it was because of the ‘low reporting rate’.
Viswanath emphasized the need for “indian society as a whole” to discuss and debate the sexual harassment issue more, as well as promoting policies such as installing more closed-circuit television (CCTV) and panic buttons and increasing the proportion of female drivers.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.