'Stringent legal action can curb crime against women'
'Women face harassment routinely, and it has only increased.' Image courtesy Canva
By SURABHI SHAHI
PUNE: Jayavarrshini B, an 18-year-old student, has to walk a short distance every day to reach her college. She has both faced and witnessedeve teasing at several instances in her life, and thinks that it’s high time it is considered a serious crime in law.
“One day, while going to my college, I saw that two boys on a bike were closely following a group of women. They were passing leud comments at them and making those women extremely uncomfortable. They only stopped when they saw a police car standing nearby,” Jayavarrshini recalled.
She added that eve teasing should be treated as a serious crime because it leaves a deep impact on a girl’s or woman’s mind.
“Literally, every woman that I have talked to about this issue has faced it. Some have been stalked or stared while many others have been made to feel every uncomfortable in a public place or transport,” Jayavarrshini said.
Women safety is one the biggest concerns of our society today. While on one hand there are so many goddesses prayed in the country, on the other there so many women who face harassement every day.
The number of cases of violence against women have only increased over the years and they continue to rise.
“Women are now working in all kind of professions. While this is a very good thing from the prespective of equal representation in society, it is also one of the causes of increase in violence against women. Previously, women barely left their houses which is why these predators did not get any opportunity to commit crimes,” Jayavarrshini said.
On asked about what can be done to ensure women’s safety, Jayavarrshini replied, “Most of the people will say that educate people or and spread awareness, I think that such things are necessary, it is important to take stringent actions against these criminals because in many cases the offender is a well-educated person”.
Saanvi Mehta, a 20-year-old student, believes that the first step to solve the problem is to acknowledge the problem.
“In many cases, people, including the victims, don’t acknowledge the problem. They simply ignore it and do nothing about it. And those who have the to courage to report the problem are asked to not talk about it for the sake of her and her family’s reputation,” she said.
Mehta said that most girls are made to believe that if they do not stay outside their homes in the night and dress ‘decently’, nothing will ever happen to them.
“But now I have realised that this is not true. Attacks do happen even during the day. It can happen in public places, at home or even at religious places,” she said. Mehta added that she feels she deserves the freedom of staying out in the night with family or friends without getting worried but, she knows, this will not happen ever.
“I can’t ask my parents for this freedom because almost every day there is a case of violence against women. Such incidents scare our parents,” she said pertinently.
(The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of TheTimes School of Media .)
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PUNE: Jayavarrshini B, an 18-year-old student, has to walk a short distance every day to reach her college. She has both faced and witnessed
“One day, while going to my college, I saw that two boys on a bike were closely following a group of women. They were passing leud comments at them and making those women extremely uncomfortable. They only stopped when they saw a police car standing nearby,” Jayavarrshini recalled.
She added that eve teasing should be treated as a serious crime because it leaves a deep impact on a girl’s or woman’s mind.
“Literally, every woman that I have talked to about this issue has faced it. Some have been stalked or stared while many others have been made to feel every uncomfortable in a public place or transport,” Jayavarrshini said.
The number of cases of violence against women have only increased over the years and they continue to rise.
“Women are now working in all kind of professions. While this is a very good thing from the prespective of equal representation in society, it is also one of the causes of increase in violence against women. Previously, women barely left their houses which is why these predators did not get any opportunity to commit crimes,” Jayavarrshini said.
On asked about what can be done to ensure women’s safety, Jayavarrshini replied, “Most of the people will say that educate people or and spread awareness, I think that such things are necessary, it is important to take stringent actions against these criminals because in many cases the offender is a well-educated person”.
Saanvi Mehta, a 20-year-old student, believes that the first step to solve the problem is to acknowledge the problem.
“In many cases, people, including the victims, don’t acknowledge the problem. They simply ignore it and do nothing about it. And those who have the to courage to report the problem are asked to not talk about it for the sake of her and her family’s reputation,” she said.
Mehta said that most girls are made to believe that if they do not stay outside their homes in the night and dress ‘decently’, nothing will ever happen to them.
“But now I have realised that this is not true. Attacks do happen even during the day. It can happen in public places, at home or even at religious places,” she said. Mehta added that she feels she deserves the freedom of staying out in the night with family or friends without getting worried but, she knows, this will not happen ever.
“I can’t ask my parents for this freedom because almost every day there is a case of violence against women. Such incidents scare our parents,” she said pertinently.
(The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of The
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