Confront sexism to keep women safe

The safety of women tourists, especially foreigners, continues to be a concern in India. An example of their harassment was inadvertently live-streamed when two youngsters brazenly misbehaved with a young Korean woman on the streets of Mumbai.

The revolting scene went viral, invoking netizens’ condemnation and action by the Mumbai Police. While the woman, a vlogger and YouTuber, handled the situation with admirable grace, it does not always end in such a tame manner. Women are known to be stared at, groped, stalked, and even raped by locals.

India ranks among the top 10 unsafe countries for solo women travellers on the Women’s Danger Index on street safety, nonpartner sexual violence, intentional homicide and other similar parameters.

Websites offer abundant cautionary tips for women on safe areas, timings and transport, and what is best avoided in India.

This lack of safety reflects the chauvinist male mindset— that a casually dressed foreign tourist, here to explore and enjoy herself, must be easy game. Often, this attitude targets both Indian and foreign women, with the choice of clothes and lack of a companion often determining a man’s behaviour.

Social media played a key role in the Mumbai case, with the video of the Korean woman’s molestation swiftly tweeted to the police, resulting in the men’s arrest.

Netizens apologised to the woman and urged her to continue her travels in India, which they assured her has a high tradition of ‘atithi devo bhava’.

Yet, as soon as the man’s identity was established, it became a free-for-all for the online lynch mob. The Twitter debate degenerated into religious profiling, comments on and comparisons of culture, and the people’s court convicted them swiftly.

One commentator wanted the youngsters stripped of citizenship and dumped into a detention centre. The focus moved from the woman’s safety to the men’s faith.

Citizens would do well to realise that the incident is just an example of the casual sexual harassment the average Jane faces in her everyday life—from the street to public transport, to her institution or workplace, to social gatherings and parties. It is often dismissed as ‘eve teasing’ but is much more serious. It amounts to an invasion of her privacy and dignity and goes unnoticed, and neither is the perpetrator held to account nor does the victim gain any relief.