Are we Safe? An Investigation on ‘Eve-teasing’ (or public sexual harassment) in India

Abstract

In recent years, many countries have tightened the rules against harassment at the workplace and violence in the home. On the other hand, the incidences of sexual harassment in public places have not been paid sufficient attention, specifically against women. Developing countries like India have recorded the increment of sexual harassment cases in public places due to the increment in participation of women in outside activities such as education and employment. In India, the term ‘Eve-teasing’ is a euphemism that is used for sexual harassment in public places. Eve-teasing is identified as a significant problem in the patriarchal society of India that causes dreadful implications on women. The daily encounter with sexual harassment leads to a decline in their career and also socio-economic and political opportunities for them. In recent years, these misdeeds have been spread at every corner of our society and have become a national problem. Eve-teasing is not considered atrocious and strong laws have not been enacted to counteract it. To this end, this study has been conducted to identify the socio-psychological repercussions of Eve-teasing on girl cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) aged between 19 and 24 years. Moreover, the significance of NCC in empowering the girl cadets in dealing with daily harassment is also the focus of the investigation. Particularly, the structural feminist approach is adopted to offer a critical framework to examine the patriarchal socialization of men and women as the most common cause of Eve-teasing. A total of 262 women participated in this study. The data were collected at the national camp of NCC held in New Delhi through a semi-structured questionnaire and focus group discussions from January 18 to 29, 2020. Out of the total respondents, 83.20% were exposed to Eve-teasing in their lives, while 15.26% of them did not disclose about such incidents. The study concludes by highlighting the negative implications of Eve-teasing on the life of adolescent females and also with disclosing their suffering and struggle. Although, the respondents were the cadets of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), which helped them to shape self-confidence to fight against such sexual harassment acts. Therefore, it is suggested to the governments (state and central) to emphasize the involvement of the agencies having similar goals as NCC in empowering the females in the early years.

Policy Transfer for Sexual Violence Prevention and Management in Indonesian Higher Education Institutions

“…For example, Chairunnisa et al (2022) showed a high prevalence of sexual violence cases against female students, but the majority were reluctant to report. Victims' reluctance to Insufficient awareness and education compound the problem, while flawed legal systems and distrust in law enforcement (even at the university level) hinder the pursuit of justice (Noor & Iamtrakul, 2023;Rana, 2023). In recent years, there is a sexual harassment task force that has been established in several Indonesia universities.…”