No end to the malaise called eve-teasing

BANGALORE: Eve teasing is a common and unavoidable situation that is a part of every person of the female gender, regardless of her age.Public places like roads, malls, parks, cinema halls, educational institutions and even buses are some of the fertile areas where eve teasers flourish.Advertisements, movies and other tele-serials that glorify the act of eve-teasing too does not seem to help. Eve teasers, and sometimes parents too, fail to realise the consequences of facing persistent eve-teasing. There are many cases of death reported due to the humiliation meted out to women. There are also instances of girls, who suffer trauma, carrying mental scars for life.While this issue is written and often discussed about, the common tendency to either ignore the situation or to blame the girl for the occurrence does not seem to fade away. Women’s rights activists say that most often girls lack support from the family. There is also the parental pressure to dressup in a ‘decent’ manner to avoid the attention of men. Santhosh Vas, chairperson of Janodaya Trust says that imposing restrictions on girls for the way they dress up and for adopting trendy fashion is an issue. She adds:“If one speaks about equality of women on par with men, then it is the right of every girl to embellish herself in the way she wants to.” There are many non-government organisations in the city which lend a helping hand to women who undergo such abasing situations.Taking a different stance, counselling services are offered to men involved in the act of eve-teasing. Saranya Hegde, president of Mahila Dakshatha Samithi says, “We question the boys for the act.If the act is continued despite the warnings, we arrange for the police to follow and take appropriate action against them.” Many a time, the identity of eve-teasers goes unnoticed leading to difficulty in enforcing the law against eve-teasing.The demanding of evidence in the court is a loop-hole that is often difficult to surpass as women find it difficult to record themselves.Expressing her views on precautionary measures that need to be taken by women, Santhosh Vas says, “Though girls and women cannot do anything individually, they can seek help from support groups such as family or friends if they face such situation perpetually.” If that does not help, then women are advised to call on the helpline service offered by the office of the Police Commissioner: 080- 22943225/080-22864023.