[Editor's Note--Over the past few weeks, No Country For Women has been using our little space in the world wide web to investigate India’s current narrative around sexual violence towards women. In the 1st piece, co-founder, Shreena Thakore, elaborated on the ‘myth of the impoverished rapist’ and emphasized the need to challenge the way we think and talk about the issue. We followed that up with a curation of powerful, crowd-sourced, real-life stories from women across the country; 'Break the Silence' showcased the roots of gender-based violence in India. This article marks the end of this pertinent series, and Thakore is back to open up our minds to a far more subtle problem amidst this rampant gender inequality—a woman’s right to being present in a public space. This is the issue we've decided to join hands with NCFW regarding, and together, we would like to involve all of our followers and readers in a digital photo campaign to spread awareness, called 'Gendered Spaces.' Please scroll down to the end to read our note/understand more about the same.] “But ma’am… you are ladies ma’am. This seat for gents ma’am. You please be seated front of the bus. Alone ladies ma’am, how you can sit here?”
Image Courtesy - Al Jazeera
I. “Why is she here?” – the question silently demanded of every woman in a public space.
II. “Why is she here?” - a question only barely concealing the heavy implication - “she does not belong here.”
III. Know Your Parameters - Time. Company. Appearance.
“Once I was on a bike with my husband at around 9 pm when two guys (drunk) on another bike passed some vulgar comments on me and eventually my husband broke into a fight with them. When we went to a nearby police station to report the incident, the officer in charge (who was herself a lady) dismissed me by saying, "look at your clothes (I was wearing jeans and a short kurti), you are not even wearing a mangalsutra or sindoor. What's the fault of the boys? They thought you are unmarried and roaming late at night with a boy."
Image courtesy - Ronny Sen
“She was out too late. She was out with a boy. We were teaching her a lesson.”
“Yeh jo uske saath hua, bahut bura hua, par vahaan jaane ki zaroorat hi kya thi? Ladkiyon ko lagta hai ki voh kahin bhi jaa sakti hain?”
“What happened to her is sad, but why was she there in the first place? Do women think they can just go anywhere?”
The cover of a book titled, 'Why loiter?' which talks about loitering as a feminist right/act of resistance ,which Shreena thinks every one of us should read if we're interested in this issue. Image Courtesy - ihollaback.org
“No, of course women can’t just go anywhere. What an absurd idea! Haven’t we already established set regulations for their behaviour?”
Don’t go out too late or you will be raped
You were out with a boy? Of course you were harassed.
why shouldn’t a woman be out at night?
“if you want to avoid rape, don’t go out too late”
It's time we reclaimed our exist in public spaces. Image Courtesy - crytopme.com
By challenging a woman’s right to presence in public space, we challenge her right to existence in society. The discourse must shift away from “Why is she here?” towards, “Why can’t she be here?”
[Author's Note: For those readers who are interested in a ‘what next?’ I would highly recommend reading “Why Loiter” by Shilpa Phadke and the Right To Pee campaign that happened a couple years ago. Shilpa talks about loitering as a feminist right/act of resistance which is a logical response to such a question being raised. I also think the Right To Pee campaign is something more people should know about because it's one of those things that nobody wants to talk about but is at the crux of a million systemic injustices. Moreover, how class comes into play in such issues is also symbolic of deeper complexities since upper/middle class women can still go to malls etc/have plentiful makeshift "shelters" in the city that they can take refuge in so they have more rights to claim the city than lower class women - stay tuned for the next piece in this series for more information on that.]
[NCFW & Homegrown would like to involve all of our followers and readers in a campaign to spread awareness called 'Gendered Spaces.' This is a call to action for the beginning of a digital photo campaign that explores the intersection of Gender and Space. When was the last time you saw a woman peeing in public, or walking into a liquor store without cold stares, or a man ironing clothes in your home perhaps? The prompt is broad, take the idea and run with it. Then mail us your photos along with your thought behind it, and your contact details to contact@homegrown.co.in with the subject 'GENDERED SPACES SUBMISSION.' At the end of 3 weeks, we'll be publishing the best photos/ submissions on Homegrown.]
