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The #AskingForIt initiative is about not just standing by when street harassment of girls happens: Take a stand and inspire more people to stand up!
90% of women reported being harassed or abused in public places. Not a statistic to be proud of. Many of us will remember, especially, being harassed as girls, on our way to school or college.
Research by Breakthrough, a global human rights organization, shows that public places such as bus stops and railway stations are among the places where schoolgirls feel most unsafe.
In most cases, we stay quiet…watching, being afraid, or even think that this is how things have always been.
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Sexual harassment of girls in public places is seen as ‘normal’. In many cases, people even believe that a girl was ‘asking for it’ by being out in the first place or wearing clothes of a certain kind. This problem can be solved only when we make it everybody’s problem!
#AskingForIt is an initiative by Breakthrough to mobilize communities and get every individual, both online and in the ‘real world’, to speak out and not take sexual harassment as ‘normal’. #AskingForIt is about asking for each one of us to speak out and take responsibility.
In the ‘real world’ as well, the campaign will be mobilising for action at bus stops, which are among the worst places today for girls on their way to school or college.
More girls will speak up and fight back againt harassment on the street when they know they have support and others are not just watching!
Show your support and inspire others also to act against any harassment on the streets by writing a post on Women’s Web. If you are a registered contributor on Women’s Web, simply log in and submit your post. If you don’t have a contributor account at Women’s Web, but would like to participate, use this form to send us a guest post on the topic.
Here are some suggestions on what you can write about:
All May, we will be focusing on the topic and working to inspire eveybody to speak up and act!
Most often, we stay quiet because we believe the problem is too big and we are too small. “After all, what can one person do?” is a common response. Let’s not forget that all change starts with one person, followed by another, and another!
Your post can share experiences, examples, resources or inspiration for others to act as well. Let’s remind ourselves that we are not alone – and we can work together to create safer spaces for our girls!
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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