By Dishi Solanki:
Some hours back: My roommate came into the room less enthusiastic than usual. She seemed to be shrinking with fear stuck on her face. Unable to further bear it, I broke the silence. Petrified & completely disgusted, she broke down in front of me with a stream of tears rushing out. Soon I realized that during commuting in a public transport she was constantly harassed by an extremely lewd guy followed by bad comments and unwanted physical contact.
Multitudinous women like me and my roommate stay in a city away from their home, devoid of the protective shelter of their parents or loved ones. Society even today is an intimidating dark ghost ready to gulp you down if you are a woman alone. School & college- going students and working women are regularly subjected to humiliating comments by unruly men. Even though women have started matching shoulders with men proving themselves to be no less, some men still consider them to be no more than a piece of meat to lay their hands on. How often have you heard a guy say that he was molested? But be it a crowded bus or a deserted street the list of lecherous men ready to pounce on a woman is long.
It is rightly said that it’s tough to be a girl in a man’s world. Why do we need masculine support to deal with such lechers? Most of the men swab up events of eve-teasing by thrusting it on the dressing sense of girls as the motivating cause. Wearing skimpy clothes is surely a treat to a man’s eye. But to counter this are all those women from towns and villages who also go through such a mental trauma even after remaining fully clad. Eve-teasing has heart-rending results like death and when it goes unchecked, it could lead to public humiliation of women even in broad daylight. Eve-teasing can leave a permanent psychological scar on women. Though being a burning issue, it is not taken seriously due to the silence of the victims being crushed under their own fear and the humiliation suffered.
It’s no cakewalk to deal such situations but some precautionary measures can always save us from inviting a problem. Never have your guard down while walking or travelling because losing attention can make you fall prey to letching eyes. As far as possible avoid taking lonely routes. Be sure to a walk through a place that isn’t secluded. Dress according to the area that you are going to pass through. Try to learn basic self defence. Finally if caught in such a situation be sure to exercise your vocal cords hard enough to be heard as far and wide as possibler. If you feel your voice is not enough, be smart enough and run like there is no tomorrow.
I am waiting for the day when women will be as free as birds.