Bangalore may tout itself as the information technology capital of India and may boast of a cosmopolitan culture, but its attitudes toward women continue to be archaic.
But the idea of holding a ‘SlutWalk’ protest in the city is unlikely to create meaningful change.
Ask just about any woman who has walked on Bangalore’s streets if she has been groped, whistled at, had romantic Bollywood songs sung to her, been accidentally “bumped” into by a random man, followed, or been stared at and her answer is most likely going to be “yes”.
Fed up with prevailing attitudes and taking a cue from global trends, a group of young men and women from Bangalore have got together to plan the city’s first SlutWalk on December 4, 2011.
The ‘SlutWalk’ protests began in Toronto, Canada, in April after a cop allegedly said women should not dress like sluts if they don’t want to be harassed.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2010, Bangalore recorded 65 incidences of rape (national capital Delhi recorded 414). However, these are reported numbers, and it is difficult to estimate the number of women who did not file a complaint. The number of incidences of molestation was 308 and the incidences of sexual harassment (colloquially called “eve-teasing”) were 50.
In the face of such statistics, the idea of raising awareness by holding such a protest in Bangalore is laudable, but it is unlikely to have a lasting impact and may not change mindsets.
There is a disconnect between the protest’s local name in Kannada and the protest’s mission. The activists are using both “SlutWalk” and the Kannada name of “Gejje Hejje” where Gejje means anklet and Hejje means footsteps. The anklet is a traditional ornament made of silver and usually worn by girls in South India. Anklets have little silver bells that make a sound as one walks. To some, it may convey the image of a girl who is demure and follows traditions because these ornaments have been worn for centuries. Nowadays, girls wear them for weddings or big celebrations. So the name, while it conveys that the protest has something to do with women, does not convey the intensity of what it wants to achieve.
The usage of the word ‘SlutWalk’ may alienate some followers as they would see it as a term that originated in the West and perhaps not relevant to the Indian context. However, the protesters argue that violence against women in India is just as abhorrent as violence against women in the U.S. But we need a homegrown campaign to make our point. Just think about the Pink Chaddi campaign (pink underwear campaign) that was a response to hooligans who wanted to put an end to Valentine’s Day celebrations by going after young, unmarried, couples who dared to celebrate. The women, using humor as their weapon, got together as The Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose and Forward Women. They initiated a campaign to mail boxes and boxes of pink underwear to the right-wing group that had made the threats and effectively humiliated them. Read more about this protest here.
The SlutWalk protesters are already using social media to spread their message. Their Facebook page has more than 700 likes. However, social media accounts, and indeed access to the Internet and computers are still a privilege of the elite in Bangalore (“elite” includes the middle class). What about the thousands and thousands of illiterate (sometimes poorly-educated) women who move from rural areas into the city? (The Pink Chaddi campaign somewhat overcame this by opening up some members’ houses as collection points for underwear). They are daily laborers at construction sites and maids at various households. They dress in traditional saris and salwar kameezes and face harassment on a daily basis. They would not know the meaning of the word ‘slut’, so how would they even learn about or go about participating in this protest?
It’s time for an inclusive, grassroots movement to counter sexual harassment against women in this city. And unfortunately, at this point, SlutWalk is not the answer.
allthingsprclass 