Indian OWC versus AWARE sluts showdown in New Delhi!

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Jun 28, 2011
Indian group warns women joining 'SlutWalk'

NEW DELHI - A RIGHT-WING group warned on Tuesday that 'India will not tolerate' women intending to wear skimpy clothing and march in the country's proposed first 'SlutWalk'.

'SlutWalks', which have become a global phenomenon to protest sexual violence, sees scantily attired women march to challenge the mindset that victims of sexual assault should be blamed for the crimes against them.

A spokesman for the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said: 'India will not tolerate anything that crosses the limits of our culture. In any case, India already offers women a lot of respect so I am unclear about the purpose of this event.'

The march, scheduled to take place in New Delhi, has already been postponed once from earlier this month and a new date has not been confirmed.

Although organisers have changed the name to a tamer-sounding 'Besharmi Morcha' (Shameless Front) and asked women to wear their everyday attire, the VHP warned participants against donning western-style clothing.

Leering and harassment are a daily menace for women in the capital and a woman is raped on average every 18 hours, according to the latest police figures. -- AFP

 

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Slut Walk to Arrive in Delhi to Change Mindsets
Originated in Toronto, Canada in 2011, Slut Walk is a protest against the rigid mindset of people who believe that the women become victims of sexual harassments because of what they wear and do. It is scheduled to take place on

the 25th June 2011 at 01:00 pm IST in Delhi.

A police officer in Toronto made a comment at the York University that 'women should avoid dressing up like sluts in order not to be victimised'.

And two months later on April 3, 2011, the city witnessed a thousand people on the streets protesting against this derogatory remark in the form of Slut walks. The women got down on the streets wearing revealing outfits and T-shirts with the word 'slut' written on them. Soon, people in North America, Australia and Britain began organizing slut walks on their own raising their voices against the men who blamed women for being raped.

Slut Walk, Delhi 2011 (to take place on June 25th, 2011 at 1:00 pm IST) aims to alter the definition of the word 'Slut', to eliminate the shame attached to it and restore it with dignity. Words like 'slut' insult a woman, makes her feel ashamed of her act and disgraces her. One does not become a slut if she has more than one sexual partner or wears whatever she wants or has dated a number of men in the past.

Every day we come across a number of news stories about the rape and molestation cases in the country. 'Delhi is unsafe for girls and women' is a statement that has become too common to the ears. Not just Delhi, things are pretty bad in other metros and several other parts of the country. Girls have to deal with harassment in buses/metros, on the roads, in the clubs, in daytime, and at times in full public view. Girls from a very early age are taught how to behave in public, how to dress up, not to laugh out loud, avoid men who stare them, learn 'karate', act in a sophisticated manner and hundreds of other things. Why? To prevent them from getting raped?

The female is blamed for the rape just because she was walking alone on a street, was wearing a dress in the night or wasn't accompanied by her father or brother? What kind of a place do we live in? One where all the girls and women are unsafe and prone to sexual assaults?

The whole idea of the walk revolves around the fact that no woman 'likes' to be raped and hence, would NEVER call for it in any manner. The problem lies in the minds of the rapists and not in what women wear and how they dress up or walk. There is nothing wrong in wearing short skirts or low cut tops and walking in high heels wearing make up. The people who experience such sexual assaults are not to blame. The thought process of this male-dominated society needs to be changed. Not women, but men should be taught not to indulge into the act of sexual harassment and look upon women as independent people and not as mere objects of desire.

This is definitely a bold and strong movement in a nation like India where female victim of rape is often excluded from the society. (MensXP.com)

 

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Ah neh OWC in action!

 

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Indian women protest sexual violence with SlutWalk
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	Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of New Delhi for India's first "Slut Walk" on Sunday, to protest at an alarming rise in sexual assault cases and the growing sense of insecurity among women
	Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of New Delhi for India's first "Slut Walk" on Sunday, to protest at an alarming rise in sexual assault cases and the growing sense of insecurity among women

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Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of New Delhi for India's first "Slut Walk" on Sunday, to protest at an alarming rise in sexual assault cases and the growing sense of insecurity among women.

"Slut Walks", which have become a global phenomenon to protest against sexual violence, see women march dressed in skimpy clothing to challenge the mindset that victims of sexual assault should be blamed for the crimes against them.

But most of the women participating in the protest in New Delhi chose to wear loose T-shirts and trousers, as they felt the cause was more important than the clothes.

"It is time for Indian women to speak out and fight for their own security. Indian women are not sluts and men have no right to treat us like one," 22-year-old student Ashima Awal told AFP.

A 2010 survey found that 85 percent of women in Delhi feared being harassed, and many of those at Sunday's march said being groped or molested was an almost daily occurrence.

"Even if we are covered from head to toe, we get molested. Men just need an opportunity to harass women," said Raksha Gupta, a housewife who took part in the protest along with her husband and her in-laws.

"Groping and staring at women in public spaces is a sport in the national capital, several men can win gold medals here," said Uma Jaysingh, a student who uses public transport to travel to college.

"I take a deep breathe when I get in the bus and always keep a pepper spray in my bag," said Jaysingh, who believes fighting back against sexual assault is the only way to control it.

"Indian women have to be street smart and they cannot choose to be delicate darling anymore."

New Delhi now tops the chart of the most unsafe cities in India, with 489 reported rape cases in 2010, up from 459 in 2009, according to police statistics.

In the 2010 survey by the Delhi government, the United Nations and women's rights group Jagori (Wake Up Women), 45 percent of women said they avoided stepping out alone after dark and 65 percent feared taking public transport.

A number of men joined their wives, girlfriends, daughters and nieces on the protest march.

"I don't want my daughter to ever deal with sexual harassment. Men will have tell other men to stop this crime," said Ajay Mathur, a father of two teenage daughters.

"I have trained my daughters to shout if someone makes a lewd remark," said Mathur, who said he felt that most Indian women were often too shy or embarrassed to report incidents of sexual crime.

India's rapid economic growth has thrown open new job opportunities for women, while attitudes to pre-marital relationships and sex have also transformed in middle class areas of major cities.

But women seen as modern and independent complain they are viewed by men as "easy".

"If a woman is standing alone waiting for a cab or a bus at night, men will stop next to her and check her out," said Achla Sachdev, 26, who works for a bank.

"I hate this feeling of being unsafe and insecure in my own city."

The Slut Walk has faced opposition in India, with many viewing the title as provocative and distracting attention from a serious issue -- prompting the organisers to soften it by adding the Hindi term for "shamelessness" to the name.

Its full title is Slut Walk or Besharmi Morcha (shameless front).

Umang Sabharwal, the 19-year-old journalism student who organised Sunday's march, said the focus should be on the issue, not the name of the protest.

"People should oppose crime against women. There is no need to oppose the name, Slut Walk," she said.

Jagori worker Prabhleen, who uses only one name, told AFP last week that women in India do not feel free to do what they want.

"You are constantly reminded that being a woman you need to have a checklist with you, be careful where you are going, when you are going and whether you are wearing the right dress or not," she said.