The cases of sexual harassment on the streets have seen an increase of 93 percent since 2022.
Cases of sexual harassment on the streets in Karnataka have increased from 2022, statistics from Karnataka State Police show. The number of cases registered across the state has gone up by 93 percent from last year. The most number of cases has been registered in August this year.
Samiksha, student of Christ University, said that there have been numerous cases of eve-teasing with her and her friends when they were exploring the city. She said, “Once, I took an auto rickshaw for an evening trip. The driver started asking very personal questions and even commented on the clothes I wore, and it was a very uncomfortable experience for me.” She added, “I made him stop halfway and stepped out of the rickshaw, and he followed me for a while. He left only when I started walking towards a traffic policeman.”
Zacharias Joseph, who is a resident of Indiranagar, recalled an incident where his sister became a victim of eve-teasing in front of him. He said, “My elder sister and I were at an ATM, and I caught the ATM guard taking pictures of my sister, which made me very angry. We found out that he had taken pictures of other women who used that ATM as well.”
He added, “I wanted to report him to the police right away, but he begged that he has a wife at home who just gave birth, and people around asked me to leave him alone. The incident still makes me agitated to think about.”
An official from the Bengaluru City Police said that they are working to spread more awareness about the women’s helpline, 1091, so more women can report right away when they become victims of eve-teasing. “Many women do not know that even slight offence under eve-teasing can be reported through the helpline, and we are readily available to file the case, from any police station in the city,” he said.
A non-government organisation which has been working towards fighting sexual harassment said that the numbers of cases registered are fewer than what is actually on the ground. They added, “Many women face eve-teasing every day, but the cases actually registered are very less. This could be because some culprits are very fast, or women are hesitant to file a case, even though eve-teasing is an offence which can be filed. Normalising is harmful.”
Dr. Sudeshna Mukherjee, Associate Professor of Feminist studies in Bangalore University, said that there are a lot of cultural issues in the matter of stalking. She said that what is shown in movies and social media has a big difference from reality. Though stalking and public sexual harassment is much normalised in the movies, the same thing when done in real life would land someone in jail.
She added that better education about sensitization towards stalking from young age could help reduce the problem. She said, “Girls should be taught to say no if they do not feel comfortable, and boys need to be taught to take a no as a no, and not anything else.” She also said that identifying problematic areas with more cases and increasing patrolling in those areas can help provide better safety.
