I goggled eve teasing and found many hits. Some thought provoking and shocking facts and figures about eve teasing in India are as follows:
# the expression eve teasing is Indian in origin. You won’t find it in most of the dictionaries. Native speakers of English do not use it.
# Studies show that 32 percent of the eve teasers are students, 35 percent are anti socials while the remaining 33 percent are middle aged men.
# the number of registered cases of sexual crimes against women in India increases from 67, 072 in 1988 to 84000 in 1993.In 1995 alone, more than 25000 cases of molestation and 12000 cases of rape were reported in the capital city of New Delhi. It is estimated that well over 80 percent of the sexual crimes go unreported. For example, 7643 of the 50000 estimated instances of violence against women were reported to the police even in Kerala, a south Indian state with the highest women literacy rate.
# An increasingly large number of college going women taking public transportation in Delhi have resorted to carrying pins, pen knives , and even daggers as a deterrent . Others have taken self defense classes.
# a recent survey revealed that approximately 90 percent of college women in New Delhi have experienced sexual harassment in some shape or form. Yet, it is estimated that only about 1 in 10000 eve teasing occurrences are reported to the police.
# 98 percent of the women have stated that sexual harassment on roads has affected their personal or academic development in one way or the other.
These facts may appear untrue and horrifying but they clearly show the plight of women in India. The condition is deteriorating every day. It is high time, therefore, that we include eve teasing as a Tort under a new head of liability and curb this heinous practice.
Can The Term Sexual Harassment During Eve Teasing Amount To Defamation, Assault And Intensional Infliction Of Emotional Distress.
Sexual Harassment
Before embarking upon the examination of the law related to sexual harassment, it is important to understand what sexual harassment is. Sexual harassment refers to a conduct of sexual nature, which has neither been solicited nor invited by the complainant. The supreme court of India defined sexual harassment to include ‘such unwelcome sexually determined behavior as physical contacts and advance, sexually colored remarks, showing pornography and sexual demands, whether by words or actions. Such conduct can be humiliating and may constitute a health and safety problem; it is discriminatory when the women has reasonable grounds to believe that her objection would disadvantages her in connection with her employment, including recruiting or promotion, or when it creates a hostile working environment. This definition of sexual harassment is similar to that given in other jurisdictions. Sexual harassment also includes what is called the quid pro quo sexual harassment. It occurs in employment establishments, where as a pre-condition to receiving employment or employment benefits, an employee agrees to confer sexual favors to meet the employers demand. However, these related laws are framed as offences that either amount to obscenity in public or act that are seen to violate the modesty of women under sections 294, 354 and 509 of the IPC. While section 294 IPC is a law applicable to both men and women, the latter two are specifically oriented towards women.
Comprehensive illustrations of Sexual Harassment are also given by the National Commission of Women in India. It states that unwelcome sexual conduct includes eve teasing, unsavory remarks, jokes that cause or are likely to cause awkwardness or embarrassment, innuendos and taunts, gender-based insults or sexiest remarks, unwelcome tone in any matter such as over telephone (unpleasant telephone call) and the like, touching or brushing against any part of another’s body and the like, displaying pornographic or other offensive or derogatory pictures, physical confinement against one’s will and any other act likely to affect one’s privacy.
Eve Teasing
The term Eve teasing is used to refer to sexual harassment of women in public places such as the streets, public transportation, parks, beaches, and cinema halls. This type of a public harassment by a lone man or gangs of women includes such as verbal assaults such as making passes or unwelcome sexual jokes: nonverbal assaults such as showing obscene gestures, winking, whistling, and staring; and physical assaults such as pinching, fondling and rubbing against women in public places. In addition, several instances of eve teasing have been followed by more violent assaults such as rape and murder.
Eve teasing is a euphemistic expression that lives in post – colonial India and refers largely to sexual harassment of women in public places, thereby constituting women as eves, temptresses who provoke men into sexual titillation. This popular perception of sexual harassment posits the phenomena as a joke where women are both a tease and deserve to be teased. Considered a growing problem throughout the sub – continent, eve teasing ranges in severity from sexually coloured remarks to outright groping. It is the same story every day.
The structure of Indian society has always been male dominated. But in the modern era, women tried to break the centuries of shackles by venturing into male dominated areas. Though, we have grown by leaps and bounds yet the most basic structure of society is showing no signs of improvement.
A thorough look at the news paper daily shows you so many incidents against woman. Eve teasing is a huge issue in many metropolitan cities of India. .A large percentages of Indian women have faced or are facing this menace. Whether it is a public transport system or public places or shopping malls or multiplexes, women find themselves vulnerable to the threat of eve teasing everywhere. Eve teasing is complex problem and it requires more attention that what it has actually got.
As we know, the term ‘eve teasing’ is an Indian origin. The term itself has some demerits. Eve represents temptress and the term actually signifies that eves (women) tempt or provoke males for vulgar comments and behaviors. Ironically, that also means women cause the problem and are also a victim to it. But that is almost like blaming the victims for their sufferings. It also depicts an element of male chauvinism.
Eve teasing is a very common social problem and everyday women come across some form of eve teasing. In this case, do you think that women should be empowered to fight back to end this evil act – Explain and Illustrate
“Aai shundori, ekta gaan shuney jao na”, said one of the boys. “Ekdin toh amar shathey jetei hobey”, said another. Terrified, fourteen year old Lima kept her head lowered and quickened her pace as she walked to school. That group of notorious boys heckling her again as they have been for the past few weeks. Three months ago one of the girls in her school committed suicide. When she heard the news, Lima couldn’t figure out why another young girl like her would take her own life. That was until all this daily harassment started. She thought to herself, “So this is what Shathi must have felt like, this humiliation, this embarrassment, this is why she killed herself . . . so this is the terrible ‘Eve Teasing’.”
Eve teasing is a euphemism used for public sexual harassment, street harassment or molestation of women by men. It is a growing social problem considered to be related to delinquency in youth. This is a form of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places, catcalls, to outright groping. Sometimes it is referred to with a coy suggestion of innocent fun, making it appear harmless with no resulting liability on the part of the performer. Eve teasing, as heinous as it is, is thus also a difficult crime to prove. In my opinion, eve teasing is a very serious moral and social crime carried out by ruffians in the most degrading manner and it is not so much an act of masculinity but rather of low-life cowardice.
Eve teasing and molestation are problems that women all over the world, especially in India, grapple with everyday. Often, many women are unaware of the laws and regulations that give them protection against such acts. Here are some of the key legal sections dealing with sexual offences against women that all women must know about.
On 1st January 2017, the nation was shocked at the event that took place at the third safest city in India, Bangalore. The girls on the street were touched and grabbed, groped, catcalled, and abused without any hesitation and reluctance. Despite as many as 1,500 policemen being present on the streets, they were not able to avoid an incident of this nature. This shameful display of sexual violence took place when women were leaving the pubs after celebrating on New Year’s Eve, where they ran into drunken hooligans who allegedly tried to molest them.
It is true that it is not the first time an incident of this nature has happened in a city. But for the first time ever, a molestation of this nature has happened at such a large scale. From time immemorial, we have only tried to hide this ghastly and sickening mentality by brushing such crimes under the carpet and blaming the victims, thereby normalizing the existence of “rape culture”.
It is sad to see that despite there being CCTV footage, countless eyewitnesses, and newspaper and news channel coverage on the subject, the police is still unable to help the 756 cases reported in one night. Significantly, the police themselves took suo moto action against the molestation that took place in a deserted lane in Kammanahalli.
One of the witnesses to the night shared her despair, stating, “They grabbed women’s hair and pulled at their clothes. I saw a woman weeping. She was bleeding and had scratches. It was very scary. Even after years of protesting and fighting for women’s safety, this was a stark reminder that India hasn’t learnt its lesson still.”
However, there are legal options against eve-teasing which women should be informed about.
Here are some sections of the Criminal Procedure Code one should always keep in mind that will help and aid in getting justice:
Section 294: This section gives protection to a girl from men who annoy her by committing any act of obscenity in public. This section also gives protection to women from men who pass cheap comments or sing obscene songs to bother her. This offence is a bailable one, but the punishment is for a maximum period of three months.
Section 354: This section deals with the offence popularly known as molestation. Section 354 applies when the acts of the accused go beyond causing insult or annoyance to the modesty of a woman, and there is a clear threat of physical harm to her, which also shocks the sense of modesty. It is a non-bailable offence, and the term for imprisonment extends from 1-5 years. So if a man tries to touch or grope a woman, he can be charged under this section.
Section 354 A: This section gives you protection from sexual harassment. If a man tries to make physical contact, or a request for sexual favors, or makes a sexually coloured remark, or shows you pornography, then he has committed the offence of sexual harassment. A person cannot try to solve the issue out-of-court and can be punished with imprisonment up to three years.
Section 354 B: Section 354 B can be applied if any man assaults or uses criminal force against any woman, or abets her in such a manner that his intention is of disrobing or compelling her to be naked. If any person forces a woman to strip naked, then they can be imprisoned for at least three years, extendable to seven years too.
Section 354 C: This section is applicable if any man watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act, in circumstances where she would usually not expect someone to observe her. As this offence falls against the right to privacy, the accused can be imprisoned for a period up to three years if its his first conviction. If it’s his second conviction, he will be convicted for a minimum period of three years and a maximum period of seven years.
Section 354 D: Section 354 D applies if a woman thinks that a man is following her, or trying to make contact or attempting to make contact with her, with an intention to foster personal interaction, repeatedly, despite a clear indication of disinterest by the woman. It also applies if the man monitors the woman through the internet, email, or any other form of electronic communication, commonly recognised as the offence of stalking. If it is the first conviction, the court shall imprison the accused for a term extendable to three years, but if it is the second conviction for the same offence, the imprisonment will be for a period of 3-5 years.
Section 509: This section applies if a man utters any word with the intention of insulting a woman’s modesty. It also applies to any sound or gesture, or any object used to intrude upon the privacy of the woman. Under this section, the accused will punished with imprisonment for a period extendab
