Eve teasing is very common social problem and every day women come across some form of eve teasing. And women should be empowered to fight back due to end this evil act.
Introduction
Eve Teasing is very common. Everyday women come across some form of eve teasing. What should women do? Should they speak up or remain quite? Read on the article and fight back the eve teasers. Women should be empowered to fight back, and then only this evil will be weeded out. Eve teasing is a euphemism used in India and sometimes Pakikstan, Bangladesh and Nepal for public sexual harassment, street harassment or molestation of women by men, with Eve being a reference to the biblical Eve.
Considered a problem related to delinquency in youth it 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 innocuous with no resulting liability on the part of the perpetrator. Many feminists and voluntary organizations have suggested that the expression be replaced by a more appropriate term. According to them, considering the semantic roots of the term in Indian English, eve-teasing refers to the temptress nature of Eve, placing responsibility on the woman as a tease, as though the aggressive response of the males was normal rather than criminal. Eve-teasing has been a notoriously difficult crime to prove, as perpetrators often devise ingenious ways to attack women, even though many feminist writers term it as “little rapes”, and usually occur in public places, streets, and public transport.
Some guidebooks to the region warn female tourists that eve teasing may be avoided by wearing conservative clothing, though eve teasing is reported both by Indian women and by conservatively-dressed foreign women.
(A) What is eve-teasing?
Eve-teasing is normally meant as teasing a girl or woman. “Eve-teasing” refers to public sexual harassment or street harassment to a girl by a boy, when it turns into a serious issue. Eve-teasing is a very common term in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
(B) Eve-Teasing in Bangladesh:
Eve teasing is not a new problem in Bangladesh. It is a concern since many years. Almost every young girl is a victim of teasing, especially by the local young teaser. The most of the people may avoid it as a common matter with young generation. Yes, it is. But it is not every time. It can be tolerated until no girl is being attacked. But when it crosses the line, it will raise as a problem to us. It is surely a social problem. These days, many girls have committed suicide only to safe themselves from eve-teasing. That means, eve-teasing in Bangladesh has reached its maximum range. This is against the women rights without any doubt. Those who are involved with this kind of embarrass stuff can be named as a terrorist.
The teasers wait in schools, colleges or outside the house gate and as soon as girls walk passed by them they start teasing with ribald comments, smutty jokes, coarse laughter, sly whistles and even indecent exposure.
According to a daily newspaper, two girl committed suicide only in October 2010. In the last 7 months there 4 girls were killed and 42 were injured. Well, this is just a ruff measurement, which came across the people’s attention. There happened many occurrences like this, which were not published in the newspaper. In most of the cases, the victims shy to exposes these incidents.
(C) Various forms of Eve Teasing in Bangladesh
Eve-teasing has attacked our society in various forms. With all its forms it is destroying the society.
1. Eve-teasing with school going female students: At the adolescent age, male students while passing by a school make many indecent remarks hurting the female students. An adolescent young boy follows a girl from her school to her residence just to attract the attention of the girl. Such other ways of eave-teasing are passing bad comments and writing indecent letters etc. In some cases, some eve-teasers venture themselves to make a relation with a young girl forcibly. It puts the concerned girl into such a mental trauma that it is hard to bear. Following such mental trauma some young girls take their lives and thus a potential life comes to an end.
2. Eve-teasing on mobile: Eve-teasing on mobile phone has become the most popular form. A stalker, getting a mobile phone, starts teasing a girl in many ways. At first, he sends SMS in ornamental and rhetorical language to which a young girls easily falls victim as she is also an adolescent. Becoming a victim to this, a young girl develops a relation, on which that particular boy capitalizes. Some intimate moments are captured by hidden camera or video recorder and these are later on circulated through the internet. That is a reason why mobile phone sometimes becomes a curse despite its multiple benefits.
3. Sexual harassment by internet: Of late the young boys and girls in the cities are used to chatting through internet by which they come closer to each other. Being adolescent, the boys and girls fall victim to their sensuality extreme world.
(D)Causes behind the Eve Teasing
As the days going on, some social issues are becoming more and more dangerous. From load shedding to price hiking, crimes to calamities our country is going to change its usual nature. But the matter of fact that pained me to write this article is “eve teasing”
Some people considered it as a newly formed social issues. But the actual reality is its not a new problem here in Bangladesh. From the originate of society there are many discrimination between different gender. But the people actually the male has a nature or habit of insulting female. May be it hurts the readers who read this article specially the male readers but it is a true fact that this is a shame of being a male person here in BD. So, let me give you common reason of eve teasing.
1. Having a strong attraction to opposite sex. It is only granted for male people.
2. Giving less importance on gender discrimination problem.
3. Failing to educating girls. Its mean inadequate scope for female education.
4. Destruction of our social values. Respecting others, helping others and among them the way of showing love.
5.Last but not the lest, our sense or thoughts towards women.
May be there are also many issues that works behind eve teasing, so I can use etc. But its till a shame for us.
At last, I want to say in a regretted mind that i am still looking for the proper steps to eradicate eve teasing. I will give you sound if i find them. Till then hope you are also looking for that. Isn’t it?
(E) Eve Teasing’ in Bangladesh – A Social Curse
Our Society is suffering from many social evils at the moment. One of the worst evils is the Eve Teasing. Eve Teasing is a term which usually involves young men annoying or disquieting girls or women by making sexual innuendos against them in public or in work places. Education Ministry in Bangladesh has designated 13th June, 2010 as Eve Teasing Protection Day. This declaration reflects increasing concern over the worrying number of girls and women who have committed suicide in the country to escape sexual harassment known as Eve Teasing.
School and College gates or the street is main the target of the wayward young men to disturb girls and women. Ain-O-Shalish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organization reveal that 14 girls and women have taken their own lives over the past four months across the country for Eve Teasing. In addition, a father and a daughter also committed suicide jointly – in an incident blamed by the authorities on Eve Teasing – while police say three males who publicly protested against the practice have been killed by stalkers over the past 12 weeks.
It is moral duty, social obligation and legal right to fight against Eve Teasing. Education Ministry initiated with the declare 13th June as the Eve Teasing Protection Day, which is encouraged to protect this social evil. But it must be removed at any cost.
(F) Outcome of Eve Teasing
There is several consequence of eve teasing. It affects the women’s life horribly that the effected women should need to take the necessary steps for his life. Some of the consequences are given below.
1: Suicide: Suicide is the ultimate path for some woes. Like simian who was a student of the institute of fine Arts Bangladesh at Dhaka University was victim of the local boys regularly and choose the path of death by selecting suicide.
2: Lost the mind: Many girls lost their mind and go abnormal or cause mental disease from fast ration. After the victim she don’t go out from home and live in a nightmare of eve teasers, and then followed by depression and atlas lost their mind.
3: Early Marriage: In local village of Bangladesh the local school going girls, garments workers and college girls are victim of eve teasing, so the common scenario of their family is to give marriage of that girl. It also a reason of early marriage and pregnancy related death.
4: Reduce the mobility of the women: In fact, within the patriarchal social fabric, eve-teasing is a weapon to weaken, hurt or force women to consign to domestic affairs. It restricts women’s mobility in the public sphere, which contributes to their diminishing participation in outdoor activities.
5: Security: Given the strict patriarchal social system, it is almost daring for a woman to protest against teasing in public places. That may further endanger her security, on the one hand, and there is possibility that she herself will be held responsible for the incident. In our society, it is usually the girl who is finally held responsible for such incidents.
(G) Laws Against the eve teasing in Bangladesh
And our country, yet now there is no strict law that can effectively curb eve teasing. Article 76 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 of the Penal Code of 1860 affirms that any acts, conducts or verbal abuses that are used to disgrace women are punishable by law. However, these provisions seem minor compared with the crimes they commit. Bangladesh was one of the first developing countries to establish a Ministry if Womens affairs in 1978. His constitution of Bangladesh ensures the equal rights for every citizen in the country. But violence and discriminatory treatment against women has remained widespread across the country IN women and children “Repression and prevention Act 2000 an excellent provision was included in section article 10 that greasing a woman like making obscene comments or gestures was an effort covered by it providing for up to seven years of simple imprisonment or meticulous imprisonment for two years. But the act was amendment in 2003 where no one could be charged with sexual abuse of women until it is physical. The change is fuming the women rights activists. The change has come at a time when harassment of women has increased in Bangladesh. But one can enforce her right under section 509 of the Penal code where it is clearly stated that if anybody intending to insult the modesty of any women, utters any word, make any sound or gesture or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such women, or intrudes upon the privacy of such women, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both.
(H) Step we should take to stop eve teasing
Education system must be premeditated in a way as to promote positive relationship between girls and boys, especially at a younger age. Co-education encourages competition, but the curriculum must target at building a healthy environment of learning rather than encouraging male-female contact unnecessarily. Boys from conservative backgrounds tend to follow girls more often than boys from rather liberal backgrounds.
Parents’ role is very significant. They should keep their children from bad influences. Parents must educate their children ‘what to’ or ‘what not to’ watch. They should adopt friendly relations with their children rather than being harsh with them.
Teachers must play their role to repeat moral teachings in the young minds in a more rational and modern way.
Policemen must be deployed and conscious. They should not create a kind of deterrence against such offensive acts and to punish such vagabonds where necessary.
The boys should respect the opposite sex, as morality demands it, adding that they should not be unaware to the fact that they have families too.
The parents should put utmost trust in their daughters, for this trust will give them the confidence to face the eve teasers bravely and not to be frightened by them.
Overall the most important is the consciousness of the women themselves. The girl should not ignore the teasing of eve teasers and don’t think what the people think of her if she give objection to such activities. They should protest strongly against such boys otherwise nobody can do anything against such eve teasers.
Empowerment of women to fight back against Eve teasing
Women come across some form of eve teasing on a daily basis. While the women forum and NGOs are trying to do something about it and media shows no sense of responsibility toward it (in fact some dramatists and directors are so blind that they make Bengali dramas which rather motivate youngsters to involve themselves in such abhor able act like eve teasing) – should women speak up or remain quite? Read on the article and fight back the eve teasers. Women should be empowered to fight back, and then only this evil will be weeded out. So what’s a woman to do: Many have resorted to carrying pins, pen-knives and even daggers as a deterrent? Others have taken self-defense classes and don’t hesitate before landing a karate chop on the offender’s shoulder blade.
Fight back: This doesn’t mean you have to sock your offender in the face – no matter how tempting it may be. But being too shy and reserved to speak up is just going to work against you. You’ve got to look your offender in the face and speak up as loud as you can. The crowd will automatically be on your side and you’ll have the satisfaction of watching the ball of slime mumble a denial and slink away.
If you’re being followed: Nothing psyches your follower as much as this: Just walk up to him and start yelling at the top your voice, without letting him gets a word in. Ask him for the name of his employer. Drop the ‘You don’t know who I am and who you’re messing with’ line. Tell him
You’re going to sic the police on his ass if he doesn’t do the vanishing act. (Not recommended if you’re talking to a 6 ft muscleman or to a group of hooligans, but a wimpy, skinny male will rue the day he crossed your path.)
Walk in well-lit and frequented areas: Don’t walk through a dark, lonely street or you’re only inviting trouble. In a well lit area you’ll be able to see and avoid potential offenders. Be Street smart: Don’t daydream and don’t look lost – even if you are. Look as if you know exactly where you are going.
Dress appropriately: If you are going to spend the day in crowded areas, don’t wear a mini skirt. True, women in salwarkameezes get harassed as well, but there’s no need to call attention to you. Save your skimpy clothes for the nightclubs, when you’re the one who’s on a prowl!
Know thy enemy: Is the guy across the street waiting for you to pass by? Does he look like he’s out for some ‘fun’? Is he huddled with other men and just hanging out, doing nothing in particular? Then it’s best to…
Avoid potential harassers: If you see a group of men hanging out, or a man who’s making eye contact with you and trying to get your attention, take a detour. Better safe than sorry.
Travel with a male escort: Though this may not always be possible, try and work out some arrangement where you have a male escort. Eve-teasers by and large target women who are without a male escort. Of course, if they are very frustrated, even the presence of a man may not deter them – so better safe than sorry. Take the necessary precautions, drive with your cell phone handy, don’t walk outdoors at night, and learn karate!
Conclusion
Eve teasing is increasing in very alarming rate in our country. We need to take a necessary step to prevent eve teasing from the root. We need to focus the prevention of eve teasing from the family. Everyday so many women are the victim of the eve teasing in several ways. Many of them commit suicide. So it takes the lives of the young girls and women’s. If people are more aware about it, if we can make the people believe that Eve teasing is a social crime this rate could be goes down.
Bibliography
“Combat the Scoundrel,” written by MD. AnwarulKabir posted on daily star 22/5/010
- “Eve teasing protirodh”, November 3, 2010 Prothom Alo, column 8, P.1.
- “Modhukhali” Prothom Alo, October 28, 2010. column 2, P.1.
- Prothom Alo, October 29, 2010, Column 5, P.1.
- “Eve Teasing-Karon o Protikar”, November 04, 2010 Amar Desh, column 7, P. 9.
- “Mass protest against eve teasing”, The financial express Bangladesh, October 31,2010.
- · “How to fight Back Against Eve teasers” written by SK. Arefin in BD tips on 24th November.
- Resources.,lawyersnjurists.com
- “Eve teasing a punish able offence” written by AdvocateSadekaJahan on October 1,2005