Street Harassment

Abstract

This study attempted to understand street harassment as experienced by young women in Delhi. Interviews were conducted with 20 women between the ages of 18 and 30 years to understand the nature of harassment they faced, its perceived consequences, their ways of coping with it, and the changes they felt were needed for them to feel safer. Findings revealed that harassment occurred most often in crowded spots and in broad daylight. High levels of harassment were attributed to factors like prevalent attitudes toward women and weak implementation of laws. Participants saw their lives as being restricted in several ways by the harassment. The police was seen as apathetic, and women took on themselves the responsibility for staying safe. Sometimes, women chose to defend themselves by moving away from harassers rather than confronting them due to fear of escalation. However, several participants felt that staying quiet allowed the perpetuation of harassment. The major change that women sought was more effective police functioning.

Gender, autonomy and return migration: negotiating street harassment in Lima, Peru

“…Unwanted sexual comments, catcalls, threats, whistling, flashing, rubbing up against others, touching, groping and masturbation are all common manifestations of street harassment (Dhillon and Bakaya 2014;Meza-de-Luna and García-Falconi 2014;Shoukry et al 2008;Ziets and Das 2017). As the list suggests, the most common form of street harassment is sexual.…”

“…Any threat of it may lead them to take precautionary steps, such as avoiding certain areas of a city, not going out alone, or staying at home at night (Koskela 1999;Koskela and Pain 2000). Other studies discovered links between experiences of street harassment and fear, frustration, lower self-esteem and restricted movements across settings (Dhillon and Bakaya 2014;Keyhan 2016). Other studies discovered links between experiences of street harassment and fear, frustration, lower self-esteem and restricted movements across settings (Dhillon and Bakaya 2014;Keyhan 2016).…”

“…Davidson et al (2016), focusing on collegeage women in the USA, found that experiencing street harassment increased anxiety. Other studies discovered links between experiences of street harassment and fear, frustration, lower self-esteem and restricted movements across settings (Dhillon and Bakaya 2014;Kearl 2015;Keyhan 2016). In short, fear of crime, particularly of sexual assault, encourages women to 'modify their use of public spaces' (Gardner et al 2017: 10) and to behave in ways that prevent them from fully enjoying some spaces, and so reducing their physical and psychological well-being.…”

Sexual Violence Against Women in India: Daily Life and Coping Strategies of Young Women in Delhi

“…However, the occurrence of sexual violence against women is not limited to the private sphere. In fact, figures indicate that the prevalence of sexual violence against women in public-for instance, verbal sexual harassment and unwanted touching-is even higher (Akhtar, 2013;Dhillon & Bakaya, 2014;Ramasubramanian & Oliver, 2003). Yet, despite the media coverage on brutal rapes in India (e.g., Yee, 2013), relatively little is known about how Indian women perceive the current situation and how they try to protect themselves from this assumed to be terrifying state of affairs.…”

“…The study further aims to investigate women's ideas about individual strategies to cope with the present situation, especially sexual violence in public. Dhillon & Bakaya, 2014). In fact, these forms of sexual violence in public are extremely prevalent in India (United Nations Women, 2013).…”