On the streets we fight!!

"You are walking on a crowded footpath when suddenly you feel a hand rubbing against your derriere"

"Standing in a crowded bus,whenever the bus brakes,a male body rubs against you for longer than acceptable"

"You are at the tailor giving your measurements when the tailor accidentally touches your boobs and lingers there"

If you are a woman living in India,chances are that you have been groped in public at-least once in your life.Reality is that we are so used to being groped that we are always prepared for it.

Our initiation into this mode of living starts pretty early.Even as children,little girls not old enough to understand the implication of molestation and sexual abuse,we could make out the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch.At first you do not understand how or why it happened.But in most cases we dont know what to do about it,so we let it be.Then as we start growing older and more aware of ourselves and our bodies,the incidence of such instances suddenly increases,maybe because we have become more aware or maybe because these predators like to prey on vulnerable adolescents who may not fight back.At first you are too shocked to know how to react in such situations,along with a mix of embarrassment and shame,believing that "you" as a young woman have done something to attract the unwanted attention of passing males.

As we grow older,more independent and more confident,you learn to gradually dodge those groping hands,shield your body from the accidental touches by using our hands,books,bags etc as a physical barrier.You learn to avoid crowded places if possible.You learn to hit back,elbowing or poking those hands away.
And as you become more confident, you realize that you cannot let the perpetrator get away with it,you start shouting,slapping,creating a scene so that you embarrass him and shame him, Hoping that he learns his lesson, hoping that he wont repeat it again to somebody else, either for fear of retaliation or something else.

In the context of discussions about how India has become unsafe for women following the brutal gang-rape of a woman in delhi, one must realize that India has always been unsafe for women,but what has changed is that women are not accepting it silently anymore,we have become more vocal about our rights,our right to freedom,our right to our bodies,and our right to retaliate.

While it is imperative that there is a need for change in mindset of males in our patriarchal society,we must also realize that we, as women should also keep fighting, not just in the courts but also on the streets everyday,everywhere, whenever we encounter these incidences of groping and molestation,we should fight back immediately,we should raise a hue and cry, hit back, embarrass them till they stop doing it.
Only then will we be able to stop the bigger crimes, because our Silence is their biggest weapon. If we keep fighting back for the smaller things will we be able to prevent them from doing the bigger crimes against women.