5.7.05
509. Word gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a womanWhoever intending to insult the modesty of any woman utters any word makes 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 woman or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine or with both.
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14 comments:
in a country where men are allowed to marry the women they raped, what would you define as "undisputable evidence" against people who indulge in sexual harassment all the time?
when actual bodily evidence amounts to nothing in a court of law while trying rapists, would a woman's statement about how the auto driver stares at her body in the rearview mirror count? would it count if woman after woman could get up in court and talk about how repulsive, how demeaning it is to have men mentally undress you on the street? or "claim their desires" as you so eloquently put it earlier by groping your body?
Gosh! Are you guys for real?
It's unbelievable that you guys are smart enough to visit blogs, search for penal codes and yet can discourage a blog like this.
Scared of being caught, are ya ;)?
This guy is clearly an idiot. The lawyers can only "sue" (that's the first time I've heard of suing under the IPC, what an idiot!) you if the persons concerned file a case of defamation, and this is clearly unlikely to happen. Also there's no public interest action under Section 501, victim's complaint is the usually only way in which action is taken. My (free) advice to junk_alpha is to leave the law to people who know something about it, and to do what it is that you're good at (e.g. watching porn, fantasising about "scoring" etc.)
PD.
maybe women wouldn't have to resort to scare tactics if men gave them basic respect and dignity. perhaps then they wouldn't have to go on the offesive and resort to nipping the evil in the bud.i.e. thought
All action starts with thought, when a man grabs your butt or breast on the road, or rubs up against you in a bus,it started with the thought.
I think what we're looking for is more of a change of attitude, a social change rather than pointless legal battles. The camel isn't dead yet.
junk_alpha - you clearly need to be ignored because with your "unlimited resources and unlimited time", all you choose to do is argue endlessly.
j a, since you seem serious about this, what alternative do you offer? if you don't agree with it, you need a valid alternative or your disagreement is pointless.
sounds like junk_alpha enjoys squabbling with the ladies :)
Besides it seems to me that he has put forward some interesting points. I think rather than arguing [arguing is easy anyone can do it] it would make more sense to see what constructive solutions we can work out together.
ps- i think it's always good to have an opposing view, helps you cover all poossibilities.
hey there!
agony aunt
agreed that junk alpha has placed opposing views.
where do you place yourself in this?
thankyou for all your comments junk a on what we could do instead
we are attempting to address/ confront things where they happen. It is another mode of operation, intention etc. by doing so we are not 'changing the world', but creating dialogue spaces.
yes there have been plans of working with schools etc. but they have been put to a later stage, when the participants have personally immersed themselves and know what goes on before they think they can tell others about it.
It's interesting to see the alternatives and opposing points of view posted in the comment boxes of entries. The suggestions to do something more
concrete than demonstrating, to stop hoping for miracles, to stop expecting that men will not grope in a year or two, to 'understand' that leching is not an offense, that a man can mentally undress a woman.
What surprises me is the complete lack of sensitivity in these comments.
Because what is not being recognised is that eve teasing or street harassment or leching or groping - call it what you want - is not seen as an offence. That's the bottom line here. It's also the starting post. As young girls in school uniforms, awkward teenagers in shorts or grown women in salwar-kameezes, we are made to think that it 'happens' and you can do nothing about it.
We've all had terrible experiences. How many of us have had our breasts grabbed? How many of us have had men in crowded buses jerking off against our backs? Do we talk about it? No. Are we made to feel like it's not our fault? No. Why? Because it happens. Men ruled by libidos, do things like this. As junk_alpha pointed out, demeaning thoughts may not be an offense under the law. But what about the scars left on a woman when it happens? The feeling that your body is dirty and unworthy, that's a playground only for lust and not tenderness? Is legality the only space for this? What about humane sensitivity?
What Jasmeen is doing with Blank Noise is trying to first get recognition that eve teasing is not okay. That just because thousands of men do it and thousands of women are victims every minute of every day, it's not bloody okay. No-one has a right to lech at my body and imagine what I look like naked. First you need to have the issue recognised and out there, in your face, before you can do anything else.
Going to the police is an option open to us. Whether or not you choose to is entirely personal. For many of us, it ceases to be a choice because of the insensitive manner in which the complaint is treated. A friend of mine was taking her morning walk when a grown man flashed himself to her. When she complained to the police, they just told her to walk elsewhere. Another was told to wear a dupatta. Another was told that men are "like that only". I was once told not to walk on Cubbon Road. Simple. Just don't walk because,again, raging libidos cannot be protected against.
The public demonstrations, banners, the pictures on the blog are not "scare tactics" or pointless. Because ultimately, unless something is taken into the public space screaming for attention, nothing can be done. The legal alternatives, educating young girls, dialogues, platforms, everything else
can only begin when people open their eyes to the issue.
Instead of constantly posing a smart answer and a legal loophole to every initiative of Blank Noise, why don't people join in? It may be very interesting and intellectually stimulating to argue for and against, to analyse and discard, to banter, to offer alternatives, to point out
mistakes, to threaten and criticise...very interesting, indeed.
But, on the 15th, how many of you are going to be there at Majestic with Jasmeen to take one step into the public space? Because eventually that's
what counts.
Jasmeen - as far as the issue of street harassment goes, i'm glad that someone is finally drawing attention to the severity of the problem we face. And i sincerely hope that this will bring about awareness and help effect a change in attitude towards women.
as far as the war of words above is concerned, I think you've got enough eloquent speakers on both sides, so i'll reserve my opinions for now.
I do hope that this develops into something practical and constructive, so that people are able to see and understand the real need rather than a mob of angry women.
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