1.10.05


Every day, in every situation - on the streets, in public transport, markets, restaurants, educational institution, women face various degrees of harassment - from whistles, catcalls, cheap songs and rude remarks, to touching, pinching, flashing. When these go unchecked and unpunished, the result is often molestation, rape and violence.

34 comments:

J said...

oh no!!!!

manuscrypts said...

oh yes, you have hordes of anonymous readers..lol :)

hemangini said...

hey jasmine... when are you bringing blank noise to delhi? come visit me! (and bring along a mattress)

J said...

hi mangs!

will be in delhi nov 3rd week!!

sorry havent been around as much...back starting today

will surely carry a mattress

how's it going? does delhi fill you till the neck with the issue??

keep me posted

see you soon :)

Anonymous said...

hi jasmeen,

this is satyajit (NLS alumnus, B'lore). if u remember, we had spoken a couple of times abt ur project when i was in B'lore.. now thanks to ur blog, i can read up abt ur work.. i have moved to Bombay now - where r u based now? any chance of seeing u in Bombay?

do drop in an email sometime - my email is satyajit(dot)gupta(at)gmail(dot)com

cheers!

J said...

hello
there are plans and intentions of moving across cities.

I wil keep you posted through the blog

good to hear from you!

Anonymous said...

great :)

where are u now? it would be nice to catch up with u when u make it to Bombay! Keep me posted - you have my email id now..

cheers!

Anonymous said...

hey,

folks at NLS (law and society committee) are organizing '16 days of activism' focussing on violence against women (Nov 25 - Dec 10, 2005). i saw some mailing list email in which they were trying to contact u for your project.. has someone contacted u yet?

cheers!

Vijayalaxmi Hegde said...

Jasmeen, please check out this site: http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/

You'll need to move across countires!!

Neha said...

Hey Jasmeen, I was referred by Sonia through a comment on my blog. I love your site and have tremendous respect for what you are doing. My first thought was 'what a great idea!', my second thought, 'it's about time'! I'm sure most women around the globe would feel the same. Keep on keeping on.

Neha

P.S. To get rid of all that pesky scam you want to go to your blog dashboard > 'change settings' > 'comments' tab > select 'yes' for 'enable comment moderation'. This will result in a word verification dialoge on your comments window so that non-human entities can't leave spam comments.

Anonymous said...

hi,
i read the article abt ur works in the hindu magazine today,27.11.05. ivisited the website also.ur work is tremendous.keep going.i liked ur way of saying that its not a fight back against the actions of men but a way of finding a solution to existing problem.

That Girl said...

Hey Jasmeen,

Got to know abt you through The Hindu's Sunday supplement. You're doing a great job, keep it up.

And what you've said in this post - So true. And so sad. You know, apart from the root of a problem there's also a 'catalyst', which lets the problem grow to such enormity that it becomes hard to tackle it. And one of the most potent catalysts is IMMUNITY which is bred into the society by prolonged exposure to the problem. We get so used to it that we're reduced to a state of apathy, so that the problem ceases to matter any more....and when THAT happens you can be sure the problem's here to stay for good. Ditto with sexual harrassment. Rape might still move some of us, but everyone's got so used to the daily harrassment (for which we Indians have coined so convenient a term as 'eve teasing' - teasing! Like you affectionately 'tease' a kid) that it ceases to affect you any more. And there lies the problem. You can blame the crime on the perversion of its perpetrator; who do you blame for abetment to the crime? EVERYONE?!

J said...

thanks neha...just did that...and manually deleted the spam too...

J said...

when are the clothes reaching me?
when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?when are the clothes reaching me?

J said...

vijaylaxmi...that's a brilliant link youve sent me...thankyou!!

Anonymous said...

hey jasmeen... just read a lot about u on the hindu's sunday magazine.... YOU'RE DOIN' A GREAT JOB... KEEP IT UP!!!!

Anonymous said...

hi jasmeen
good to see this blog. came to know thru the paper. i remember when i was in school, abt 11yrs old, i was molested in the crowded bus by a middle aged man. i did not even understand then, when i say the sticky gluey white thing behind my skirt when i got down! ya, it happens everywhere, to everyone even if don't ASK for it!! i support this project and we need to voice against such harresment.
best wishes
HOT DOG
www.veggiebite.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

hi, got to know abt u from the hindu edition.i cant jus tell u how much i appreciate ur project.great work.

Anonymous said...

hi, got to know abt u from the hindu edition.i cant jus tell u how much i appreciate ur project.great work.

Ashwin said...

Found your blog through Hindu's Sunday article on eve teasing featuring you.

Great work, keep it going! :-)

Chandan Crasta said...

hi jasmine,

been quite a while...

am in delhi, working for Penguin. read about blank noise in the Hindu. am glad it's getting publicity. it's needed for an issue like this.

delhi is a harrowing place for women. real bad. you must know how it is.

all the best for your project and pray that it achieves it's purpose.

- chandan crasta

See Bee said...

hi jasmeen
i am so glad to know that someone is FINALLY doing someting about an issue which most indians think is a 'non issue'
and after looking at some of the clothes that have been displayed, i can conclude that sometimes the clothes may have NOTHING to do with the harassment...i guess just as long as ur remotely female..u "ask for it"
I would really like you to see the following article i posted on my blog - its about harassment of a different sort,,,do you know any forum that addresses the issue of e-stalking?
http://totaltrauma.blogspot.com/2005/09/greep-files-1.html

Anonymous said...

I read about you and your work on Hindu newspaper's sunday supplement. It is a really great project.

As a girl who travel to college by bus everyday I have been a victim to such harassment several times. My personal experience is that the dress has nothing to do with this; I was first harassed when I was studying in sixth standard and I was a small girl then and I couldnot even comprehend it at that time; Still I think when these people see a girl wearing anything remotely unconventional they take it as a sort of proof that she wants to be eve-teased..atleat that's what our society has been telling us all these times.

What you are doing is great; I was just thinking that if I had that pink frock I was wearing on that day in 6th standard when I was travelling with my mom, I could have sent it to you. May be I should search for it to see if it is anywhere here.

J said...

hi

thank you for visiting the blog

it would be great if you could send in the pink frock.


if you are unable to locate it... we could re create on based on your memory as a 12 year old.

there are many people writing in and telling me that they remember what they were wearing..but it was years ago...and they dont have those clothes anymore..
well in this case we can take the liberty of working on a garment based on memory...
meaning..you could write on it?
stitch on it?
describe it??
how ever you chose to express yourself in relation to 'provocation through clothes...'
let me know what you think and what suits you..

looking forward

SiriusBlack said...

hi...
there are many of us who are willing to help ya.... i read the news report on the sunday magazine... \
hats off to u. am trying to make many ppl read that report too. i'm always there to lend u a helping hand at madurai, tamilnadu...
keep the good work going...
all the best

SiriusBlack said...

hey,,,
i read the news report in the sunday magazine.. .wow .. .i'm really impressed at ur work..
and i'm always there to lend u a helping hand at madurai....
keep the good work going...
all the best

Anonymous said...

hi jasmeen

came to know of ur project from the Hindu.keep up the great work :-)
it takes guts to stand up and fight this menace.

Have been putting up with eve-teasing since school days, while travelling by bus.but never had the guts to go beyond asking the perpetrator to move away.and then of course, the whole bus would look at me as if was the guilty party-including other women.but you've spoken up-great job :-)

Eve-teasing seems to be more rampant in Kerala, my home state for some reason.(no offence meant, fellow malayalis)

whenever i am faced with such a situation next,I promise to send you material associated with the incident.

J said...

himasree

look forward to receiving them from you.

do keep in touch

Jasmeen

Mother Eagle said...

Hi Jasmeen,

Just visited your blog that was sent to me by a friend.

My first reaction - a BLACK web site!! A few minutes later I found myself saying "Very Appropriate" to the topic being addressed.

I am an NRI, born and grew up in India. Left India when I was 22 and come back to India for six months each year as part of my retirement - yes I am over sixty!

But reading your story made me go back and re-live my college years 40years ago and remember all the same cat calls, whistles, following and yes touching and groping etc. etc.

Some of the coments talk about the way women dress - believe me I never even wore a Salwar Kameez in those days - strictly half saree or sarees. It did not make any difference.

I see so many changes in India since I left - I felt it was superficial changes only - but now after reading this blog - I am sad to say that I was right. Nothing has changed!!!

Don't loose heart. I have become very tough over the years and am considered a change agent. Any thing can be achieved if one wants to achieve it badly enough!!

I am with you and willing to help in any way I can.

My business associates and my very supportive husband are all willing to support you and have a great idea to spread the word and educate people and say to other women - "hey you are not alone" we are here to support you.

Let us meet and discuss further.

Mother Eagle

J said...

hello mother eagle

thanking you and your team- both family and business associates for all the support.

how does different is it to be on the streets in india now? at 60? could you elaborate a little on that.

the general assumption is that young women/ girls experience street sexual harasssment...what is your take?

J said...

EVERY ONE EVERY WHERE! ALL THOSE OFFERING TO HELP!!

ATTENTION!!!

PLEASE START COLLECTING CLOTHES IN YOUR CITIES AND SEND THEM IN.

WE WILL EVENTUALLY PUT THEM OUT ON THE STREETS...PERHAPS ACROSS DIFFERENT CITIES

Anonymous said...

hi,
i came to know about your project through "the hindu" newspaper. I give all my support to you and appreciate your boldness. Hope more girls can change their minds by seeing you.

I strongly believe that all males are not indulging in such activities and such guys will support your cause. They will understand how much you people are hurt.

Then about your project i'm not clear about the objective of the project. Are you trying to prove that all these things happening in the society? and we all know that it is happening. Then to whom u r trying to prove?

As a part of collecting the clothes do think that girls who were wearing sexy dresses will send the dresses to you. And of course i don't want to justify eve-teasing bcoz of that.

If you are trying to prove some point to eve teasers i donno how much u r going to succeed. Any way all the best and let your project be effective

Prasheila said...

Hi Jasmeen! Read about your work in the Hindu. Commendable! If I were to send you the clothes, my wardrobe would be empty! I personally haven't encountered any 'major eve teasing', just the 'usual' staring, passing comments etc etc. You know everyday life. I would love to be a part of this effort as have been looking for a way to stop 'the usual' for some time now. Can't really go on feeling helpless any more. Reading about your work and going through all posts on the blog has given me some courage, will have to wait for the next time 'it' happens, to see if the courage is enough! Will definitely send you atleast clothes won on one of the days, and collect them from friends as well. I send them to shristi? Would love to get in touch with people involved in this work residing in and around delhi.

All the best to you and everyone else involved.

J said...

dear prash

please email me at blanknoise@gmail.com and I will send you the address the clothes should reach me at.

the clothes should be sent to the Blank Noise studio in bangalore.( which is currently being set up).

be well..

:)