Sexual harassment

Skimpy skirts, bare bellies, and lingerie are the staple at SlutWalks around the world, from Sao Paolo to Los Angeles to London, but the protest in New Delhi on Sunday was much tamer, with most women wearing loose T-shirts and trousers or traditional Indian clothes.

Who's to blame?

Carrying placards that read "walk of no shame," "enough," and "my dress is not a yes," hundreds of protesters gathered near Jantar Mantar to demonstrate and draw attention to an alarming rise in sexual assault cases and the growing sense of insecurity among women in New Delhi. Many men also walked for their mothers, their sisters and their daughters.

The first SlutWalk was organized in April in Toronto after a police officer there caused outrage when he said women should avoid "dressing like sluts" to avoid being victimized. Since then, SlutWalks have become a global phenomenon, with women in over 70 cities all around the world marching in skimpy clothing to challenge the mindset that victims of sexual assault or taunting, commonly known as "eve teasing" in India, should be blamed for the crimes against them.

A tame protest at the 'rape capital'

Although the demonstration organized by a university student attracted hundreds of spectators, a flurry of press and more than a few curious onlookers, there were fewer participants than in other marches.

Delhi is infamously known as the "rape capital of India," a high number of reported cases of sexual harassment, rape and abduction. A 2010 survey found that 85 percent of women in Delhi feared being harassed, and many of those at Sunday's march said being groped or molested was an almost daily occurrence.

Delhi Police Commissioner BK Gupta was also targeted by marchers for his remarks that "you cannot drive alone at 2 am on Delhi's roads and then claim the capital is unsafe. You need to take someone along." Angry participants said that this was the police department's way of dodging their responsibility to make the city safer.

The 'shameless' protestors

Many Indians are saying that although the SlutWalk may have been successful in western countries, it won't work in Indian society. Ranjana Kumari, Director of the Center for Social Research, an NGO active in the field of women's empowerment, says the word "slut" is too taboo in India. "When you translate slut into Hindi, you can't even say or pronounce the word," she says.

She believes that the taboos surrounding such language prevented many women from participating in the demonstration. She says, "It's a good message, but very wrongly packaged. I don’t think it properly reflects the aspirations of Indian women."

Actions speak louder than words

But Aruna Kashyap, a researcher for the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, told Deutsche Welle that the debate and attention towards the issue takes precedence over the wording.

She says that the very fact that women marched the streets of Delhi protesting against sexual violence is a success in itself, as such topics usually receive little attention. She says that although there are no quick fixes for a pervasive problem like sexual assault, the Indian government should do a lot more to tackle the problem, from around-the-clock hotlines for women to one-stop crisis centers for those who experience assault.

Kashyap says that when a woman or girl reports sexual assault, she is usually shunted from the police station to the hospital and has to endure repeated questioning and different medical examinations, as the focus largely remains on collecting "medico-legal evidence" rather than "providing emergency therapeutic care, including counseling where necessary," says Kashyap. She strongly believes that "the manner in which services are provided to women who experience assault needs to change."

Confusing definitions

India doesn’t have an overall definition of sexual violence in its legal code. The law, however, prohibits "outrage" or "insult" against "modesty." Such definitions leave room for confusion.

Kashyap believes "changing the laws and sensitizing the criminal justice system to sexual violence is a necessary step forward to transform how societies perceive violence." She adds, "the laws governing sexual assault should be defined in terms of women's dignity and bodily integrity. The Supreme Court has in fact recognized that sexual assault is a violation of a woman's right to live with dignity, and it is time that this principle is embodied in India's laws."

Author: Shivani Mathur

Editor: Sarah Berning