Stalkers and women’s safety

We get celebrities to give their take on a current issue each week and lend their perspective to a much-discussed topic. This week we talk about:

Earlier this week, a 21-year-old woman was stabbed over 30 times in North Delhi in broad daylight. The perpetrator of the crime was a stalker who had allegedly been harassing her for over a year. He had earlier threatened the young teacher by slicing her bag open while having an argument with her. Despite eyewitnesses around in the area, no one came to the rescue of the girl.

Although the girl's family had complained to the police about the stalker, no action was taken since both the parties came to a compromise. Despite various campaigns and movements, are our cities really safe for our girls Is it time to take complaints about stalking and harassment seriously too Activists, scholars and artists weigh in:

Stalking most definitely should be taken seriously: Kalki Koechlin

I don’t think our cities are safe and stalking most definitely should be taken more seriously. On a long-term basis, I think campaigns should be made which focus on changing the mentality of the male-female equation in our society; movements on gender relationships and behaviours should be addressed in schools, in neighbourhoods and at workplaces.

It is a real issue: Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, theatre personality

I don’t think the city is safe at all. Our laws are not strong enough, the judiciary is weak and the police is inefficient. A few years ago, the juvenile conviction age was going to go down; but, it didn’t. What sort of people are these “kids” who take away someone’s basic human right — the right to live. Just a few days ago there was another case of an 11-month-old baby raped! It is outrageous. It is even difficult to say where we can begin. The cases need to be fast-tracked and the punishment should be immediate.

This is our problem — since the conviction rate for rapes is extremely low, people do not take the law seriously, and so, there is no fear of the law. Even our pop culture is faulty in several ways. We show the man stalking and harassing the girl until she finally gives it — it is even portrayed as a cute thing. This is wrong. We need to change our perspective of stalking and need to take it very seriously. It is a real issue that can harm women. If the police receive complaints of stalking, they need to take it seriously. If the police don’t do anything, as citizens we need to go to the higher authorities, hold dharnas — do anything that will bring this issue in the limelight and get results.

I am caught in a situation that I am not responsible for: Aswani Dravid, Research scholar at University of Kerala

Earlier this month, my friend and I were outside the Infopark at Kochi. We had gone out to repair my footwear when two people chased us in a car and then attacked us. I don’t know what provoked them. I filed a complaint against them and now I am shocked at the cold response from the authorities. Now I feel that if someone tries to attack you, it’s better to keep quiet about it and even if someone molests you, keep quiet. Because this system will not help you.

The victim will get victimised again and again. I was appalled when I found out that the perpetrators were let out on bail as IPC section 364 is a non-bailable offence. It is now up to me to prove that the men were drunk. Now if I engage a lawyer by shelling out money from my pocket, I might get justice, maybe. But I am a student, and do not have money. I am in a helpless situation and I am scared, this system makes all of us helpless. I am caught in a situation that I am not responsible for. Verbal abuse is just as much of a problem as physical: Shivani Gupta, spoken word artist

I don’t believe there was ever a time when complaints about stalking and harassment were not serious causes of concern. We live in a world that undervalues the power and implications of words, and focuses all our attention on actions. We seem to be missing the basic fundamental connection that irrefutably, scientifically exists between thought, word and action. They move in parallel and in progression. If a person can think it, they can do it. If a person can say it, repeatedly, the gap between thinking, saying and doing is far lesser than we want to accept.

Which is why, according to me, verbal abuse is just as much of a problem as physical. The fundamental underlying cause of them both is a need for power, and they both come from a space of violence. We have grown tolerant of violent words, forgetting how easily we as humans internalise them, and just how much they fuel our behaviour on a day-to-day basis.

Government definitely needs to step up: Sharmila Mukerjee, dancer and Odissi exponent

Things are getting out of hand and we need to have our priorities set straight. After every incident, horrific things are said by government officials about women taking precautionary measures like girls not heading out after it’s dark, which speaks of a very sick mentality. But the government definitely needs to step up and take more measures to protect the women and also change the mindset of men. I think self defence needs to be compulsory in all schools for girls and sex education too is a must.

We need a strong deterrent: Pooja Bedi, Actor

I don’t think any country in the world is crime free; it is a universal phenomenon. Even U.S. with its surveillance systems in place still has a high number of crimes. However, the point is to send the strong message to the perpetrators. We need a strong deterrent. In our country, the major problem comes from the fact that we don’t have a swift court system, decisions take forever. It just seems that basically one can get away with such crimes.