“Not all people in Delhi will understand the meaning of ‘slut’. So after a lot of debate and discussion, we have finally zeroed in on ‘Besharmi Morcha’ (Shameless Front), said Umang Sabarwal, one of the chief organisers. More here.
‘Look at me, I’m not asking for it,’ says teen behind Delhi’s Slut Walk
Nandita Sengupta in The Times of India:
At first sight, Umang Sabharwal, all of 19 and very vivacious, is hardly the person you’d expect to be behind the provocatively-termed ‘Slutwalk artharth Besharmi Morcha’, a yet-to-be-held event that has triggered clashes online and at the dining table, making both feminist and family-person squirm.
The almost-into-third year journalism student has unknowingly teased a very raw nerve in both mainstream society and feminist dialogue: what girls/women should wear. It all started with Sabharwal inviting discussion on her Facebook page post a ‘Slutwalk’ event in Toronto, organised in April this year after a police officer riled university students by commenting that girls who were dressed like ‘sluts’ invited sexual assault. Men and women marched in protest wearing revealing clothes to bring home the point that wearing ‘sexy’ clothes cannot be construed as sexual incitation. She referred to it, convinced that Delhi, known across the world as a city unsafe for women, needed its own version of a similar campaign. The response, as they say, is history.
The idea behind the event, likely to be held at the fag-end of July is, in her words, “to point to the tendency to avoid facing the issue of sexual violence”. She points out that talk of the event itself has sparked arguments in homes across the country. “This is not about your parents or my parents or family. They tell you ‘don’t wear this, don’t go there,’ to try to protect you. Valid concerns but the message is, ‘protect yourself’. But this is acceptance of sexual violence. It gives men leeway. Give girls a break.” More:
Why is it always the womens fault? It seems it does not matter if they are covered or uncovered. Can’t men control themselves? do they have no respect for themselves? – they are nothing but beasts – no ‘real’ man would rape a women. But to blame it on the women, shows that they themselves have no truth or respect and pray to no Gods. A mans control and respect is not held in the hands of women – but with themselves – and they are dispicable in the eyes of the world when the cry ‘she asked for it’. It is as bad as a murderer claiming the devil made him do it – but is was not the devil who held the gun or knife!