As an Indian woman, I often feel myself oscillating between states of anxiety or anger.
asserted
myself → feel → anxiety
The anxiety is about doing the mental maths of how to stay safe – thinking about what I’m wearing, where I am going and how I’ll get there, and so on.
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I → do → wearing
The anger is at the sheer absurdity of this, and the stories of of sexual violence and harassment I read about every day.
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I → read → violence
Last week, two particularly enraging incidents captured national attention.
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incidents → capture → attention
First, a video showing a group of men accused of harassing and molesting two teenagers at night in Bihar’s Jamui went viral.
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video → show → Jamui
Then, a 17-year-old, out with a friend in Delhi, was allegedly gang-raped in a park by men posing as police.
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old → rap → police
After, women in Bihar told Outlook how the incident in Jamui triggers greater controls and pressure on them.
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incident → tell → them
In Delhi, authorities curbed access to public parks and a premier women’s college, Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), briefly moved classes online.
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college → curb → classes
I have noticed this pattern repeatedly: after incidents of sexual violence go viral on social media, the fallout further ensnares women.
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fallout → notice → women
We are the ones who get told to avoid certain places, regulate our behaviour, dress modestly or be home earlier, thereby placing the burden of escaping this menace on us.
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who → tell → us
Feminist activist Kavita Krishnan has described this phenomenon as “perhaps the most widespread form of gender-based violence in India”.
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Krishnan → describe → India
Instead of figuring out why sexual violence remains entrenched in our society, how patriarchal agency perpetuates such violence or what kind of social conditioning is needed for men, women are instead expected to take up less public space.
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women → figure → space
Regulating women is easy because “it does not require any institutional cost and, most of all, it sends the signal to concerned parents that the problem is being handled”, says Meena Kandasamy, a feminist author, whose latest novel, Fieldwork As a Sex Object, is about a woman’s life being upturned when a deepfake video using her face goes viral.
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video → regulate → face
“Their target audience is not the young women who feel unsafe but the rest of society.
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who → feel → society
In my experience, this repression happens at three levels: first in the realm of family, then in broader society, and ultimately by the state.
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repression → happen → state
It begins at home, under the guise of protection, with arbitrary curfews or dress codes.
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It → begin → curfews
It gets reinforced at a community level with institutions and social groups through moral policing, victim-blaming and the expectation that women should not put themselves in “unsafe” situations.
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women → reinforce → situations
Restricting access to parks after sunset can surely reduce the number of people in those places, but it doesn’t address why women are unsafe there.
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women → restrict → places
Harassment and sexual violence are, unfortunately, not tied to timings or daylight.
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Harassment → tie → timings
And further restricting women’s lives is not the solution to injustices foisted on them.
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restricting → restrict → them
All three, Kandasamy says, consider women as a “problem to be handled”.
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Kandasamy → say → problem
“She’s not a citizen (for the state), a member (for the community), or an adult (for the family).
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She → ’ → family
She is treated like an inanimate but precious object – like a diamond that has to be locked up to prevent theft,” she said.
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she → treat → theft
In recent days, students from Delhi University have come out on the streets demanding safer public spaces including more street lighting, usable public toilets, more housing and scholarships for female students.
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students → come → students
Vedayana, 20, a student at Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), says locking up parks is not the solution: “If you are not putting up safety measures to make it accessible to women, then it is as good as saying that the park is only for men.
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park → say → men
A recently published survey of more than 4,000 women in New Delhi and Bengaluru, found that 65% of women in New Delhi and 29% in Bengaluru experienced harassment in public spaces in the past year.
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% → publish → year
Another 2024 study from India and Pakistan found that women’s overall mobility remains abysmally low, and what freedom they do have is almost entirely tied to education, employment or unpaid care work.
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they → find → education
Despite how widespread and urgent the problem is, the political response can further shake public confidence.
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response → shake → confidence
A female minister from Bihar, commenting on the molestation video said: “Moral policing can be done in a more decent and elegant fashion.”
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policing → comment → fashion
Another minister from the state drew fire for describing it as an “isolated” incident”.
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minister → draw → incident
Minimising crimes against women reflects a political culture in which accountability becomes optional.
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accountability → minimise → which
Students such as Vedayana want this to change.
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this → want → Vedayana
Political parties, she tells me, should pledge to not give tickets or positions to anyone accused of sexual harassment.
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she → tell → harassment
“We don’t want the leaders sitting at the top to perpetrate and preach rape culture,” she adds.
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she → want → culture
Parliament is not immune to accusations, either: the BJP politician Brij Bhushan Singh, who formerly headed the Wrestling Federation of India, was recently accused of sexual harassment by six female wrestlers – he denies the allegations, and was acquitted by a magistrate, in a case that is undergoing appeal.
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that → head → appeal
According to an analysis of 2024 parliamentarians by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 15 winning candidates declared cases related to crimes against women.
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candidates → accord → women
For Vedayana, changing the mentality has to begin early with families and the way boys are raised.
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boys → change → families
“If you are in a position of authority, use it to influence people by speaking out against patriarchy and groom your sons first.”
What else we’re reading about
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reading → use → What
Indian women’s cricket team beat Sri Lanka by 147 runs to win gold at the Asian Games last week.
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team → beat → Games
Smriti Mandhana’s smashing 79 off 45 deliveries helped India reach a formidable 216 in 20 overs.
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India → smash → overs
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
