Women rally against ‘Eve-teasing’ in S. Asia
| FEATURE |
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NEW DELHI — It sounds almost playful, but “Eve-teasing” is a daily torment for many women in South Asia, who are now trying to call time on what they see as a bland euphemism for sustained sexual harassment.
Widely used for decades by the media and police in India and Bangladesh, and to a lesser extent in Nepal and Pakistan, “Eve-teasing” is a catch-all term that encompasses anything from lewd comments to assault.
As a reference to the biblical Eve, women activists argue that it carries an additional offensive inference — that of the woman as “temptress” who was complicit in her own downfall.
“It’s a dismissive term,” said Jasmeen Patheja, founder of an Indian community performance art group called “Blank Noise” that combats the abuse of women in public areas..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110303com6.html
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