Will they stop teasing us if we stop wearing jeans?

Jaipur girls say they tackle eve-teasers all the time in the city, irrespective of what they’re wearing and who they’re with.
The recent incident in Indore, where a young man died trying to stop the girl he was with being molested by a group of eve-teasers, has shocked many in Jaipur as well. The man ultimately bled to death. Most women in Jaipur know that the issue of eve-teasing is not new to them, as time and again, they have heard of eve-teasing incidents where girls are victims of lewd comments by boys.Many women in the city aver that the issue of eve-teasing is never far from their thoughts, and that the Indore incident has only revived old memories of eve-teasing. We spoke to students/girls and asked them if the equation has changed, or do they continue tackling eve-teasers.
If you resist, you are thrashed
Recently, a 16-year-old girl in Jaipur was brutally thrashed after she resisted eve-teasing, while returning home from tuition with her friends, when some boys intercepted them. The youth passed lewd comments at the girls after they started teasing them, and the girls resisted, after which the boys starting beating them up. “This is just one of the incidents where girls in the city have been victims to eve-teasing and I believe that besides several complaints to keep a check on eve-teasing, nothing has been done and can never be done,” says 25-year-old Gitika Sharma. Karan Singh (23) agrees, “Similar to what happened in the Indore case, boys who stand up against the eve-teasers to protect the girls also get into fights with those hooligans. This has become fairly frequent these days.”
Change male mentality first
In 2011, a student of RU was eve-teased and manhandled by some boys in the campus while she was returning to her hostel after writing an exam. In the wake of this incident, teachers of the varsity and women from various organizations took out a rally to demand initiatives to ensure a safe atmosphere for girls. “Kuch hota nahi hain yeh sab karne se because what needs to be changed is the mentality of men and if we can’t do that, these molestation cases will never end,” rues 24-year-old Chandna Mehta. For most of the boys, girls colleges are the best haunt. “I study in a girl’s college but when I enter the campus, there are so many boys standing at the entrance that I feel I am entering a co-ed college. The minute we enter, they begin to stare at us and after a while start their comments,” shares Natasha Jain* of ICG college, adding, “Sometimes, they sing cheesy songs to hold our attention but we are so used to it that we don’t even turn around and look.”
Ban jeans or whatever, lewd comments will still pour in
The Khaap Panchayat passed the diktat of banning girls from wearing jeans in yet another instance of moral policing as they believed that eve-teasing incidents had increased due to their objectionable clothes. However, students believe that all this is trash and that sleeveless and tight tops or wearing jeans to college doesn’t trigger eve-teasing. “When I heard of this ban by the Khaaps, I couldn’t believe my ears. It is plain ridiculous, because even if a girl is fully covered in traditional clothes, boys will ogle at them. Will they stop teasing us if we stop wearing jeans?” asks Jennifer, a BPO employee. Akriti Verma cites an incident. “Recently, there was an incident where a group of five girls, wearing saris, were standing outside college waiting for their cars to come. Seeing them, a group of boys on bikes started taking rounds of the area, says Akriti Verma* of Maharani’s College, adding, “It was plain irritating and they finally went inside the college to avoid all this.”
If a girl is driving a car, she will invite trouble
“I was sitting in the car and waiting in queue at the petrol pump when a man on his bike starting whistling at me. I gazed at him but he didn’t stop and continued whistling while looking at me,” says an angry Harshita Periwal (24). 27-year-old Megha Soni shares, “If a girl is driving a car, then boys feel that they have been legally certified by the government to ogle at them. Whether it is in the afternoon, evening or night, a girl driving a car will grab eyeballs, no matter what.” And the most common and best way to lech is to follow girls while they are walking on the road. “If everything fails, there is always the option of following a girl walking on the road and lech at her,” rants 26-year-old Sanjana Kapoor.
Online reaction
The online community has been strongly reacting to the eve-teasing incident that happened in Indore.
Knowing and understanding the deepest meaning of a euphemism, ‘eve-teasing’ #GirlInAThirdWorld –Maria Patel
Don’t know what is more shameful. The eve-teasing or the police apathy – Vaibhav
Can’t be more sad than this: Indore: Students fight eve-teasers, bleeds to death at police station. Gruesome. – Sharmarohitraj
Dress the PM in his own clothes, NOT in women’s clothes. “Eve teasing” is NOT funny.
–Rita Putatunda