Laws Against Eve Teasing in India

Eve teasing is a violation of a woman’s basic right to live in dignity. Women have always been subject to eve teasing and the trend unfortunately, continues even today. In fact, number of crimes against the women is constantly increasing. The cases pertaining to eve teasing, sexual harassment, rape, molestation etc are on all time high. Ironically, the concept of women empowerment has brought with it countless numbers of sexual crimes against them. When it comes to eve teasing, no matter what are the educational background, caste, complexion and race of women, many of them have gone through these unpleasant experiences. Study shows, almost 90 percent of college going girls have experienced some sort of sexual harassment at different points of time. Truth can’t be more painful than that.

Indian law recognizes eve teasing as sexual harassment which is considered as a criminal activity. Indian law does not mention the term ‘eve teasing’. In recent times, the laws have been made stringent so that victim could take recourse under the law. Obscene gestures, recitation or remarks can land the victim into prison for a maximum tenure of three months. That’s not all. Even showing pornographic materials, pictures, books etc to a girl can invite two years of rigorous imprisonment along with fine of Rs. 2000.

Unfortunately, not many women register complaints of eve teasing or harassment because of the fear of humiliation and public exposure. Many women who were victim of sexual harassment commit suicide because of constant social barbs. The society is not kind to the victims. The problem here is of mindset. Even if the laws are there, one needs to pursue them with full might. It is not possible for every victim to stand in the court of law and answer uncomfortable questions. Many a times, parents themselves ask their daughters to forget the incident as it can cause them public shame and embarrassment.

However, we must appreciate the efforts taken by different NGOs and social welfare organizations who are trying to educate people about the grave consequences of eve teasing. They are also conducting programs to sensitise the males who are prone to such behaviour. The focus here is on changing the mindset and respecting the women. The attitude towards women needs to be altered only then we can expect gender equality in the real sense of the word.