Why do we talk about women’s safety only when it is ‘trending’?
On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kailash Vijayvargiya said that the stalking and sexual harassment of two members of the Australian women’s cricket team in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore was a “lesson” for the authorities and the players.
On October 23, the two cricketers had stepped out of the hotel to visit a café when a man on a motorcycle started following them. He molested one of them before riding away.
To this, Vijayvargiya said: “Whenever a player steps out, just like when we step out, we tell a local. The players will also realise that in the future, if we step out, then we should tell the security or the local administration.”
The former BJP national general secretary said that the cricketers “should have been more careful”, adding that it was a “mistake” on their part as well, NDTV reported.
Similar iterations of this statement are rehashed over and over again by people in power in India whenever such an incident takes place. We have heard it before and we will hear it again: women’s safety lies in compliance with these unsaid rules.
Because, what Vijayvargiya said is what many women already live by.
We tell people where we are going. We share live locations. We dress “right”. We keep quiet and hope that...
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