India's Walk of Shame

NEW DELHI — There was not a bra in sight. No fishnet stockings or lace lingerie. SlutWalk Delhi was a decidedly demure affair.

Although SlutWalk Delhi is the latest iteration of a worldwide protest movement that started in Toronto after a police constable told a group of students that women should avoid dressing "like sluts" if they didn't want to be harrassed, this protest was decidedly Indian. Shorts and tank tops were as slutty as it got on this hot afternoon on Sunday, July 31. Most of the women came in everyday jeans and long-sleeved kurtas or loose shirts.

The walk was even renamed for Indian tastes: Besharmi Morcha, which means Shameless March. The organizers -- mostly young college students -- used a more accessible Hindi word, besharam, that is commonly used to berate any sort of unwomanly behavior in India, from talking loudly to being assertive. And, as the all-encapsulating name suggests, there's a broad spectrum of women's rights violations, from irritatingly tiny to violently blatant, to protest here in India.

Earlier this year, the Delhi police released a statement saying women are not safe in public places after 2 a.m. The capital has one of the highest incidences of rape in the country, with a reported 258 cases by June this year, according to the Delhi police. There were 489 cases in 2010, compared with New York City's 438 (among a couple of million fewer residents) in 2010.

And rape is only one of many forms of sexual harassment that women in New Delhi face, from daily whistling, catcalling, or spontaneous serenades with Bollywood love songs, to kidnapping, molestation on public transport, or even acid attacks from jilted suitors.

Although India has an active feminist movement, the scope of the problem makes it difficult to deal with. The more serious issues, such as honor killings and public stoning, take precedence over stalking and verbal harassment. And Besharmi Morcha was no exception, no matter how much the organizers tried to dress it up for local audiences. Although activists and police had braced for a turnout of about 2,000, based on posts on a Facebook page, the actual march only attracted an estimated 800 men and women, their signs proclaiming: "Change your thoughts, not my clothes"; "Why does a woman become public property in public?"; "You're a pervert and I have to wear a burkha?"

Several of the participants lamented the lack of involvement from the older generation of Indians, both men and women, and blamed it on the provocative framing. Nidhi Varma, 25, a graduate student of gender studies at Ambedkar University in Delhi who marched on Sunday, said, "The uncles and aunties, the academia, they are not here.... Some feel tacky being part of these issues."

123NEXT

Save big when you subscribe to FP.

VISIONTUNNEL

12:23 AM ET

August 3, 2011

There was not a bra in sight. No fishnet stockings

Because Delhi is not Toronto, London and Sydney

Yet fundamental issues are same

Apart from the quest for sensationalism by media, how the much desired sights of Bras, Fishnet Stockings or Lace Panties could have made the message more deeper and agitation more meaningful?

I am curious about the quoted incident of public stoning in India?

These incidents happen regularly in Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan but may be a rare occurrence in India.

Writers must be careful and must do their homework in better way.

Such protests can only highlight the age old issues but solutions lie in mindset change, and better response mechanism from police and faster and just prosecutions.

At least girls could organize such walk in Delhi, in the troubled neighborhood, that would be a blasphemy.

1:29 AM ET

August 4, 2011

At least girls could organize such walk in Delhi

Yes, unfortunately both extremes exist, as these would in a developing country.

However, please spare us the hogwash that girls are not discriminated in Pakistan or elsewhere in the region!

The social evil is wide spread in China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc.

Moreover regression social evils like entombing females and making them walking tents are highly discriminatory as well.

Further please do not retort by babbling that its their own choice to hide body, loose identity and like being treated only like an object of lust!

MAZO

5:37 AM ET

Not cool enough...

Women who fishnets and miniskirts etc can be seen in any upscale party in most Indian Metros. You won't find these types coming to "rallies" but go to any rave or upscale party and you will see dozens of young women in very revealing outfits who are totally unconcerned.

It is frankly absolutely absurd that something as trivial as "shameless march" is getting so much press when so many practical issues regarding women's rights like Domestic Violence, harassment, parental persecution etc are getting so little press.

6:54 AM ET

Yes, Media wont Hype A protest march by domestic servents

Such issues always are covered by most of TRP chasing media.

It has been reported that that an India Business Channel Female Anchor is getting double/triple salary by just agreeing to leave two buttons of her blouse open.

India like any other country/ society is made of many layered pyramid, one layer only tells a part of larger story.

FP_READER

11:51 AM ET

Go out in public, expect to be judged

If you dress like a prostitute, expect to be treated like one.

If you want to be taken seriously, then dress seriously.

4PAUKA

3:10 PM ET

How exactly is one supposed

How exactly is one supposed to treat prostitutes? Because I say treat them with respect-- like any other kind of person.

1:34 AM ET

Well, the sundry cavemen do not have such thoughts

You are right, they must be treated as human beings.

But primates are prone to behave in different ways.

HURRICANEWARNING

1:43 PM ET

I don't get it. That police

I don't get it. That police officer in Toronto was making a completely valid point. If girls dress like sluts (which they do, by the way, to attract men, whether they consciously realize it or not) then they are going to get attention. Some of that attention will be unwanted, and that woman will undoubtedly put herself at greater risk of sexual assault than a woman who is wearing say, long jeans and a normal shirt. Im just saying; why can't anybody speak the truth anymore? The feminist movement has gone to far in the western world, it needs to pull it back a little. go concentrate on places like India, where women really DO have serious problems as a group. Stop acting like spoiled children when someone calls you precisely what you are acting and dressed as.

CHARLESWINTER

6:50 PM ET

Women's clothing

Do you imagine that there any young men in such restrictive countries or cultures who do not have a very precise, although inaccurate, picture of the woman's body beneath the burka? And is it not a great insult to men to say that we would rape any woman in a short skirt?

GORASH

8:32 PM ET

Idiot

That doesn't justify getting RAPED, you idiot. Way to miss the point.

8:35 PM ET

BTW

BTW, I believe that people who dress more modestly are targeted more by the rapists than those who dress provocatively. So it has nothing to do with how you dress. Seriously, you're sounding like Breivik, you creep. I hope that you don't go around shooting people.

ICECUBENSTUFF

12:21 PM ET

August 6, 2011

a little different

The facts are India is a land of many worlds, the world these women live in is usually very different from the world these "protest" types live in or "professional" women live in or for that most Indians. Some only have income just from selling handmade jewelry and so on. It is frankly absolutely absurd that something as trivial as "shameless march" is getting so much press when so many practical issues regarding women's rights like Domestic Violence, harassment, parental persecution etc are getting so little press

COUNTCHOCULA1011

2:07 PM ET

The rules regarding kissing within Bollywood are:

Only Western women and slutty Indian women (ie prostitutes, women that got impregnated before marriage, etc) are allowed to kiss on screen....that should tell you something. lol

2:12 AM ET

Only Western women and slutty Indian women

COUNTCHOCULA,

Do you want me to tell you how even those abaya attired coy ladies of Regressive Saudi Arabia behave?
But any sensible person would not call them by stupid misnomers, you are ignorantly do, naturally..

Just because you oppressed them and don't allow to be independent and free, some of them do find time and opportunity to be feminine, by doing what ever is possible, with whomsoever it is possible.

You are only betraying your caveman mindset taking a pathetic potshot.

But nothing else would be possible from likes of you, as well.

5:30 AM ET

Why does India get a pass on..

Indian culture is conservative, not regressive. There is a difference. Women in India are allowed to prosper and achieve power, wealth and all that but only if they subscribe to traditionally Indian conservative values like "getting married", not being sexually aggressive, wearing traditional clothing, etc. Also, family, honor and other Eastern ideals are very important to people there so women are especially expected to behave commensurate with their social standing. Comparing Saudi Arabia to India is like comparing 1950s America with Saudi Arabia.

"Liberalism" is not necessarily "progress" to most people.

ROBERT 13

3:59 PM ET

India's Walk of Shame

I cannot agree more with the slogan and its meaning at the same time I cannot overlook or deny the fact that human attraction for girls are inherent and with dress to attract more will damage the controlling power both psychologically and of course mentally.

And then if anything happens positive or negative then who would be blamed by the court of law. Have to brood over very deeply.

IRISHSILVER

11:34 AM ET

Silly

Having the right to do something doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea! Walking around with diamondrings, big jewellery and expensive clothes might mark me out as a target to those who were going to commit a crime in the first place, but it doesn't mean that law-abiding citizens are going to turn into criminals,

In fact, the idea that mere clothing turns a normal man into a potential rapist is deeply insulting to normal men. Please give us a bit more credit than that!

TREWAS

11:43 AM ET

August 8, 2011

Good Point

Honestly, I can not agree more with you. The clothing do not make men behave aggressive or rapist. If it would be so, then most women wearing less clothes (and provocative ones) would get raped. I do not say it has not effect on this issue however the connection between provocative clothes and being raped is usually exaggerated.

Matthew Lorty

OLIVIER99

7:35 AM ET

They deserve respect

Looks like these women are weak!
I can't believe that the women of India are too busy to march in the sidewalk, and that there were more men marching than women!
Where is the pride??
If they won’t fight for their rights who will??
On the other side of the world women are fighting daily for their rights: Right to be heard, quality rights, and even fighting for the rights to conceive a child with In vitro fertilization (IVF). If these women really want to make a change they should feel more confident in themselves and believe in the respect they deserve!

7:44 AM ET

They obviously care

It must be said that the amount of time the evangelicals devote for their love of religion is amazing. They seem selfless. But we all know that everyone is motivated by personal interests nowadays. I believe that if I had a sit down with some of them and gave each one a chance to choose one of my mini desserts, I would hear the real reason for their actions. I believe they can support Israel In a more blunt way and not have to be so low key about their thoughts.

FEYD

1:40 PM ET

road to nowhere

surprisingly every major and minor civilizations had some strict rules on how women should dress in public. In primitive stone-age tribes in africa, north america or on pacific islands women walked almost naked.

JAMES313

6:37 AM ET

August 9, 2011

walk of shame

some of them do find time and opportunity to be feminine, by doing what ever is possible, with whomsoever it is possible. but it doesn't mean that law-abiding citizens are going to turn into criminals, essex jobs
Soon India will end up another confused western worshipping nation with its culture rejected by the younger generation

YARINSIZ

11:12 PM ET

August 28, 2011

The facts are India is a land

The facts are India is a land of many worlds, the world these women live in is usually very different from the seslisiteler world these "protest" types live in or "professional" women live in or for that most Indians.

POLITICALLY CORRECT

12:23 PM ET

September 1, 2011

Good on them

Everyone stands to portray to everyone what they believe in with prejudice. I however find it interesting that in multicultural countries, people that migrate to those countries are offended by the way others live, it seems very hypocritical to live in such a nature, but i guess that's the stereotypical human nature. None the less, i commend all these women for being proud and standing up for their dreams.
P. Correct, on behalf of web design port macquarie

Foreign Policy Magazine

SlutWalk India was not quite the riotous occasion that it's been in other countries. Too bad, because India's streets could use some equality.

BY SURYA BHATTACHARYA | AUGUST 2, 2011

(24)

Slate Highlights