Final diploma thesis 2014 cécilia palomino by Cécilia Palomino

EMPOWERMENT of women IN INDIAN STREETS Cécilia palomino Student in transcultural design india Master’s thesis 2014

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been fascinated by a human centred approach in design. As a designer I like to borrow methods from anthropology and sociology since I like to work with people in the field. What I prefer in a beginning of a project is working in the field with people, exchanging, sharing, observing, asking questions, experiencing understanding and above all get my hands dirty. I think it is very important to have a human centred approach in social design. Sometimes designers generate ideas from his or her next door neighbour, a child of 4 years or your grandmother. We live in a world of objects, these objects were created by humans for humans, but to create a real, useful and functional object, we have to understand who the user is first.

I chose to finish my studies in India in order to open my mind and take a step back as well in the professional and personal domain. This is my first experience in a social design project before. The subject helped me to be more open minded and versatile in my work. It was very important for me as a future designer to experiment with a new way of living and thinking. That allowed me to look at it from distance and develop a new vision my design. For example using design for solving socials problem in India was for me a new experience. You have to see your project with the eyes of an Indian and not a French user. India is a land of opportunities it offers 6

a great playground for creativity through its cultural, economic and religious context that are different from ours. I am particularly sensitized by the place of women in Indian society. Despite laws and regulations taken by the Indian government which guarantee full equality between men and women, they still suffer from daily discrimination due to the patriarchal society. India is the fourth most dangerous country for women (1). The rates of domestic and other violence are very high. I was surprised to observe that after 6 p.m. there was almost no woman in the streets. Every day the newspaper report about assault or murder

of women. 95% of women are scared to go out (2). It is in this climate of fear that millions of Indian live every day especially in big cities. Cities are a place of cultural diversity which juxtaposes tradition and modernity, women are working late and travelling alone rather than staying at home without going outside. These women most often are the target of aggressions from simple street harassment to rape and even murder. After the rape and murder of a young student in a bus in Delhi in December 2012, a revolution, women as well as men finally broke their silence and asked for justice in a society which often blames the victim.

So I chose to follow this general desire to change the situation to dedicate my thesis for this phenomenon. I wish to see women walking down the street at night without fear of being assaulted.

Poster at the entrance of the metro station MG road in Bangalore

Being a woman in India is synonym of a hard life. Many women have abortions when the doctor tells them that they are pregnant with a girl because daughters in India represent almost only disadvantages for a family. An Indian proverb says: “Bringing up daughters is like watering the garden of your neighbour.” After her marriage the girl leaves her family house to live with her husband. Her parents have to pay a dowry to the husband’s family. Because of this tradition in 2011, for 1,000 Indian men there are only 940 Indian women.(3) By 2001 literacy for women had exceeded 50% of the overall female population, though these statistics were still very low compared to world standards and even male literacy within India. When you ask a woman the reasons of her abortion she usually conjures material and social reasons, but mostly she does not want her child have a hard life and encounter the same problems like her. There 10 years, street harassment toward women was not considered as a social problem. It was in the men’s nature to harass women, it was commonly called eve-teasing, or in other words: the trivialization of sexual harassment. The emergence of cultural diversity in cities fuelled the current discrimination and sexual harassment. This phenomenon touched the 10

middle class and particularly the active and independent women. In my situation it happened sometimes that some group of men shout at me in the street or try to touch me in the bus, therefore I finally decided to travel in the evening only by rickshaw or scooter for more tranquillity and security. However, this mode of travelling can not be applied to all women. A lot of the girls and women living in big cities such as Delhi travel when they are alone most of the time with a pepper spray or a knife in their bag. While I am writing this, the news showed footage from Bangalore a young woman verbally attacked by a group of men. She called out for help but nobody came also not the security guards present in the station. She was alone. This is a stress, a daily fear and an obstacle to the emancipation of women in society. There are NGOs in order to support women and changing attitudes, but it is currently difficult to assess their real impact on behaviour. Problematic How design can change behaviours? How can it empower women and improved their security?

Most of the time the job of a designer is to solve problems which are of functional, technical, social, environmental or aesthetic type. My goal is to use my skills as a designer combined with a social and anthropological analysis for a better resolution of this problem. In other words: Solve the problem by focusing on the human behaviour.

a specific area of intervention to finally make changes that will have a real impact on womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safety in public places. In a nutshell : Improving the security of women, protect them to any kind of harassment by men in public space.

The aim is firstly to understand the behavior of men and women in Indian society. Secondly to analyze the environment in order to find

Sources : (1) National Crime records Bureau Chapter-5 crime against women http://ncrb.nic.in/cii2010/cii-2010/Chapter%205.pdf (2) BBC India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 ( more information in the chapter 1 part 2 ) (3) Article «L’INDE, LE PAYS OÙ LES FILLES ONT DISPARU» by Hélène Ferrarini http://www.slate.fr/monde/80707/inde-le-pays-ou-les-filles-ont-disparu

Table of Contents Introduction

I - Evolution of the situation of women in Indian street ...... p 17 Objectify: Understanding the origin of this problem and how that happened to the actual situation.

- 1 The situation of women in the past in public space - 2 the actual situation of women in public space - 3 the street

II - In the rules of the community...........................................p 43 Objectify : Analysing the social and cultural context of the life of Indian women.

- 1 Women in a bubble of protection - 2 The Indian society between tradition and modernity - 3 the Justice

III - In the Minds of men and women........................................p 73 Objectiyfy : Understand the psychology and behaviour of men and women in order to find solution s against street harassment.

- 1 in the mind of women - 2 in the minds of men

IV-Actions against harassment ..............................................P 91 Objectify : Analysing the different solutions and actions already in place in the goal to see what could be improve to define axis of search.

-1 Products -2 Sociological solutions -3 Self defense -4 Associations -5 Services

Conclusion.....................................................................................P 106 Final-Degree Project..................................................................P 111 15

1 16

The situation of Women in Indian streets

In this chapter, I will examine the role of women in society in history, how the problem of street harassment appeared and also try to uncover the origins of this problem.

1.1 History antiquity There are very few texts dealing directly with the status of women in ancient times. Many writings of ancient Indian historians, also known as grammarians, such as Patanjali and Katyayana report that women had a status equal to men. There were women mathematicians, magicians, which are without doubt educated professions. Furthermore, in the Vedic period, some women were allowed to choose their husbands. It was also common to see

women administrating a village or a town. In South Indian, especially in the actual state of Kerala women did not wear a blouse with their saree they had naked breasts (1) . This trend also reflected in the Hindu religion which is the oldest polytheistic religion still practiced today by millions of people. It has an incredible number of gods and goddess, but, interestingly, they live in parity. To understand that, this is some of the most famous goddesses of Hinduism (2) : 18

The god Krishna at Goddesss Radharaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet.In the indian religion, touching the feet of a person is a symbol of a deep respect and submission.

Lakshmi the goddess of commerce and abundance.

Kali Goddess of death and deli-

verance. She has destructive power that kills evil demons. In analytical psychology, Kali is considered as the feminine side of men. She is a goddess who cheats on her husband and, who in an excess of drunkenness and anger shooks the world and tramples Shiva, one of the most powerful gods.

Durga: It is said that a demon named Mahishasura had once invaded the heaven, killing gods and goddesses. In response, the gods Trimurti, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva joined force and created a young woman who would received a strong power. Her name is Durga and she vanquished the demon and thus became the most powerful goddess. Nowadays, she is greatly venerated as the goddess of peace all across North India.(3) ia (3). 19

Traditional costumes of Kerala in 1900.

The presence of warrior women in the Indian mythology as well as that the most powerful god been a woman demonstrates the higher status of women in antique India. Women were married during adulthood and did not suffer from dowry. They could go freely topless since during antiquity, the blouse did not exist. This is very well illustrated on the walls of the palace temple in Hampi where we see dancers and musicians with only a loincloth. During antiquity women benefited of respect towards them, the society 20

The god Krishna at Goddesss Radharaniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s feet.In the indian religion, touching the feet of a person is a symbol of a deep respect and submission.

considered women as equal to men, and they had access to responsible positions. However, with the writing or scripts of Smriti Manou (Manu-smrti, Sanskrit), around 500 Before JC, the social status of women began to decline. Although some verses such as (III - 55, 56, 57, 59, 62) glorify women, other verses (IX - 3, 17) seem to attack the freedom of women.(4)

Middle Ages The condition of Indian women deteriorated during the medieval period after the Islamic invasion. This led to the trivialization of customs such as ritual suicide, forced marriage, the prohibition to widows to be remarried and the establishment of purdah. Purdah requires women to cover their skin with fabrics in order to not reveal their body. It also imposes restrictions of movement, prohibits

them from speaking freely to men and manifests the subordination of women. Contrary to popular belief, this practice does not rely on the teaching of Hinduism, or that of Islam but religious leaders. Thus women lost their status and freedom. Their territory was limited to that of the house. They went out covered only during the days they went only accompanied shopping to the market to provide for the needs of the household. Their role was limited to that of mother, wife or sister. Parents told their children that women were inferior to men. The separation between men and women created a climate of ignorance between each other. This ignorance created a fear of men by women, and on the other hand frustration of men.(5)

The Islamic invasion marks the beginning of the patriarchal society and the end to gender equality in India.

XX century

Ritual of the Sati

During colonial times, the British prohibited some practices such as sati which obliged women after the death of their husband to throw themself into the funeral pyre. The British also founded the first school for girls in 1847 in Barasat, which allowed girls the access to knowledge.In 1947 India declares its independence, for women the situation is different.It was not until 1974 that the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her govern decided to create laws to protect women. Women in India now had the right to vote and 33% of seats in the legislature and in parliament are reserved to them since 2010 are reserved to them. In 1983 a law punishing marital rape was passed. Harassment was recognized as a real social problem since only a decade, in 1997 a law against street harassment was passed (6) . According to the Indian 22

Indira Gandhi

constitution, sexual harassment infringes the fundamental right of a woman to gender equality under Article 14 and her right to life and live with dignity under Article 21.Despite all the measures, India is the fourth most dangerous country for women (7) . I was a victim of street harassment in France and I was surprised when discussing with students at my college that Indian women had the same problem and the same fears as me in France (8) .

Delhi, some companies set up taxis for women who are working late. I had the opportunity to interact with students from Delhi. Most of them carried some chilli powder or a knife in their bag or pockets. They all have techniques in mind to avoid any attacks. They are always on guard when they are walking outside, alone or in a group (9) . In Bangalore the crime rate is lower but in the evening there are almost no girls in the streets because they are scared of being attacked. They either do not step out or prefer to move in their cars and with close friends. In July 2012 a Belgian student Sofie Peeters released the film ÂŤFemme de la rueÂť (women from the street) denouncing the hell that some women living in Brussels, were regularly humiliated and insulted in the street by strangers. This film mobilized women and groups were created around the world to fight against the phenomenon which is restricting the freedom of women. In Belgium severe laws were passed. By discussing and reading testimonies of victimsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; forums around the world, it was sure that the origin of attacks was the same. In India, women are separated from men in the bus for their safety. In

The current situation in big cities in India prevents women to go outside freely. If they can, they avoid finishing their work late in the evening or walking alone in the streets. Companies have to provide safe transport.

Street harassment is an international problem.

24 The night in Yelahanka.

Sources : (1) Article «An evolution of traditional costumes of Kerala» extract from Basil paulose blogspot http://basilpaulose.blogspot.in/2012/01/evolution-of-traditional-costumes-of.html (2) BBC religions: History of Hinduism By Professor Gavin Flood (3) Visit of : Virupaksha temple, Vittala temple and Achyutaraya temple in Hampi (4) Surendra Kumar, Vishuddha Manusmriti, (Arsh Sahitya Prachar Trust, Delhi, Fourth Edition), p. 5. (5) Article «Status of Women in Medieval Karnataka by» Dr. (Mrs.) Jyotsna Kamat http://www.kamat.com (6) femme-avenir.com article about women situation in india http://www.femme-avenir.com/2012-les-femmes-en-inde (7) National Crime records Bureau Chapter-5 crime against women http://ncrb.nic.in/cii2010/cii-2010/Chapter%205.pdf (8) Interview and discussion with student of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology (9) Interview of student and people in the street, the video of my research is available on youtube: “Women empowerment in indian streets” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5bWTDfmkM

1.2 The actual situation of women in public space Multicultural cities In a village there is no problem of street harassment because everybody knows everybody. In large cities people do not know each other, crime increases because aggressors are protected by anonymity. More and more people leave their villages and migrate to cities. Men from countryside are used to their wifes being dependent on their husbands, submissive and stay at home to care of children. In cities they find a society where women are independent, educated and work like men till late in the evening. These women are not dependent on their husbands and represent modern India in total contrast with the tradition in rural India. In India 17% of women are employed ,40% of them in large cities. Example: In Call centres 30% of workers are women, they have equal pay and positions as their male colleagues (1) . One of the main causes of street harassment is currently the cultural diversity that leads to discrimination and violence against people of

lower castes, religion and different cultures. The women with whom I have discussed of this problem have told me that they have more trouble when they wear Western clothes. These clothes and the new way of life symbolize a detachment of tradition and patriarchal society in other words a free spirited woman (2). The development of large cities in India creates an anonymous climate conducive to crime. The cultural, social and religious diversity caused an increase in the discrimination. In large cities, traditional India is facing modern India and this cohabitation often leads to conflicts. The fact that some women become independent by leaving the territory of the house is the source of certain aggression.

Street harassment Street harassment can take many forms. The most common is the first stage of sexual harassment that is experienced by women who live in large cities everyday.

What is eve teasing? noun [mass noun] Indian â&#x20AC;˘ the making of unwanted sexual remarks or advances by a man to a woman in a public place. Oxford dictionary

Eve-teasing is a euphemism used in for public sexual harassment or molestation of women by men, with use of the word ÂŤEveÂť being a reference to the biblical Eve, the first woman. Considered a problem related to delinquency in youth, it is a form of sexual aggression that ranges in severity from sexually suggestive remarks, brushing in public places and catcalls to outright groping. Sometimes it is referred to with a coy suggestion of innocent

fun, making it appear innocuous with no resulting liability on the part of the perpetrator. Some voluntary organisations have suggested that the expression be replaced by a more appropriate term. According to them, considering the semantic roots of the term in Indian English, Eve teasing refers to the temptress nature of Eve, placing responsibility on the woman as a tease. (3)

1-Unwanted Staring / leering / Whistling / Honking/ catcalling / commenting / Hooting / Hissing / propositioning / following. Most of the time the cases are not reported to the police because women believe that it is not serious to go complain to the police. It would be a waste of time especially since it is very difficult to prove something and find the harasser (4). This type of attack can take place anywhere. They are reported

mainly in transport or public places. It is difficult to have reliable and accurate statistics for this kind of information because it is never reported to the police. These crimes are committed by groups of men that make them feel stronger. Most of them approach the girls when they are on a motorcycle or a car in order to being able to escape more easily in case of problems (5).

The mother of the student raped in a bus in Delhi.

2-Degrading (public) Embarrassing / humiliating / exposing / self pleasuring / touching / groping / Threatening These crimes can happen at any time both at work and in public places. The aggressors are mostly people sexually frustrated (refer: to chapter 3 â&#x20AC;&#x153; In the mind of men and womenâ&#x20AC;?) .

3-Assaulting

Women in urban areas are twice as likely as men to experience violence, particularly in developing countries.(6) The problem of street harassment occurs on different scales; it starts from eve teasing to rape and ends with murder. The problem is that it is difficult to enforce justice and track criminals. Therefore women avoid moving alone outside.

66%

Stalking / attacking / raping of women in Crime often occurs when the victim is isolated and there are no New Delhi report experiencing witnesses or persons to help her. A sexual harassment between two women become more fearful during and five times during the past year the night when it is dark because in 2010 (7). they imagine that any bad encounter could actually happen to them. The attackers are also men very frustrated and enough violent to pass the of women are act. ( refer: Chapter 3) scared to go outâ&#x20AC;? (8).

95 %

half of the victime have between 18 and 30 year old. Crime against women - National Crime Records Bureau Incidence of crime against women in 2010

« a rape take place in india every 21 minutes.» Extact from : India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013

in india 17% of women are employed 40% of them in large cities. Article «LES FEMMES EN INDE» « women in India» http://www.femme-avenir. com/2012-les-femmes-en-inde.pdf

Crime against women - National Crime Records Bureau Incidence of crime against women in 2010 *all the reference in this page come from the National Crime Records Bureau Incidence of crime against women in 2010

According to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Crime Records Bureau, registered rape cases in India had increased by almost 900% over the past 40 years, to 24,206 incidents in 2011, while murder cases had gone up by only 250% over 60 years, and incidences of riot had actually dropped. Delhi, with its population of 15 million, registered 572 cases of rape, compared with 239 in Mumbai, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commercial capital, with its bigger population, in 2011. There were just 47 reported in Kolkata. In 2011 24206 cases of rape were registered in India.

Since 2010 crime again women increase by 7,1 % Half of the victime have between 18 and 30 years old. The kidnapping increased to 19%.

Time of India ( an Indian newspaper) Two out of three women who travel in BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) buses face regular violence from co-passengers, conductors and drivers. In a survey conducted in 2012-13 of 2,647 women in Bangalore, 1,803 cases of harassment in buses were reported i.e 69% of the women reported being sexually harassed in buses in the following ways use of vulgar language, staring pointedly, physical attacks such as touching, feeling; grabbing; indecently exposing; stalking; photographing or shooting videos without consent (9).

Crime against women increase in the district TOI 28 Oct 2013 Every 24 hours, three women are abused in some part of the city or outskirts. Virar woman sets self ablaze over eve-teasing TOI 09 Apr 2013 A 23-year-old married woman from Virar immolated herself last month as she was unable to bear eve-teasing by a neighbour.

Some example of facts and figures from All over the world Each year :

19%

of women in France have known violence in the public space in one year. 2% of violence: touch, stroke and injury, assault, rape 1/3 of abusers are teens, 他 are unknown (10) .

83%

of girls aged 12 to 16 in the United States have experienced some form of sexual harassment in public schools.

Between 40 and 50 per cent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work (11).

A 2009 study in Australia estimated the cost of violence against women and children at AUD 13.6 billion per year (12) .

Swiss police received seven complaints of sexual violence per 100,000 inhabitants each years

of women in Canada are victims of sexual assault every year. The most common forms are touching, exhibitionism, rape, masturbation, or the forced fellation.

The impacts The cost of violence against women is very important to the state. In European countries, there is a budget of several million to prevent violence against women and help women who have been harassed. In Spain the cost of violence against women for the region of Andalusia is 2.357 million euros per year (check). In 2010, Canada spent 4.2 Billion in justice and security for women. With the economic, cultural and political situation in India it is difficult to invest in measures to protect women and change attitudes (13). The police usually do not take into consideration the complaints by women about street harassment, the latter must find other means to ensure their protection. With the increase of street harassment in the main towns, women are forced to change their lifestyle habits such as not going out alone in the streets after 8PM, avoiding poorly-lit or preferring taxis to walking. Some women prefer to refuse working in the evenings, in order to avoid enduring the stress of the street. Other educated women give up their career to become housewives and therefore are less exposed to problems related to street harassment. In Delhi, a majority of women prefer to finish before the sunset, even if it reduces their working hours.

Life before success â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ultimately, it is your life and security that comes before your professional successÂť Said a worker in a call center (14). Violence towards women reduces the number of women living on an equal balance with men. This also causes the almost complete absence of women in the streets during the evenings. Thereby there is a minority of pedestrian women who get out and are seen as unconscious, not respectable or even considered prostitutes. For women who have been abused, the psychological consequences (when they are not physical) are

very serious. The shock can cause severe depression due to the silence and shame that the victim may experience. In India girls who have been raped have no chance to get married; this is a very serious problem in a society in which marriage is one of the most important events in a girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life. This implies social exclusion from the community. In Europe we find an economic impoverishment and a decline of civic participation of women who were assaulted. In more serious cases the depression and social pressure can be so strong that it sometimes leads the girl to maim herself or even to commit suicide (15).

Violence against women has heavy economic, sociological and psychological consequences.

Sources : (1) femme-avenir.com article about women situation in india http://www.femme-avenir.com/2012-les-femmes-en-inde (2) Discussion and recorded interview with student from Sristhi school. (3) Wikipedia : definition of eve teasing (4) Discussion with Franklin Joseph - Specialist on Women Safety, Women Self Defense and Women Psychological Empowerment against Crime, Violence and Sexual Abuse (5) Interpretation of the reading “violence against women in public spaces” extract from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (6) F. Vanderschueren, 2000, “The Prevention of Urban Crime.” Paper presented at the Africities 2000 Summit, Windhoek, Namibia. Cited in UN-HABITAT, 2006, State of the World’s Cities 2006/2007, p. 144, Nairobi. (7) JAGORI and UN WOMEN (2010). Report on the Baseline Survey. Available at: http://jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Baseline-Survey_layout_forPrint_12_03_2011.pdf. (8) Extact from : India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 (9) change.org BMTC takes action to stop sexual harassment of women on buses. (10) (11) Statistics from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (11) Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs, 1998, “Sexual harassment at the workplace in the European Union,”Brussels, European Commission. Cited in UN General Assembly, 2006, “In-depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary-General,” A/61/122/ Add.1, p. 42, New York. (12) Data calculated for both intimate partner and non-partner violence based on estimated prevalence rates for 2007–2008, including direct and indirect individual and public costs related to suffering, health, legal and employment expenses, among others. The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009, The Cost of Violence against Women and their Children, p. 4, Canberra, Common wealth of Australia. (13) extract from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (14) Time of India ( Indian newspaper ) of the 01/05/2013 “Women refuse to work till late post Delhi gang-rape” (15) Women behaviour from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

1.3 The street

Yelahanka at night .

In order to better understand the feelings better that can be felt when walking at night in the streets, I walked at midnight with friends in the streets of Yelahanka, the neighbourhood where I live. We could note that the area was very quiet and that there was nobody outside except for some stray dogs. The streets were very poorly lit, our scope of vision was limited, so we were feeling very uncomfortable. The structure of the street and the darkness could allow an attacker to be hidden in a way that we could not see him. In addition, the streets were deserted, so nobody could come and help us if a problem occurred. Of course this was very unlikely but our protective instincts were taking precedence over our reason. The feelings that we felt were strange and contradictory. These streets that we knew so well from day seemed strange to us at night. As if we were not on our territory anymore. It can be observed that in the state of nature, the night is reserved to predators, so

this explains why human beings are often afraid of being alone at night. Moreover, men who walk outside at night in groups behave like predators. The street is their territory and anyone who dares to venture there takes a risk even unknowingly. Anyone in these hours is exposed to the risk of confrontation territory. We can observe the same phenomenon in the behaviour of dogs which wander the streets during the night, and which engage in violent fights for territory or foodÂ˛. Making the streets safer and more reassuring is a priority, because it a way to ensure that people will not be afraid to use them at any time. If there were more people in the streets, there would be less problems of territory at night.Therefore less risk.

2 42

In the rules of the community

â&#x20AC;&#x153; If you follow the rules nothing can happen to you.â&#x20AC;? This is what a salesman told me during an interview at the market of Shivaginagar (one of the biggest market in Bangalore). By discussing with women and their husbands in the street, I could understand how communities ensure the protection of women in their society (1).

2.1 Women in a bubble of protection the community is a comfort zone In major Indian cities, people live in communities. There is for example the Muslim, Christian and Hindu w, but they also stay together by caste or level of wealth. A community is a group of people living and having common interests (2). In India, as a groups of french expatriate, we were forming a small community without knowing it. These groups protect and act like a tribe. As long as we stay in our community nothing can happen to us because theoretically we are protected by the other members. Outside the men that we met also was not alone, even the dogs in the street formed small group occupying limited territories, as soon as a stranger entered their territory they barked to inform other areas of our presence acting as well as an effective network. In other term Union is the source of strength.

How to stay safe while leaving the territory of the comfort zone? It would be interesting to use the notion of network and community to create a mobile comfort bubble real or virtual . This could be materialized by a kind of social network forming a very large community of people from all backgrounds ensuring the security of each of its members. This would prevent agressions or rescue victims quickly. Conclusion: Communities occupying territory (comfort zone), these territories are well known by members. But if a member leaves the comfort zone by walking at night or going into uncharted territory, she takes risks. If a person goes out of her comfort zone with a group of people who protect him/her so he/she is still in a sort of comfort zone.

the different system of protection inside communities In order to protect women from abuse, some rules of life appeared in major cities. It is not recommended for women to go out alone in the evening. All women have since childhood been told that venturing out alone is dangerous. Because at night there are fewer people in the street, less to help in case of problem. It is also advised to women to avoid disreputable neighborhoods.

In Islamic countries, women are required to cover themselves from the gaze of men. A respectable woman must be accepted for her inner qualities and not for her physical appearance.Thus men are not exposed to any temptation and keep their thoughts pure.

Women do not tempt men if they are covered, so in theory they are not supposed to have problems of sexual harassment (3).

A commercial street in Shivajinagar

the niqab experience

During my visit to Shivaginagar, I interviewed Muslim people and asked for their opinion about the niqab. They told me that wearing a niqab and following the rules of Islam was the best way for a woman to be always safe. In order to experience the efficiency of the niqab, my friend and I wore it during a whole day in the center of Bangalore. 46

At he beginning the niqab gave me the feeling I was trapped. Then by walking we finally got used to it. Usually when we walk in the commercial streets, sellers call us, men approach us or take pictures of us (this is a very common practice in India towards foreigners and particularly women). Covered with the niqab, nobody could guess our nationality, our age or level of

wealth. We could walk quietly without anyone shouting at us. When we walk in the street, instinctively we analyze all the people that we see. By quickly observing their gait, their clothes, their expression we can get a general idea. of who this person is. 70% of human communication is done without speaking (4).The niqab provided only the information that we let appear were that we were Muslim women. The less you know the less you tease. The fact that we could see without being seen and watch and analyze people without being watched back put us in a position of superiority. We felt like in an invisibility cloak, the niqab was a kind of physical and psychological protective bubble. The niqab has its limits through. It is still a veil to hide the body, it can not protect a woman in case of aggression. It erases the identity of

the person who wears it, hence it cannot work with everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way of life. We can imagine a society in which everyone would be hidden, nobody would have a complete identity there would be only anonymous people in the public space.

Reducing womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freedom by hindering them for their safety is in contradiction with a society where women aspire to the same status as men. The empowerment of women in India pushes them out of their comfort zone. Therefore It is necessary to find adapted solutions to ensure their safety and confidence in themselves.

Women outside of the comfort zone A new generation of women in India are led to go out of their comfort zone. There are female students, workers or employed employees for example. Women walking late at night are frowned upon because they have no good reason to leave their home. People may -think they are engaging in suspicious activities or joining a lover (5). When something happens to a woman at night, she is often blamed because she had nothing to do at night in the street without the protection of a man. If she is assaulted this is her fault, she was not in her territory. Men seeing a single woman can imagine that the latter is trying to get noticed, while a woman will never seek to be assaulted (6) .

How to routinize and make safe the fact that women move freely in the public space at night. Women would feel less afraid if there were more others women walking alone by night.

Persona hear

When she was a child her parents told her to not go outside alone during the evening because she is a girl. Today she is still scared to go out. Yesterday her friend told her that one group of men was teasing her at the bus station. Laxmi realise that she is not alone in that situation, many of her friend know the same stories.

Think

Laxmi work in a call center. After finishing her studies she decided to live in a big city. There she want to find a good future and find independence.

Do She never go outside alone. When she leaves her house during the night, her is alway with a group of her friends or in a ricksaw. When men are teasing her, she doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t known how to react, she say nothing. When she sees a girl being harassed she wants to help her but she does not know what to do, because she is feeling weak compared to them.

See

Her society is more or less patriarcal. Every days in the newspaper she reads stories of abused women. When she walk in the street, some men sometimes are teasing her. In media women embody vulnerability and fragility.

Feel

Laxmi is scared by walking alone in the street. She feels weak and dependent to others people to protect her, despites her. Sometimes she would like to be a man for not having this problems that she have as a woman.

Say

A member of Yelahanka Blank noise ( an Indian association ) Action Heroes

Sources : (1) Interview recorded of a burka seller at Shivaginagar (a commercial area of Bangalore where a lot of communities live together). (2) Definition of « community » by the « dictionnaire de la langue française ». (3) Interview recorded of a burka seller at Shivaginagar , Gladis a food seller at Yelahanka, and Sristhi Student. Discussion and note with a toy seller at Whitefield, observation and discussion with friends family. (4) Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger Chapter about body communication. (5) Interview seen in the documentary : India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 (6) interview recorded of a receptionist at Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Discussion with the members of blank noise association about the police.

2.2 The Indian society between tradition and modernity Men and women in separate places

90% of marriages in India are arranged marriages (against 55% in the world) (1). It is common that parents choose the husband or wife of their child. During my trip in India I attended two arranged weddings. The family of the married couple explained to me that marriage creates links with another family, so it allows a greater social stability and financial security in the future for both families. If the son or daughter chooses someone from a lower level, he/she somehow puts in peril the future and balance of their family. In India an arranged marriage works only if both families agree to it. Having a boyfriend or girlfriend before marriage is quite complicated because traditional families want their to avoid romantic relationships before marriage.

Some of my Indian friends were forced to hide their girlfriend from their family to avoid issues. ( In the movie : “Bend It Like Beckham” directed by Gurinder Chadha in 54

Some of my Indian friends were forced to hide their girlfriend from their family to avoid conflicts. ( In the movie : “Bend It Like Beckham” directed by Gurinder Chadha in 2002)Pinky Bhamra the sister of the heroine is always hiding her boyfriend to her parents because they have sexual relations before being married). At begining of my expatriation, I lived with an Indian family in Bangalore during 6 months. They let their son have a girlfriend but only if the latter were from an equivalent caste. In this community, girls were free to frequent boys but within the limits set by parents. During the meal with friends or

family, women ate at one side of the table and the men on the other side. Throughout traditional dances men and women were also separated and danced only a few time together before moving on to another partner. It is therefore difficult in traditional settings to have intimacy with a girl or a boy. Besides the slightest displays of affection in public are severely reprimanded by the police although it is not legislation prohibiting it in public space (2).The police can charge a fine to a young couple unmarried under penalty to report them to their parents. I have already experienced this phenomenon when one day I went out the night accompanied by a friend of the same age as me, a police car stopped to ask us questions about our relationship. After showing my passport and discussing with them, the police left. I was shocked to observe that it could be looked upon poorly in the neighbourhood to walk at night with a man who is not our husband.

This separation has an impact on their behaviour, as men and women have no social knowledge of the opposed sex. In order to further explore this situation, I have assisted to a speed-dating event at the UB City mall in Bangalore. There, the organizer told me that some participant was very nervous because they rarely speak to girls. This is not an isolated case, medicine students that I have interviewed, told me that they only frequented a few

The separation of girls and boys helps avoiding relations before marriage in some traditional families. Thus in the traditional Indian society, there are boths physical and psychological barriers between men and women.

3 idiots : A movie where three students arrive in a school where there is only boys.

girls and all of them are classmates. Often, the girls are very cold with them and their boarding school only reserved for men. As result, many men and women have no social knowledge of the opposed sex. This has a direct impact on their behaviour, as people become fearful of their opposite sex. The government buses are separated into two parts, the front for women and the back for men. This is put into place in order to prevent sexual harassment and molestation like in those happening in the Japanese

metro. In theory, if men and women were apart of each other, there would be no problem of harassment because that would physically prevent any courtship between them. According to the humanist and philosopher Elisabeth Badinter, the fact to separate men and women emphasizes their differences. In fact, how can women, who had no relationships with men can claim for the same status and the same recognition than them in society. Women are separated from men for their safety. In India, men commit 99% of attacks on women (3).

Signage in the Japanese metro.

The government buses are separated into two parts, the front for women and the back for men. This is put into place in order to prevent sexual harassment and molestation like in those happening in the Japanese metro. In theory, if men and women were apart of each other, there would be no problem of harassment because that would physically prevent any courtship between them. According to the humanist and philosopher Elisabeth Badinter, the fact to separate men and women emphasizes their differences. In fact, how can women, who had no relationships with men can claim for the same status and the same recognition than them in society?

Signage in an Indian bus. «Ladies seat»

In her book, Elisabeth Badinter explains that for a greater equality between men and women, it is necessary that they do the same activities and frequent the same areas, so the woman would not been seen as a simple complement of man. How to create spaces where men and women would be able to walk quietly and equally, without separating them?

Elisabeth Badinter

«Women are not what men are, so they can not do what men do.» Extract from «« la ressemblance des sexes «« by Elisabeth Badinter

A patriarchal society facing a new generation of women Patriarchal society is a society looking at women as a complement of men. In the film «Dedvas» released in 2002, the hero said to a courtesan: «A woman is a mother, a sister, a wife or a friend. If she is not one of those women then she is nothing.» In the traditional countryside, girls do not stay in school for many years, many of them stop only after elementary. There are over 200 million illiterate women in India and 48% of women are married before the age of 18.(4) These girls become young mothers and stay at home to serve their husbands and take care of their children. These women also feel inferior to men

because they are entirely submitted to their husbands. A lot of similar situations can be found in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, but there are exceptions like Shubam Tambi, who was born into a traditional family in Rajasthan. She chose to do extensive studies in the field of handicrafts and chose to leave her parents and choose her husband. There are a lot of girls in Shubam’s situation now, some of them have emigrated from their village to live in large cities such as Bangalore. They have to deal with the fact of being in between modern and traditional cultures at the same time. Students in my college are very westernized, they wear jeans, have boyfriend or girlfriend and go to parties. However, when I interviewed the local police, they told me that there were strong complaints from neighbour against these mix-gender parties. Indian society is divided between tradition and modernity. More and more educated girls become independent and leave the territory of their community. This new generation is moving away from traditions and thus creating a clash of values.

Shubam Tambi Under Graduate Diploma in Crafts & Design

Sources : (1) Source: UNICEF, Human Rights Council, ABC News http://www.statisticbrain.com/arranged-marriage-statistics/ (2) Article “No kissing please, we are Indians” BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) Friday, 6 February 2009 extract from the BBC http://news. bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7871304.stm (3) Article extract from Aljazeera ( a Quatarian TV chanel) « Crimes against women increase in India » by Sudha G Tilak http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featureses/2012/12/2012122991735307545.html (4) unwomen.org (united nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women) and UNICEF, Human Rights Council, ABC News

2.3 the justice The law

How does the judicial system adapt to this evolution of the society? How are women protected? How does the police react to this confrontation of tradition and modernity? In India, violence against women is only recognized since from the 80s. Here is an excerpt of the current legislation to protect the women against street harassment:

Laws under Indian Penal Code (IPC) (1) Section No: 209

Actions: Obscene acts and songs, to the annoyance of others like: to do any obscene act in any public place or to sing, recite or utterany obscene song, ballad or words in or near any public place. Punishment: Imprisonment up to 3 months or fine, or both. (Cognisable, bailable and triable offense)

Section No: 354

Actions: Assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. Punishment: 2 years imprisonment or fine, or both

Section No: 376

Actions: Rape Punishment: Imprisonment for life or 10 years and fine, death in case of murder (or coma).

Section No: 509

Actions: Uttering any word or making any gesture intended to insult the modesty of a woman Punishment: Imprisonment for 1 year, or fine, or both. (Cognisable and bailable offense)

The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act (1987) Actions: Although it is not known to have been used in cases of sexual harassment, the provisions of this act have the potential to be used in two ways: If an individual harasses another with books, photographs, paintings, films, pamphlets, packages, etc., containing ‘indecent representation of women’; they are liable for a minimum sentence of 2 years A ‘hostile working environment’ type of argument can be made under this act. Section 7 (Offences by Companies) - holds companies where there has been ‘indecent representation of women’ (such as the display of pornography) on the premises guilty of offenses under this act. Punishment: Minimum sentence of 2 years. There are also laws against domestic violence.In 1983, domestic violence was recognised as a specific criminal offence by the introduction of section 498-A into the Indian Penal Code. This section deals with cruelty by a husband or his family towards a married woman. Four types of cruelties are dealt with this law (2) :

• Conduct that is likely to drive a woman to suicide. • Conduct which is likely to cause grave injury to the life, limb or health of the woman. • Harassment with the purpose of forcing the woman or her relatives to give some property. • Harassment because the woman or her relatives is unable to yield to demands for more money or does not give some property. These laws when they are applied are supposed to ensure a better situation of women in India. But abused women are still struggling to get justice.w

The police What do you think about the police in India? In my interviews I never had positives answers from Yelahanka residents. A student:

«The police remained traditional and does not comply completely within the law.»

A snacks seller:

A niqab seller from Shivaginagar:

The owner of a small restaurant

«people should not rely on the police to protect women, they should learn how to defend themselves».

«The courts and the police are not strict enough with criminals. In Saudi Arabia rapists are sentenced to death. «

«There is too much corruption in the police. «

Illustration by Cécilia Palomino

From my own experiences, I have experienced police corruption first handed. One time, I saw a man been arrested by a police officer because he was driving without wearing neither a helmet nor a driving license. But, he successfully negotiated him fine to 100 rupee (1.20 euro) without having his named asked by the police. In a similar case, a merchant who had set his stall at a prohibited place and who had no money to pay the fine from police, bribed them with food instead. In fact, bribing is fairly common in India. Men from high caste or rich family can harass girls without having to worry about the police. Also, the victim risks further humiliation if she complains to the police. Some member of the police keeps some patriarchal bias and prejudice. For example, if a girl comes to file a complaint for aggression and wears revealing clothe such as short skirt or tank top, she risk to be not taken seriously. These police officer will likely say that she was looking for it (3).

When I went to the Yelahanka police station to do the interviews, an officer told me that the police have very high authority in India, but they can not intervene (except in severe situations) for cases of women been beaten and raped by their own husband.

It was also a very difficult to interview police officers. When I went to the police stations, I was surprised to see very few people. In contrast, it is rather difficult to talk a police officer in France during the afternoon, because of a overwhelming number of people and complaints. Earlier in the same day, there were only male officers in the police stations that I was able to visit in Bangalore. They refused to answering to my questions. Yelahanka Police station was the only place where I was granted an interview without camera. There I learned about the real gap between

prevention for women in Hampi

the law and its daily application by the police. For example, if a woman comes to them to lodge a complaint because her husband or her family beats her, the police will not register the complaint immediately even if there are laws punishing domestic violence. In fact, the procedure is always the same, an officer talks with the woman to understanding her situation, and if she returns several times again because the situation had not improved, then they

send a letter to her husband asking him to stop the mistreatment. If the problem still persists, then the complaint can be deposited. It may take a lot of time between the moment when a woman first comes in and the moment when the complaint is filed. In the mean time, they must continue to endure the suffering inflicted by their husbands or family, which is caused mostly by the dowry. (We will see that aspect deeper in the next chapter).

“People do not dare lodge a complaint to the police”, Anitha told me, “they preferred to solve their problem among themselves and women especially are afraid of been dishonoured and of reprisals from their abuser. ” Despite such claim, I could see that there were very few people into police stations. What actions have been implemented to protect women?

Anitha Kumar Police sub inspector of Yelahanka Police Station

Awareness campaign at school Anitha explained to me that she was doing awareness campaign in schools for boys to learn respect toward girls. Girls are advised about their future marriage. « They should not get married too soon to anyone » Say Anitha . The husbands are more likely to beat their wife after an early marriage.

Women workers protection A shuttle service for women working late is available. 10 of these, which are called Abaya (“without fear” in kannada), are drive by women to drop off women workers at their home. This service was established for women working in factories who do not have the means to drive back home and who suffered from harassments.

«In Bangalore there is one police station per 1000 people, which is not enough in the state of Karnataka.» Anitha Kumar Police sub inspector of Yelahanka Police Station

What could be improved amongst the actions established by the police to fight against street harassment? - Anitha confessed to me that for the future, it would be preferable to do more events in schools in order to raise the awareness of this problem to a maximum of young people. - There are not enough services developed for women and not enough police to fill the positions. - The dialogue between citizens and the police should be improved. Women should not be afraid to talk about their problems. This would benefit to expose the numbers of women experiencing violence. - When a woman walks alone in the street or takes a rickshaw late at night, it would be good to know her route or having an alert when she encounter any serious problems so in case of an aggression, the rescue operation would be faster. THUS This fear comes from a problem of victimisation by police.

Bangalore police

victimisation After an attack, it takes a lot of courage for a woman to talk about it, even more to talk to the police. But unfortunately very few complaints are filed (numbers), and even less rapists judged. In the majority of cases the police ask to the woman to say nothing or try to find an arrangement between the rapist and the family if the victim knows the rapist. Sometimes the young rape victim is forced to marry her rapist, because after being raped it will be impossible for her to find a husband to the extent that she has lost her virginity and her honour. It is also a form of punishment for the rapist because by wanted to abuse a girl he have to take care of her and remain faithful to her during throughout his life. It often happens in this kind of situation that the victim commit suicide.

For a matter of honor girls must do great sacrifices. After the gang rape case in New Delhi, the police was highly criticized for his lack of empathy towards victims of rape and other types of sexual assault. Many stories were exposed to light where the police humiliated a woman by telling her that she had provoked the rapist by wearing provocative clothes or walking alone late at night without the protection of a man. ( exemple dans les journaux). The two Finger Test After undergoing the stress of filing a complaint (when they arrive) women face another humiliation during medical examinations. The two Finger test consists of putting two fingers in the vagina of the

the two fingers test

unmarried victim to see if she was sexually active before the rape. If the test is positive, then during the trial it will be indicated that the victim was accustomed to sexual relations, and therefore she did not suffer from too much physical and psycological damage because she is use to that . So Rape is less serious, the rapist is released, and the victim and his family humiliated again. In a few words: file a complaint when a girl is raped is more likely to cause wrong and suffering than good.

It is your fault ! The Collective of actor AIB «All India Bakchod» made a video «It is your fault» dealing with the problem of victimization in India with a black humor. Boolywood actress in that video explain why sexual agression is alway provoct by women. 68

The empowerment of women is in contradiction with the traditional and patriarchal society. Relations between men and women are still highly controlled by their families. New laws to protect women are not always applied by the police and women still suffer from victimisation.

Sources : (1) http://www.indianwomenshealth.com/Harassment-Laws-188.aspx (2) Article «Laws against domestic violence and abuse» extract from the blog : «India together» http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue137/laws.htm (3) extract from the documentary «India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman» BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) documentary 2013

A girl in Jodpur ( Rajasthan )

3 72

In the mind of men and women

In our societies, men and women think and act differently. It ends up with conflicts and incomprehension inside couples as well as discriminations. What is the origin of this difference that supposedly implies problems between men and women? Are men and women different by nature? Wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t this difference be in fact created by education and societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mores? How do men and women think? What are their mind reactions towards this difference?

3.1 In the mind of women Women education and social background Female foeticide An Indian proverb says:

“Bringing up daughters is like watering the garden of your neighbour.” In fact, in a lot of cultures in India, there is no advantage to have a daughter judging from the traditional behaviours of these cultures. When a woman is marrying, her parents have to pay a dowry to the husband’s family. She also has to move into her husband’s family and take care of it in addition to her husband. Instead of losing a lot of money, many parents chose to abort when they learn they are waiting for a daughter (1). In India, this kind of behaviour is the cause of a loss of 43 millions of women according

to the United States’ development program in 2010. From the census of 2011, for 1,000 Indian men there are only 940 Indian women. For children from 0 to 6 years old, the gap is even more obvious: 914 girls for 1,000 boys. This gender-ratio widened during the last decades: In 1991, 947 girls for 1,000 boys, in 2001 they were 927 girls and nowadays it is estimated at 914 girls. This women shortage doesn’t get the women more precious at the eyes of all; since 40 years the rape rates increased of 900% (2).

Signage at the Asia Columbia Hospital in Bangalore

Women Education Women have a much lower literacy rate than men. In 2001 literacy for women had exceeded 50% of the female population in general, but it were still very low compared to world standards. In India, it was found that there is a large disparity between female literacy rates in different states. For example, while Kerala actually has a female literacy rate of about 86 percent, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have female literacy rates around 55-60 percent. The rural state Rajasthan has a female literacy rate of less than 12 percent (3). The education of women in India plays a significant role in improving livings standards in the country. A higher women literacy rate improves the quality of life both at home and outside of home, by encouraging

and promoting education of children, especially female children, and in reducing the infant mortality rate. Several studies have shown that a lower level of women literacy rates result in higher levels of fertility and infant mortality, poorer nutrition, lower earning potential and the lack of an ability to make decisions within a household (4).

The vision of the women in the traditionnal society. « Women are not what men are. » Elisabeth Badinter philosophe française dans son livre « la ressemblance des sexes. »

campaign against girl’s foeticide

Women are seen as the complementary part of men. Before being born, a girl is already a burden for her family. When a boy is born, a celebration is organized but it is not the case for women. “A girl live here is worthless.” Said by a woman coming from a village in Uttar Pradesh in a BBC Article « India A Dangerous Place to be a Woman. »

In the movie Dedvas (5), a family bully a mother who refused an arranged marriage. She curses them by wishing to give birth to a girl which would dishonour and handicap the future of the family. The small girls born by this union see their mother subjected to their father and know that later they will have to drop out of school, marry and will have to take care of their family.

“Women learn to take care of others before taking care of themselves.” extract from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

To assure their security, girls are forbidden to go out at night without the protection of men. They are considered as weaker than men and so, it is the duty of their male relatives to protect them. Most of women in traditional families are dependent of men. They grow up being taught to be discreet, fragile and dependent (6). In Indian cinema, strong women caracteres are rare. In traditional India, women are considered as a burden to their family. They are generally perceived as inferior to men. Of course, these examples don’t represent the totality of Indian population. I met during my study, independent and free thinking women.

Culpability It’s my fault. As said in the previous chapter, women respect non-said life rules for their security. For example, if a woman is attacked in the street as she walked by without the protection of a man; what happens to her would be her fault since she wasn’t aware enough. Thus, in every day life, if a woman is harassed, she would have the reflex of feeling guilty even if it is not her fault (7). After being harassed, she will change her habits in order to not face this problem again. For example, a woman harassed because of supposedly provocative clothes won’t were them a second time in the same context.

The Limits This theory is extracted from the book about Women Behaviour called “non c’est non.” By Irene Zeilinger. -If she shouts, she would be scared of being ridicule. (Doesn’t know the limits.) -If she defends herself, she would be scared that her harasser becomes violent. (Over-estimate the harasser.) -She thinks that the man is maybe not aware of his act. (Finds excuses to justify her passive reaction.) -She thinks that maybe it is her fault because she is maybe wearing something improper. (She feels guilty.)

The harasser sees that the woman doesn’t react to his “so-called” advances and think that she appreciates this and that she consents to his intimate intrusion. In reality the woman is terrorized and petrified. If a man was in the same situation, there is a high probability that he would have quickly taken care of the problem. Men are taught to react and impose their limits to others. Women’s education forces them to fight this natural instinct of self-protection. Instead of reacting towards 78

Illustration from the comics “ Draupadi ”

things happening to her or towards someone in the street, she stays passive and scared. For a better self-confidence and for their security women should be taught how to recognize a situation where they have to fight. This restraint of the self-protection instinct is the cause of the feeling of guilt that can lead to depression, loneliness and can eventually lead to suicide. It is said that self-defending victims during an attack have better chance to get over psychologically in contrary to passive victims.

A girl in Yelahanka.

Sources (1) India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation) documentary 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StYj8gzEtGQ (2) Article from Slate.fr «L’INDE, LE PAYS OÙ LES FILLES ONT DISPARU» by Hélène Ferrarini http://www.slate.fr/monde/80707/inde-le-pays-ou-les-filles-ont-disparu (3) Study «Landscaping Women’s Empowerment through Learning and Education in India through Learning and Education in India» by Peter Smitham and Lynne Smitham http://www.dasra.org/n/forwebsite/factsheet/Landscaping_Women_Empowerment_Report.pdf (4) Study « Women’s Education in India » by By Victoria A. Velkoff http://fr.slideshare.net/siddharth4mba/women-education-in-india http://paa2004.princeton.edu/downloadasp?submissionId=41578 (5) «Devdas» Bollywood directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002 (6) Discussion with members of blank noise association and debate with students from Srishti school of art and technology. (7) «Women behaviour» from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

3.2 In the mind of men

en education and social background Boys in India grow up with their parents as models. They have to be strong and courageous to assure the protection of their family in traditional backgrounds. Being strong doesn’t imply only physically, boys have to appear mentally strong too. For example, they have to hide their sadness in order to not look weak in front of girls (1).Once, a taxi driver happened to learn his father’s death while I was in his car. He continued to work and waited for all the girls to leave the taxi before bursting in tears. Because of society’s model, boys have difficulties to express their feelings. It is difficult for a man to always be a perfect example and image of strength, purity and protection for his family.

The traditional Indian man doesn’t get to know a lot of girls; it makes him nervous and clueless about girls. When growing up he feels desire towards them. However, he can’t express it or talk about it because talking about sex isn’t possible in his traditional family. Little by little his frustration is setting (2).

Frustration

Theory extract from the book ÂŤ non câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;est non Âť by Irene Zeilinger chapter talking about men behaviour. Having a limited relationship with women can frustrate men. Some of them manage to control their frustration, others do not. Some men are so frustrated, that it becomes unbearable for them. He finally lose confidence in them and feel weak. The only way for them to feel better is to eliminate the cause of the frustration. This is one of the cause that can push a man to abuse a woman. By attacking the source of his frustration, he feels better till he

do it again. This ranges from simple drag to rape. It often happens that men chat up and calls women in groups to show their virility to other men and to themselves, it helps them to build confidence. Most of the time abusers do not realize the seriousness of their actions and what they do is wrong. For example when a man in a bus touches a woman and that the latter does not move, he imagines that it is because she is consenting. If he likes it, she likes it also in the logic of the aggressor. It is difficult for a man to understand what a woman feels when she walk

in the street because he did not have this kind of problem in the daily life, if a stranger complimented or making him advances he will feel not abused necessarily. Conversely a woman can see a simple compliment by a man as a sexual assault.

A part of the problem of sexual harassment is the unconscious misunderstanding between men and women. Men and women have different behavior that can sometimes be misinterpreted by the other and cause problems. Solving the problem of frustration and the lack of confidence that some men have would contribute to improve the situation of women.

The consequences «Les frotteurs»: Name given to men in France who benefits of buses saturated of people to touch girls. Who are they? They have between 15 and 20 years or between 35 and 50 years. When they are attract by a girl, their instinct is so strong that for them the girl’s body is no longer to her. The latter is no longer a human with a conscience, she become a body offered the eyes of everyone that the abuser might have at its disposal. They do not see themselves as perverts and do not realize the harm they are doing around them. It is the same type of man who rapes women, thinking she really likes it and what be prudish in order to be more desirable (3). In this instance the man sees the woman as a body at his disposal. In his logic the woman is necessarily agree.

Aggression because of frustration Theory extracted from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

As previously said, aggressions lead by frustration is way for men to exteriorize their self-repressed feelings on women. Who are they? They are in most of the case, men with no self-confidence and trying to assess their personality by this means. For example, some husbands who lost their social place inside of their family by loosing their job start to beat their wife to give them a superiority feeling expressed because of their loss of power. Men use women as a mean to assess their superiority and virility and to fight their frustration.

The Apprenticeship theory This theory is extract from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger Generally speaking, men and groups of men harassing women have seen this kind of behaviour already before. When a man sees another being satisfied from a verbal aggression toward a woman for example, he can be tempted of mimicking this behaviour.

However, if he saws a girls fighting back or making fun of this man, he wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dare to tempt the same thing as he would fear of being treated the same way. That is why there are different kinds of harassment depending of the countries. If girls were to adopt a more defensive and active behaviour towards harasser, there is a high probability that the tentative of harassment would decrease. Mistreated or sexually abused children have more chance of mimicking the same behaviours later. Fifty-three percent of children boys and girls equally are victims of sexual abuse, ranging from child grooming and forcible kissing to petting and penetration. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s according to a 2007 study by the Indian Government of nearly 12,500 children from across India (4). Violent men donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t represent the majority of Indian male population. Moreover, it exists in India a lot of situation where unknown men and women went to the rescue harassed victims. The help of others is really important both during and after the attack. A fast reaction from witnesses can prevent aggression and call the police. How

to make witnesses aware of the danger and teach them the instinct and proper reactions when helping the victims. A willingness to change the status of women in public places in India and throughout the world can be seen through these examples. The objects designed to enable women to defend themselves have a limited efficacy. How can industrial design empower women in the public space ?

Sources : (1) (2) discussion in group with blank noise association and male students from Sristhi school (3) Conclusion from the documentary : « Femmes : le harcèlement de rue - La traque des frotteurs» broadcast on France 2 ( a French TV channel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zcGAXBYlMI (4) Article «India’s man problem» by Mohi Kumar from SBS.com http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/31/comment-indias-man-problem

The night in Yelahanka.

4 90

Actions against harassment

What could be the solutions to reduce street harassment and increase womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s safety? What actions have already been taken?

4.1 Products This is not the first time that designers are interested in the problem of street harassment. Many clever inventions were born, but none of them are been used currently under real aggression scenarios. In one instance, fake hairy leg stockings created by a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese social network, are supposed to scare off attackers. However, it has caused many debates over the ethics of such a thing (1). Sonnet Ehlers, a doctor in South Africa, has developed a female antirape condom, which has a system of «teeth». I was designed to trap the penis of the aggressor and would not be easily removed. The idea, beyond causing pain, was to flag the rapist to the authority when he would go to the hospital to remove the anti-rape condom (2).

Ruth and Yuval, two American entrepreneurs have developed an anti-rape underwear which allows «women to avoid harmful consequences of sexual assault.» It is basically a modernized version of the chastity belt. This project was severely criticized (3).

Three engineering students from a university in Chennai have created an electrified bra to fight against rape. The invention that has earned them the ÂŤYoung Technology Innovation Award 2013 GandhianÂť. The bra is equipped with sensors and can act like a Taser that sends electric shock up to 3,800 kilovolt repeatedly (4). But, the problem with these objects is that they are useful only in case of an attack. While we can equip women with weapons, we also have to understand that weapons have their own limit. In fact, if a woman is disarmed or simply forgot it, she will find herself in a dire situation. So, What would be the solutions beyond weapons ?

4.3 Social solutions

If girls behave in a submitted way, it is because, unconsciously, they have been educated and considered as weak people. For example, when meeting an unknown man on the street, a girl is more likely to look down than a man. If she walks alone in an empty street she will have a worried way of walking that predators recognize unconsciously. According to a study, molesters choose their victims based on their behaviour in the street (5). If the girl seems sure of herself and ready to fight in case of a problem, the attacker would quickly renounce. To avoid rape, one can fight back for an average of 2 minutes, which is enough for the assailant to abandon the attack (6). It is also difficult to quantify the number of women successfully scared of their attackers 94

because they do not file a complaint to the police. In fact, on the website Hollaback, we can find many testimonials of girls who managed to avoid an attack because they stood up to their aggressor. Most of these girls have received the same education as their brothers and knew how to defend themselves. I had the opportunity to participate in an experience with Blank Noise Association. The goal was to be able to feel comfortable in an unfamiliar neighbourhood. We have to go alone in a district of Bangalore and follow sms instructions from the association. The experiment lasted a morning. We were required, for example, to walk straight and to look people in the eyes and at the end, we had to discuss with strangers on a given topic (7). We were more

than twenty participants. In four hours, we were able to eliminate our fear for the street. By repeating this exercise, women could improve their perception of the street. It is logical to think that women are easy prey because of their weaker physical strength compared to men. But it has been repeatedly proved that a predator will renounce to an attack if he is aware that his prey is capable of causing serious bodily injury if endangered. The best example of this technique took place in 1960 in Orlando, Florida. A social program taught a large group of women to shoot firearms in order to defend themselves against aggressions. The program, its content and purpose were announced all over the media. The result was that the following year, the number of rapes decreased

by 88% in this city. Five years after the program, the rate of sexual assault still stood 13% below the average rate than at the beginning of the program. In 1967, a study in San Francisco showed that the best strategies to prevent rape included: verbal and immediate physical defense, a suspicious or rude attitude and anger. A combination of different types of resistance, physical as well as verbal, and especially a unwavering defense had the best chance to prevent a rapist achieve its goals (8). An effective solution would be to teach women how to defend themselves physically. So they would be physically on pare with men.

4.2 self defense

Self-defense is a mix of the most effective techniques of different martial arts for the purpose of personal defense in case of an attack. This practice was invented in Israel to allow women, children and old people to defend themselves. Therefore, a small or weak person can subdue his aggressor thanks to a well-executed technique. There are self-defenses involving a physical act, but there are also mental self-defenses (9). The mental self-defence teaches women how to clearly define their mental and physical limits. Thus they can react in an efficient and rational way in a bad situation. They learn how to detect cues of a potential aggression and how to react to them. Another objective of this self-defence technique is to be able to help a person who is getting attacked. In fact, most of the time,

witnesses of the aggression do not know how to react effectively when an unknown person is assaulted in front of them. So if they were trained in self-defence, they would be prepared to this scenario and potentially take action to help the victim. Of course, the person has to react accordingly to the situation and avoid putting his/her life in danger. It is through the repetition of various scenarios that women are entrained to defend themselves, as well as facing any type of aggression scenario (10). Many women could save themself from serious assault by practicing self-defense. This is the case of a young Russian woman who has managed to subdue an aggressor and retrieve her bag that a stranger had tried to steal from her (11).

The association Red Brigade during a training of self defense.

4.4 Associations

There are a lot of associations again street harassment and violence toward women. These associations are implementing actions to change the mentality in India and empower women. Here are some of them:

Jasmeen Patheja

based relationship with their cities via direct street action and public interventions, which ask women to be «Action Heroes» by not being idle in public. 50% of Blank Noise members are male. They are referred to as Blank Noise Guys. Blank Noise works towards an attitudinal shift towards ‘eve-teasing’ and involves the public to take collective responsibility of the issue (12) .

Blank Noise is a community/ public art project that seeks to confront street harassment, commonly known as eve teasing, in India. The project, initiated by Jasmeen Patheja in August 2003, started out as a student project at Srishti School of Art Design and Technology in Bangalore and has since spread out to other cities in India. It addresses women’s fear

Blank noise performance

Red Brigade association

Red Brigade

This association was founded by Usha Vishwakarma after she narrowly escaped from a rape in 2007. Since, she has created an association in order to teach girls to self-defense. After the rape and the murder of a young student in a Delhi bus.

Hundred of women decided to join the association. The red brigade organizes regular discussions and self-defense trainings. They represent a new generation of young women who want to improve their situation and change things (13).

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The Gulabi gang (or Pink Saris) The Gulabi gang (from Hindi gulabī, «pink») is a group of Indian women vigilantes and activists originally from Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, but reported to be active across North India as of 2010. The Gulabi gang was founded in 2006 by Sampat Pal Devi, as a response to widespread domestic abuse and other violence against women. Members of the gang, called Gulabis, visit abusive husbands and beat them up with laathis (bamboo sticks) until they stop abusing their wives.

In 2008, they stormed an electricity office in Banda district and forced the officials to turn the power, which they had cut to extract bribes, back on. They have also stopped child marriages and protested dowry and female illiteracy. The group, which the Indian media portray positively, was reported to have 20,000 members in 2008 (14).

There are other associations such as Hollaback to sensitize the world about this situation of women in the public space. Hollaback is a photoblog and grassroots initiative to raise awareness about and combat street harassment by posting photographs and narrative accounts of individuals’ encounters with offenders (15).

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4.4 Services After the rape and the murder of a female student in Delhi, the situation of women in India was questioned. Many services and systems were developed in order to protect and empower women. Here are some examples of services available in India:

The Social Cops platform enables the creation of connected, synergistic communities that can solve real life problems ranging from simple civic issues and public health management to super-complex ones like women safety (16). Safe is a project to connect to a network of volunteers to help girls in danger. Girls in danger can trigger an alarm, which is broadcasted in real time via a social network.

Harassmap-Mumbai is a website where women can indicate the place where they have been sexually harassed and abused. This allows to identify and to locate where aggression happened. This map allows to demonstrate the scale of the street harassment phenomenon (17).

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Angel cabs is a taxi service for women who have to take public transport late at night. The concept was created by three friends, lawyer Surya Mukundaraj, writer and social activist Manjunatha Adde, and real estate entrepreneur Vinay Chaithanya . These cabs are driven by women as well as outfitted with a ‘panic button’ for emergencies. “When the button is pressed, a message reaches our phones and when

we call back the number connected to the cab through an Android app, we can hear what is happening on our phones through a microphone in the car. There is a live GPS tracker as well,” said Mr. Mukundaraj (18).

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Sources : (1) Article extract from « le nouvel observateur» ( a french news paper) : « Des collants poilus pour repousser les pervers : pourquoi les poils nous dégoûtent-ils ?» by the ethnologist Christian Bromberger http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/890494-des-collants-poilus-pour-repousser-les-pervers-pourquoi-les-poils-nous-degoutent-ils.html (2) Video youtube : «Préservatif Féminin Anti-Viol (Rape aXe) Vagin-Dentelé Agrippe Resserre Pénis Agresseur Sexuel» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNS5qS8ZXYM (3) Article from «ELLE magazine» ( a French magazine) « la culotte anti viol une fausse bonne idée » 04 novembre 2013 (4) BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) Wearable technology: The bra designed to shock attackers By Fiona GrahamTechnology of business reporter, BBC News 15 April 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk

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(5) Article from Slate.fr «votre démarche fait-elle de vous une victime potentielle ?» by Laszlo Perelstein http://www.slate.fr/life/79723/victime-agression-demarche (6) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger (7) Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ (8) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger (9) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger chapter dealing with mental and physical self defense. (10) workshop with Franck Joseph krav maga instructor. (11) «A thief knocked out by a woman» video youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sro_K4epcdQ (12) Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ (13) Extract from the article «RSS «Brigade rouge» contre prédateurs sexuels : les Chiennes de garde à l’indienne» Le point.fr ( french news paper) http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/brigade-rouge-contre-predateurs-sexuels-leschiennes-de-garde-a-l-indienne-16-05-2013-1667200_24.php (14) Pink sari, extract from the article “Pink Sari Revolution shows how far Indian women still have to go” by ANUPA MISTRY http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/pink-sari-revolution-shows-how-far-indian-woman-still-have-to-go/article13935650/ (15) Extract from http://www.ihollaback.org/ (16) extract from Socialcops.org http://www.socialcops.org/ (17) extract from the article “Harassmap-Mumbai’ shows how sexual harassment can happen anywhere” by Smitha Nair http://ibnlive.in.com/news/harassmapmumbai-shows-how-sexual-harassment-canhappen-anywhere/425366-3-237.html (18) Extract from the article “Angels in the driver’s seat” The hindu ( indian news paper). http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/angels-in-the-drivers-seat/article5193722.ece?homepage=true

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Conclusion Street harassment is an obstacle to womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s empowerment in India. Therefore they do not occupy the same positions as men in the Indian society, and this creates high inequality. This phenomenon has several origins. First, the marks of the patriarchal society are always present in the customs of the country. Because of the dowry, mothers are afraid to have girls; therefore they resort to abortion, consequently creating a serious lack of girls within the Indian population. This issue is also a source of much domestic violence. Women are traditionally regarded as inferior to men, moreover they represent a financial burden for their family. All the issues mentioned above result in a very low participation of girls in leadership positions. (Although the proportion of women at the head of the Indian government is greater than that of France) The woman is reduced to a secondary role and this is evident in the Bollywood movies where they rarely have the leading role, for example. Since their earliest age, girls are considered weaker than boys. That is why it is the duty of men to protect women and women not to go out alone late at night in order not to put themselves in danger. If a woman is assaulted, people believe that it is because she did not follow the rules of the community. What happens to her will be considered as her fault. Thus 106

women are afraid of being alone outside especially at night. This phenomenon results in a decrease of women working late, and therefore a hindrance to their career development, for example. The society and education lead women to feel guilty and weak when something happens to them. In 2010 in Delhi 66% of women were sexually harassed between 2 and 5 times last year ( ref p30). Most women will not complain when they are harassed because they believe this is not bad enough to lose time going to the police. Furthermore it would be extremely difficult to find and prove that an unknown aggressor someone. Women do not know how to deal with sexual harassment they may experience everyday. Most of them have difficulty defining their limits in uncomfortable situations. It is not in their education to get upset, to be impolite or to defend themselves. The fact that a woman does not move when a man touches her in a bus for example, can be interpreted as a positive response to his advances, thus the latter will be encouraged to continue. In fact the girl is petrified of fear and does not know how to react. For example when a group of harassers are looking for a victim, they choose a girl who has a submissive attitude to make sure not to have any problem. If a girl doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t show any sign of fear there are less chances that she

will be targeted. After an attack, the psychological damage on the victim can be very serious. It ranges from depression to suicide. On the other hand, a girl who will defended herself, will have less psychological sequelae than a girl who will not react during an attack. How to ensure that girls know how to react in case of an aggression? After finishing my research on this subject, I concluded that all weapons, alarms and objects created for self-defense did not have a high efficiency in front of daily situations of sexual harassment or eve teasing. Similarly a woman without her pepper spray or a knife can not defend herself properly in a case of a serious assault.

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Self defense

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During my research I met the krav maga instructor Franck Joseph . I had the opportunity to follow some of his self-defense classes. We learnt how to respond to daily situations of sexual harassment at work, in the street or on a bus for example. We analyzed scenarios that already happened to us and then we were trained to react to them verbally or physically. In most delicate situations we learned some quick self defense motions to keep away an attacker seeking to catch us. I had the chance to attend a workshop of self defense with 200 Indian female students. During two hours we talked about various problems and fears that girls feel in their daily lives. After we were initiated in physical self defense. At

the end of the course we felt stronger and more self confident than before. Most of the girls with whom I spoke were eager to continue the formation of self defense. But unfortunately for some of them, the classes were too expensive or were taking place too far away from their homes. Self defense courses ranges from 2500 to 5000 rupees per month. That is why only a minority of women living in large cities can access to it. The self defense is a fighting technique which improves the efficiency of Defence of the victim in case of an attack, regardless its size and strength. Self defense creates a physical balance between men and women. It is also a great mental reinforcement for the woman who gains confidence in herself.

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final degree projet Empowerment of women by self defense Objectif : Put men and women on an equal physical balance. Ensure that women take gain self-confidence. Ensure that women know how to defend themselves in case of an aggression. Make self defense access easier and cheaper.

Project : A kit to learn the basics of self defense. This kit enables womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s groups or associations such as pinks sari to come together, anywhere, to train in self defense, easily. Workshops are regularly organized to discuss and learn new movements of self defense. So women could become mentors and transmit their knowledge to the girls of their neighborhood. This system would allow women to travel alone in

public places with less fear of being attacked and more confidence in themselves. Thanks to their training in self defense, they would know how react in case of an attack.

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CĂŠcilia Palomino

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Acknowledgments I would like to thank all the people without whom I would never have managed to make this work. First I would like to thank Bing Liu Xiao and my cousin Elise Palomino that despite the distance and the short dead lines have corrected my English to make it more pleasing to read. I would like to say thank you to Jasmeen Patheja, my mentor, who has helped and supported me in my research. I would also like to thank Joseph Franck, instructor of self defense, who gave me a huge help with his knowledge which was essential to my final diploma project. Thank you to Maula, our rickshaw driver, without whom I would never have had some of my interviews that were extremely valuable to my research. I would like to thank my teachers Sabina Von Kessel and Kshitiz Anand who advised me and corrected my work since the beginning of my course in the India program. I would like to say thank you to my friends Audrey Farouault and Tiffanie Javourez who helped and supported me during the long days of work. Thank you to all the elders students from the A5 promo 2013 Charlotte SĂŠcheresse, Claire Auger, Gauthier Raguin , Juliane Denogent et Manon Foucraut and also Vish, Ishan Capoor et Pridhvi Sunain Zoro who helped and advised me throughout this adventure that was our memory and final diploma project. Also thank you to my family who despite the distance since the beginning strongly supported me in difficult times. To all thank you very much !!!

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bibliography Introduction (1) National Crime records Bureau Chapter-5 crime against women http://ncrb.nic.in/cii2010/cii-2010/Chapter%205.pdf (2) BBC India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 ( more information in the chapter 1 part 2 ) (3) Article «L’INDE, LE PAYS OÙ LES FILLES ONT DISPARU» by Hélène Ferrarini http://www.slate.fr/monde/80707/inde-le-pays-ou-les-filles-ont-disparu

I - Evolution of the situation of women in Indian street (1) femme-avenir.com article about women situation in india http://www.femme-avenir.com/2012-les-femmes-en-inde

(2) Discussion and recorded interview with student from Sristhi school. (3) Wikipedia : definition of eve teasing (4) Discussion with Franklin Joseph - Specialist on Women Safety, Women Self Defense and Women Psychological Empowerment against Crime, Violence and Sexual Abuse (5) Interpretation of the reading “violence against women in public spaces” extract from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (6) F. Vanderschueren, 2000, “The Prevention of Urban Crime.” Paper presented at the Africities 2000 Summit, Windhoek, Namibia. Cited in UN-HABITAT, 2006, State of the World’s Cities 2006/2007, p. 144, Nairobi. (7) JAGORI and UN WOMEN (2010). Report on the Baseline Survey. Available at: http://jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Baseline-Survey_layout_forPrint_12_03_2011.pdf. (8) Extact from : India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 (9) change.org BMTC takes action to stop sexual harassment of women on buses.

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(10) (11) Statistics from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (11) Directorate-General for Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Affairs, 1998, “Sexual harassment at the workplace in the European Union,”Brussels, European Commission. Cited in UN General Assembly, 2006, “In-depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women: Report of the Secretary-General,” A/61/122/Add.1, p. 42, New York. (12) Data calculated for both intimate partner and non-partner violence based on estimated prevalence rates for 2007–2008, including direct and indirect individual and public costs related to suffering, health, legal and employment expenses, among others. The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009, The Cost of Violence against Women and their Children, p. 4, Canberra, Common wealth of Australia. (13) extract from the book « Non, c’est non » by Irene ZEILINGER (14) Time of India ( Indian newspaper ) of the 01/05/2013 “Women refuse to work till late post Delhi gang-rape” (15) Women behaviour from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

II - In the rules of the community 1 Women in a bubble of protection (1) Interview recorded of a burka seller at Shivaginagar (a commercial area of Bangalore where a lot of communities live together). (2) Definition of « community » by the « dictionnaire de la langue française ». (3) Interview recorded of a burka seller at Shivaginagar , Gladis a food seller at Yelahanka, and Sristhi Student. Discussion and note with a toy seller at Whitefield, observation and discussion with friends family. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5bWTDfmkM (4) Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger Chapter about body communication. (5) Interview seen in the documentary : India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 (6) interview recorded of a receptionist at Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Discussion with the members of blank noise association about the police.

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The Indian society between tradition and modernity (1) Source: UNICEF, Human Rights Council, ABC News http://www.statisticbrain.com/arranged-marriage-statistics/ (2) Article “No kissing please, we are Indians” BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) Friday, 6 February 2009 extract from the BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7871304.stm (3) Article extract from Aljazeera ( a Quatarian TV chanel) « Crimes against women increase in India » by Sudha G Tilak http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/featureses/2012/12/2012122991735307545. html (4) unwomen.org (united nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women) and UNICEF, Human Rights Council, ABC News

The justice 1) indian women health http://www.indianwomenshealth.com/Harassment-Laws-188.aspx (2) Article «Laws against domestic violence and abuse» extract from the blog : «India together» http://www.indiatogether.org/manushi/issue137/laws.htm (3) extract from the documentary «India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman» BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) documentary 2013

III - In the Minds of men and women In the mind of women (1) India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation) documentary 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StYj8gzEtGQ (2) Article from Slate.fr «L’INDE, LE PAYS OÙ LES FILLES ONT DISPARU» by Hélène Ferrarini http://www.slate.fr/monde/80707/inde-le-pays-ou-les-filles-ont-disparu

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(3) Study «Landscaping Women’s Empowerment through Learning and Education in India through Learning and Education in India» by Peter Smitham and Lynne Smitham http://www.dasra.org/n/forwebsite/factsheet/Landscaping_Women_ Empowerment_Report.pdf

(4) Study « Women’s Education in India » by By Victoria A. Velkoff http://fr.slideshare.net/siddharth4mba/women-education-in-india http://paa2004.princeton.edu/downloadasp?submissionId=41578 (5) «Devdas» Bollywood directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002 (6) Discussion with members of blank noise association and debate with students from Srishti school of art and technology. (7) «Women behaviour» from the book « non c’est non » by Irene Zeilinger

In the mind of men (1) (2) discussion in group with blank noise association and male students from Sristhi school (3) Conclusion from the documentary : « Femmes : le harcèlement de rue - La traque des frotteurs» broadcast on France 2 ( a French TV channel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zcGAXBYlMI (4) Article «India’s man problem» by Mohi Kumar from SBS.com http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/31/comment-indias-man-problem

IV-Actions against harassment 1) Article extract from « le nouvel observateur» ( a french news paper) : « Des collants poilus pour repousser les pervers : pourquoi les poils nous dégoûtent-ils ?» by the ethnologist Christian Bromberger http://leplus.nouvelobs.com/contribution/890494-des-collants-poilus-pour-repousser-les-pervers-pourquoi-les-poils-nous-degoutent-ils.html (2) Video youtube : «Préservatif Féminin Anti-Viol (Rape aXe) Vagin-Dentelé Agrippe Resserre Pénis Agresseur Sexuel» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNS5qS8ZXYM (3) Article from «ELLE magazine» ( a French magazine) « la culotte anti viol une fausse bonne idée » 04 novembre 2013 (4) BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) Wearable technology: The bra designed to shock attackers By Fiona GrahamTechnology of business reporter, BBC News 15 April 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk

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(5) Article from Slate.fr «votre démarche fait-elle de vous une victime potentielle ?» by Laszlo Perelstein http://www.slate.fr/life/79723/victime-agression-demarche (6) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger (7) Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ (8) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger (9) Extract from the Book : « Non, c’est non »by Irène Zelinger chapter dealing with mental and physical self defense. (10) workshop with Franck Joseph krav maga instructor. (11) «A thief knocked out by a woman» video youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sro_K4epcdQ (12) Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ (13) Extract from the article «RSS «Brigade rouge» contre prédateurs sexuels : les Chiennes de garde à l’indienne» Le point.fr ( french news paper) http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/brigade-rouge-contre-predateurs-sexuels-leschiennes-de-garde-a-l-indienne-16-05-2013-1667200_24.php (14) Pink sari, extract from the article “Pink Sari Revolution shows how far Indian women still have to go” by ANUPA MISTRY http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/ pink-sari-revolution-shows-how-far-indian-woman-still-have-to-go/ article13935650/ (15) Extract from http://www.ihollaback.org/ (16) extract from Socialcops.org http://www.socialcops.org/ (17) extract from the article “Harassmap-Mumbai’ shows how sexual harassment can happen anywhere” by Smitha Nair http://ibnlive.in.com/news/harassmapmumbai-shows-how-sexual-harassment-canhappen-anywhere/425366-3-237.html

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(18) Extract from the article “Angels in the driver’s seat” The hindu ( indian news paper). http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/angels-in-the-drivers-seat/ article5193722.ece?homepage=true

videography BBC India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman BBC documentary 2013 ( more information in the chapter 1 part 2 ) «Devdas» Bollywood directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in 2002 “Bend It Like Beckham” directed by Gurinder Chadha in 2002 Poster design by Dan Chapman Interview recorded of a burka seller at Shivaginagar , Gladis a food seller at Yelahanka, and Sristhi Student. Discussion and note with a toy seller at Whitefield, observation and discussion with friends family. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF5bWTDfmkM Conclusion from the documentary : « Femmes : le harcèlement de rue - La traque des frotteurs» broadcast on France 2 ( a French TV channel) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zcGAXBYlMI Video youtube : «Préservatif Féminin Anti-Viol (Rape aXe) Vagin-Dentelé Agrippe Resserre Pénis Agresseur Sexuel» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNS5qS8ZXYM «A thief knocked out by a woman» video youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sro_K4epcdQ AIB: It’s Your Fault : short movie dealing with victimisation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hC0Ng_ajpY

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photo credits Introduction Page 1 to 11 by Cécilia Palomino MS blog magazine “When Street Harassment Is More Deadly Than Catcalls” October 21, 2013 by Holly Kearl http://msmagazine.comblog/2013/10/21when-street-harassment-is-more-deadlythan-catcalls/

I - Evolution of the situation of women in Indian street p18 Status in the Jain temple at shravanabelagola photo by Cécilia Palomino p18 Wikipédia p19 photo extract from the blog http://ljtdm.canalblog.com/archives/2013/01/29/26275063.html p20 Wikipédia and A 1900 photo of Valarpadam Island near Ernakulam taken by Palace Photographer An evolution of traditional costumes of Kerala blog : http:// basilpaulose.blogspot.in/2012/01/evolution-of-traditional-costumes-of.html p 21 « Niquab in Islam » http://in-islam.com/niqab-in-islam/ p22 Sati: extract from the Article “Virtuous Woman Through Self-Sacrifice” by Vanessa Parrilla http://www.csuchico.edu/~cheinz/syllabi/asst001/spring99/parrilla/parr1.htm p22 Picture of Indira Gandhi http://indianevilstories.blogspot.in/ p23 film by Sofie Peeters about sexual harassment in the streets of Brussels. P 24 Photo of yelahanka during the night by Cécilia palomino P 26 and 27 photo extract from Cinemazy blog P28 public sign addressing sexual harrassment against women in the public sphere by Emily Carr Design http://www.flickr.com/photos/comd/115676925/

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p 29 photo extract from the blog http://streetharassmentdisruption.blogspot.in/ p 30 photo of the mother of the student raped in a bus in Delhi photo extract from the website : http://www.kwachanji.com/how-life-has-changed-for-delhi-rape-victims-family/ p 31 Illustration by Cécilia Palomino p 32 Indian news paper “ Times of India” p 33 photo by Cécilia Palomino p 34 and 35 Flag from all over the word http://www.tuxboard.com/drapeaux-pays-du-monde/ p 36 / 39 Photo by cécilia Palomino p 38 illustration extract from http://www.ihollaback.org/

II - In the rules of the community p 44 and 47 muslim women at Shivajinagar Photo by Cécilia Palomino p 46 photo of Cécilia and Joanne wearing a niquab ( photo by Cécilia palomino) p 47 Comic strip “rape solution” by Kushal on January 11, 2013 http://kushalbhattacharya.wordpress.com/2013/01/11/rape-solution/ p 48 Bangalore by night ( photo by cécilia Palomino ) p 50 and 51 illustration by Cécilia Palomino p 52 photo of Yelahanka action hero by Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ p 54 Poster of the movie “Bend It Like Beckham” directed by Gurinder Chadha in 2002 Poster design by Dan Chapman P54 Indian marriage extract from the article “Arranged / Forced Marriage Statistics” http://www.statisticbrain.com/arranged-marriage-statistics/

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p55 Child in the street of Jodpur by Cécilia Palomino p 56 poster of the movie 3 Idiots directed by Rajkumar Hirani in 2009 p56 “japan’s “women only” train cars” picture of the Japanese metro. Photo extract from http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/02/27/ japans-women-only-train-cars-is-it-a-crime-for-men-to-ride/ p 57 Lady side in a Indian bus ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p 57 portrait of Elisabeth Badinter. Extract from aufeminin.com http://www.aufeminin.com/mag/societe/d4857.html p 58 portrait of Shubam Tambi by Cécilia Palomino p 60 photo extract from “Words a Teacher Should Never Hear, Will You Help a Survivor? » by Bradley Grizzard http://allhonesty.com/ words-a-teacher-should-never-hear-will-you-help-a-survivor-video/ p 62 illustration by cécilia Palomino p 63 prevention for women in Hampi ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p64 Comic : How “India police deal with rape complaints” draw by Latuff http://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/ cartoon-how-india-police-deal-with-rape-complaints/ p 65 portrait of Anitha Kumar Police sub inspector of Yelahanka Police Station ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p65 a classroom in Jodhpur ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p66 Indian policeman ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p 67 illustration from Emedicinehealth medical forum http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=130404 p68 photo extract from the article “How an Anti-Inflammatory Drug Offers New Hope…for Depression » by Peter Zafirides http://www.thehealthymind.com/2012/09/03/ how-an-anti-inflammatory-drug-offers-new-hope-for-depression/ p68

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AIB: photo from the video : “It’s Your Fault” from Youtube http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hC0Ng_ajpY p70 and p71 little girl in Jodhpur ( photo by Cécilia Palomino)

III - In the Minds of men and women p74 Photo at Asia Columbia hospital in Bangalore ( photo by Cécilia Palomino) p75 Photo from the forum Sidoscope.co.in http://www.sidoscope.co.in/2010/03/manhood-tale.html p76 a group of girl ( photo by cécilia Palomino) p 77 Image from « Redbubble » by Thomas Dodd http://www.redbubble.com/people/imageshifter/works/612396-shame p77 illustration from the comics “ Draupadi ” script : Kamala Chandrakant illustration : Pratap Mulick Editor : Anant Pai P78 and 79 illustration from the comics “ Draupadi ” P80 photo by cécilia Palomino p82 photo by Cécilia Palomino p83 photo from Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ p84 photo by cécilia Palomino p88 and p89 photo by cécilia Palomino

IV-Actions against harassment p92 Video youtube : «Préservatif Féminin Anti-Viol (Rape aXe) Vagin-Dentelé Agrippe Resserre Pénis Agresseur Sexuel» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNS5qS8ZXYM

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p90 Video youtube : «Préservatif Féminin Anti-Viol (Rape aXe) Vagin-Dentelé Agrippe Resserre Pénis Agresseur Sexuel» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNS5qS8ZXYM p91 BBC ( British Broadcasting Corporation ) Wearable technology: The bra designed to shock attackers By Fiona GrahamTechnology of business reporter, BBC News 15 April 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk p92 Tiruvalluvar Nagar, Pondicherry, PDY, Inde Canon EOS 40D photo by Olivier SCHRAM p93 photo by Cécilia Palomino p 95 Rise of the Red Brigade by Gethin Chamberlain http://www.flickr.com/photos/29122894@N08/9463048966/in/photostream/ p96 photo by Andrew Shapter portrait of Jasmeen Patheja from Blank noise association http://blog.blanknoise.org/ p97 photo by Gethin Chamberlain p98 Pink sari, extract from the article “Pink Sari Revolution shows how far Indian women still have to go” by ANUPA MISTRY http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/book-reviews/ pink-sari-revolution-shows-how-far-indian-woman-still-have-to-go/ article13935650/ p99 illustration from http://www.ihollaback.org/ p100 photo extract from http://www.socialcops.org/ p100 photo from the article “Harassmap-Mumbai’ shows how sexual harassment can happen anywhere” by Smitha Nair http://ibnlive.in.com/news/harassmapmumbai-shows-how-sexual-harassmentcan-happen-anywhere/425366-3-237.html p101 photo from the article “Angels in the driver’s seat” extract from The hindu http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/angels-in-the-drivers-seat/ article5193722.ece?homepage=true

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p102 photo by Olivier SCHRAM http://www.flickr.com/photos/photox0906/5111066757/ p104 photo from the article “Street Fight Zero Rules” http://streetfightzerorules.blogspot.in/

Conclusion p106 illustration from the comics “ Draupadi ”p28 script : Kamala Chandrakant illustration : Pratap Mulick Editor : Anant Pai

Final-Degree Project p110 illustration by Cécilia Palomino p112 photo by Audrey Farouault

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