“Walk only in well-lit lanes; don’t take the side streets, take only the main roads.” “Advice” that women are constantly subjected to for “their own good”.
This is what some of them are out to prove wrong by taking part in ‘#whyloiter’, a campaign that pushes women to reclaim public spaces.
Flood of updatesThe two-week online campaign — from December 16 (the second-year anniversary of the New Delhi gang-rape) to January 1 — is seeing a flood of updates from enthusiastic participants.
Though Bengaluru is yet to leave a prominent mark, Cubbon Park seems to be a recurring public space that women in the city have visited.
There is no particular place, time or activity. For instance, Sarojini Rao, a Ph.D student from the University of Chicago, who is in the city for a few months for her research project, says: “Staying alone in Bengaluru, I am on my own going out to buy food, etc. This is something that we all do but once I got to know about the campaign, I posted some photos.”
The first such photos were taken at Panambur Beach during a recent visit to Mangaluru by herself. “I had nearly six hours left for my evening bus back to Bengaluru. So I took a bus to the beach and spent about three hours on my own,” she said.
Documentary filmmaker Padmalatha Ravi, though born and brought up in Bengaluru, minces no words when she says: “The sense of freedom that I felt during my 10-day stay in Mumbai is unparalleled. Hailing cabs at 2 a.m. with my girlfriends is something I wouldn’t be able to do here. I was on the edge of the seat taking a cab after 11 p.m. once.”
Ms. Rao had another interesting observation: “How we dress determines how much attention we get. Western clothes gets you noticed a little more. A ‘mangalsutra’ makes a difference if you are staying alone in a smaller city.”
Shilpa Phadke, author of the book that the campaign is named after as well as one of the organisers, said New Delhi had seen the most enthusiastic response, followed by Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Postgraduate student Anishaa Tavag has a different opinion. “When I used to travel by bus to college wearing salwar kameez, I would still be groped. The whole discourse needs to shift from safety to freedom.”
How people are participatingThose participating in the campaign change their profile /cover photo or masthead to one of the posters of the campaign. Updating their status on Facebook, Twitter or sharing a photo via Instagram when they are having a good time in public using the hashtag #whyloiter and sharing details of where they are “loitering”.
There are also women who are participating by putting up posts, messages and tweets.
