“It is a regressive to say women get raped because of the clothes they wear,” writer and activist Meenakshi Bali said in Bidar recently. She was speaking at a youth and women conference organised by Akhila Bharata Sharana Sahitya Parishat.
Ms. Bali said, “A lot of people say women invite sexual assault on them when they are indecently attired. This is not true. Statistics do not show any correlation between the two. Some popular film personalities who often wear revealing clothes are never targeted while fully clothed women are preyed upon. Even small children and old women are not spared by rapists. These facts should set our prejudices right. It is wrong to blame rape victims for the crimes committed on them.”
She highlighted that even seven decades after attaining independence, women in India were still looked upon as a commodity by society.
