THE ILIKE TIMES

As Delhi woke up to another humid day outside, little did it know that 31^st July, 2011 will go down in history as a day when Delhi witnessed it first slut walk.

The inception of the slut walk, for the people who are unaware, came after a policeman, Constable Michael Sanguinetti addressing college students in Toronto said that “women should avoid dressing like sluts” in order to remain safe. This statement led to a furore amongst the people especially the women all around the world and hence, gave birth to slut walks (more like a parade) where young men and women paraded on the streets with placards against the statement and in general against sexual violence meted out against women.

The whole point behind a walk of this kind is to let the world know about the kind of difficulties and problems a woman faces as she steps out of her house. Delhi is the capital of India, apart from the fact that it is home to India’s top politicians, the parliament functions here, laws are made on this very soil, but this has not stopped Delhi from being the rape capital of India as well. Girls in Delhi cannot step out of the house at any given point of time in a pair of t-shirt and shorts without attracting unwanted attention. Leave alone the fact that after 10 in the night she’ll walk free on even the busiest of roads with “good gentry” without men puckering their lips and making lewd gestures.

This is the condition of a place which boasts of a cosmopolitan culture and rich architectural heritage. Ask any regular Dilli ki ladki about her first day at Delhi University and what her family thought about their daughter’s little achievement of making it to the college of her choice; more than nostalgia, worried faces of parents and elder brothers throng the memory as she remembers how her mom made her carry a pocket knife, dad insisted on keeping a bottle of pepper spray in her bag while the brother warned her about the crowd in the DTC.

The continuous mental pressure that a girl goes through is not only limited to the walls of Delhi but the whole world where women are treated and looked as sexual objects by the male community. A short skirt worn by a girl catches unwanted attention while a bare chested man walking on the street does not even get noticed. Even in the year 2011, if a besharmi morcha (a name given to the Delhi Slut Walk) is organised that itself is a shameful thing.

Women it seems have finally decided to put an end to this suffering. With the besharmi morcha seeing a lot of women come together, let’s hope the society in general (read men) takes notice and understand that a short skirt is not an invitation but just a more fashionable choice.