Street Harassment

This study attempted to understand street harassment as experiencedby young women in Delhi. Interviews were conducted with 20 women between the ages of 18and 30 years to understand the nature of harassment they faced, its perceivedconsequences, their ways of coping with it, and the changes they felt were needed forthem to feel safer. Findings revealed that harassment occurred most often in crowdedspots and in broad daylight. High levels of harassment were attributed to factors likeprevalent attitudes toward women and weak implementation of laws. Participants saw theirlives as being restricted in several ways by the harassment. The police was seen asapathetic, and women took on themselves the responsibility for staying safe. Sometimes,women chose to defend themselves by moving away from harassers rather than confrontingthem due to fear of escalation. However, several participants felt that staying quietallowed the perpetuation of harassment. The major change that women sought was moreeffective police functioning