‘Eve-teasing is a frivolous term’

Last year in October, Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes had to pay with their lives when they stood up to miscreants misbehaving with their women friends.

“After that incident, those who knew Santos and Fernandes had two choices - they could have sat at home to mourn their loss or reach out to others and prevent similar episodes,” said Jason Temasfieldt, Santos’ cousin who chose the latter and co-founded an NGO to address the issue of women’s safety in public places.

Today, We the People Foundation (WTPF) is relentlessly working towards the cause and hopes to change mindset of both men and women towards the issue of sexual harassment. At the DNA Conversations, Temasfieldt was accompanied by his team members, Abhijit Mehta, Melwyn David and Shurbhi Sharma.

“Almost every woman in the city, irrespective of her age, faces some form of physical or verbal abuse. They often take it in their stride and ‘move on’ because they don’t want to create a fuss and bring more attention to themselves. Unfortunately, this is exactly what encourages the perpetrators to do more damage. They know they can get away every time they harass a woman because most women choose not to retaliate or confront them,” said Melwyn.  

The team felt that solutions to the problem will only emerge if they involve men in the cause, too. “Most men, and some women, don’t understand how grave the issue is and often dismiss as inconsequential. But we have to sensitise men to neither commit nor condone harassment and women to stop being silent sufferers,” Mehta said. 

The panelists at the DNA Conversations also felt that one needs to address the issue of social acceptance of sexual harassment of women in public places. They pointed out that most often people feel that catcalls or lewd comments are harmless and should not be given much thought.

“It is just assumed that boys will be boys and will continue to tease girls. This has to stop,” said Sharma. Temasfieldt added that we have to also stop avoiding the issue and do away with frivolous terms such as “eve teasing” and open our eyes to the fact that any kind physical or verbal action by a man that makes a woman uncomfortable is socially unacceptable not just for the one suffering it but also for bystanders who witnessed the incident.