Let us put a full stop to eve teasing

Still unsafe on the streets. Star file photo

BEING A girl in the early twenties, I feel that no girl has been spared from being a victim of eve teasing. Eve teasing is an unforgivable act that injects shame, fear, disgust and helplessness in the victim. Being subjected to many instances of eve teasing is an inseparable part of every girl's life, causing much avoidable mental agony to her. This in turn adversely affects her family and her friends.
Eve teasing is a common incident, be it in buses, shopping arcades, cinema halls, shopping malls, pubs, restaurants, taxi/bus-terminals, railway booking counters and every other conceivable place; but the one place where it happens with alarming frequency is on the road. Girls are never spared in the streets or footpaths.
A vulgar stare, a sly whistle, a wink, a well-timed clap, an unwarranted bump, a seemingly casual touch, a lingering look at a vulnerable time, the humming of a suggestive song, passing downright uncouth comments, cheap gestures, the display of an indecent snap or video, bikes flying close with hands stretched to feel around you, passing by in slow moving cars blasting loud music with many eyes inside measuring you up ... all these are typical examples of such sexual harassment.
The ways they can harass a woman is surely endless! School children, well-dressed executives, college kids, taxi-drivers, bus-conductors, pedestrians, officials, cng-drivers and aged people too have been enslaved by this horrific habit.
I don't know how many women can truly say that they have never been molested in their lives. If they've been out in a public space, it doesn't matter what they are wearing, whether they are in great shape, whether they're lovely to look at or just plain, they will have been grabbed.
A few questions to the right thinking people of the country:
What is it that makes some men violate a woman's personal space and touch her?
Who gives them the right to do that and think its ok?
Do they also look at the women in their homes (mother or sister) with the same rubbish in their eyes?
Are women responsible for these men having absolutely no fear to touch, grope, or expose themselves to women?
What do girls really mean to them?
What makes two men look at a woman and react in two different ways: Bad upbringing? A disregard for women? Lack of decency?
If I have male readers, can you please come out on this and tell me what treatment -- extreme or otherwise -- would prevent or frighten a man from molesting a woman?
Families can play the most important role in eradicating girls teasing from society.
Parents should talk to their sons openly and make them aware about the sufferings of girls caused by eve teasing. Parents have to make their sons understand that what is fun to boys may be a cause of suicide to girls. It is the responsibly of the parents to teach their sons to respect girls and their rights.
It is really painful that in movies eve teasing is unashamedly glorified as a means of winning over the heart of a girl.
Many girls in our society suffer from mental agonies caused by eve teasing, which they cannot share with anybody. Parents of teenage girls should deal with them in a friendly manner and conduct themselves in such a way that their offspring repose absolute faith in them and convey their sorrows and agonies. Most girls are extroverts but there are introvert girls too. The parents of those girls should be more alert.
Girls, let's face it: Be bold! Let your family know first; no matter how much your family scolds you they will obviously stand behind you. Generate public opinion; never show your weakness to the culprit. Reveal the culprit to the neighbours. Show the culprit to your friends and family so that he can't even think of doing something harmful
Get him counselling by the local seniors. Have a one-to-one with him, but in an open place and after informing your family; be polite in this case. Inform law enforcement people. Contact e-media, print media. Don't threaten the culprit at the outset.
A behavioural change is the only lasting solution to this problem. Changing of behaviour is easier said than done. We have to increase public awareness and raise our (women) voice against such dreadful acts. It requires extensive public education aimed at every section of society at large. Plays, public speeches, articles and even door-to-door propaganda can be a good vaccine against eve teasing, and will help in spreading public awareness.
Lastly, it is the duty and responsibility of the government to enact legislation and put a full stop to such heart-breaking deaths, immediately!

Shamrin Afia Adiba is a BBA student, American International University -Bangladesh(AIUB).