Part III conducted a discussion session with adolescent girls from the community on what constitutes sexual harassment and which provisions of the law are applicable to the crime.
The participants were divided into two groups to enact a play. One group was asked to play the role of ‘Boys’ and the other played the role of ‘Girls’. Through this, the group portrayed the street harassments faced by them on a daily basis. The discussion revealed that most of the harassment happened in front of the school gates and market and that the harassers were aware of the school timing and would wait at the entrance of the gate. Based on the play, offensive/derogatory terms and behaviour of the harassers were identified and jotted down on the white-board. They were asked about their feelings when they are subjected to sexual harassment. Their feelings were then jotted down for discussion.
Part III team then distributed material prepared on the legal provisions and discussed whether that captured their experiences. It compiled offences recognised by the provision of law (then, Indian Penal Code, 1860). Three relevant sections of Indian Penal Code, 1860 section 294, 354-A and 509 were discussed at length and dissected to identify which actions performed at the play would fall under which provision.
The discussions also involved the strategies used by the girls to handle sexual harassment. Most of the girls kept it to themselves. On asking if they reported the same to their parents or if they confronted the offender/ their parents, only very few girls responded in the affirmative. Most feared that their parents as well as the offender’s parents would not believe them and blame it on the girls themselves. None of the girls had ever gone to the police. The reasons for not reporting were discussed at length and jotted down.
The girls were asked what they would like the way forward to be to help them address the situation. Discussion involved suggestions such as having a support group, members of the support group confronting the harasser, members of the support group meeting the harasser’s parents and informing of their ward’s inappropriate behaviour and increasing awareness by passing a flyer on the provisions of law.