A campaign against sexual violence Back
"Your skirt is too short!"
"Don’t wear a sleeveless top!"
"Are you really going to wear that outside?"
How many times have you heard these words? A woman’s body and her clothes face censure at perhaps every stage of her life. When it comes to sexual assault, it is often the woman who is blamed as her outfit was ‘inviting’. But why should women be blamed for something that is, in no way, their fault? A community art project, Blank Noise, initiated by Jasmeen Patheja, questions street sexual harassment or eve teasing in India.
One of the art project's public campaigns is ‘I Never Ask For It’—that is, asked to be sexually harassed while occupying public spaces like the streets. It attacks the shame that women often feel after being sexually harassed and the blame that they or society puts on them. After this campaign was publicized on the internet, women from across the country sent in the clothes in which they were sexually harassed or abused. From school uniforms to saris'—the variety of clothes received is proof that no kind of attire ‘invites’ sexual assault or abuse.
If you would like to participate in this project, you can participate by filling up this form.