Is a woman’s safety dependent on what she wears? Looks like it is, according to the “code of conduct for safe and honourable tourism” in the country launched by the tourism minister Kumari Selja recently. Foreign tourists will be encouraged to adhere to a proper dress code and have been asked to respect local customs, says one of the guidelines issued. So is this new guideline the answer?
In another incident reported in the capital recently, a 23-year-old girl was allegedly physically assaulted by her three male friends at her house. Now, assuming she was with her friends, could she have foreseen this? Can a woman’s safety be guaranteed by the clothes she wears? We are expecting more than one lakh tourists in the capital for the CWG, many think that just telling them to dress appropriately won’t be enough. Is there any guarantee that if women dress discreetly, these incidents won’t happen? There must be the right security measures in place.
Charu Kalra, who runs a recruitment firm, says, “It looks like the government is trying to say that women are the cause of such incidents. What do they have to say about cases where men in uniform are involved in rape and molestation? Yes, it’s important that women dress decently, they should also avoid going out late nights especially with strangers, but at the same time the government should also take appropriate security measures to protect women.”
How will dressing down ensure a woman is safe? And many feel that a woman is never safe, even if she wears a salwar kameez as she could be a victim of eve-teasing. “If this is the way we go, soon we may not even have tourists coming here,” avers Stuti Malhotra, who works with Matrix Global Pvt Ltd. She adds that the government must also set up a separate women justice cell where they can deal with day-to-day cases of eve-teasing. The police is over-burdened already, and we can have a separate cell just for women.
Though advertising professional Avinash Nair says that what we need to understand is that rape is not forcible sex, it’s violence. “It is exertion of power. The usual statement ‘her dressing was seductive and that caused rape’ is nothing but trying to make the victim a culprit. Civilised society shouldn’t be saying such cruel things. There have been many incidents where women wearing a salwar kameez or sari were raped, and what answer do you have when two-three-year old girls are raped? The real way to prevent such heinous crimes is not wearing a purdah, but a strong law that deals with rapists strictly,” she adds.
It is not wrong for tourists to tone down their dressing to suit our Indian mindset. Even Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is considering imposing a dress code for pilgrims. So, it may soon be dhoti or pyjamas for men and and sari or salwar suits for women. Vidushi Johari, HR consultant says, “Dressing slightly better is worth it, as one cannot invite trouble by strutting around in bikinis. We are still a conservative society, and there’s really no harm in dressing down. It also depends on the place they are visiting, a bikini may be fine in Goa, but not in Delhi.”