Street Harassment

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Abstract
This study attempted to understand street harassment as experienced by young women in Delhi. Interviews were conducted with 20 women between the ages of 18 and 30 years to understand the nature of harassment they faced, its perceived consequences, their ways of coping with it, and the changes they felt were needed for them to feel safer. Findings revealed that harassment occurred most often in crowded spots and in broad daylight. High levels of harassment were attributed to factors like prevalent attitudes toward women and weak implementation of laws. Participants saw their lives as being restricted in several ways by the harassment. The police was seen as apathetic, and women took on themselves the responsibility for staying safe. Sometimes, women chose to defend themselves by moving away from harassers rather than confronting them due to fear of escalation. However, several participants felt that staying quiet allowed the perpetuation of harassment. The major change that women sought was more effective police functioning.

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