At a time when Haryana is largely in the news for all the wrong reasons, be it the Rohtak and Gurugram gang-rape cases or Rewari’s girl students’ eight days of hunger- strike for school upgradation, a survey by Haryana police on eve-teasing has revealed that the maximum number of such incidents occur when girls and women travel to and from schools, colleges and offices.
A majority of 64.5 per cent respondents in the survey said that eve-teasing takes place during commuting to and from schools, colleges and offices, while 22.2 per cent said they encountered it in the evenings in parks, markets and coaching centres.
These are the results of an online eve-teasing survey run by the Haryana Police to assess the scale and nature of the problem of eve teasing.
Eve-teasing remains a major problem in urban and rural areas of the state and the story of Rewari’s Gothra Tappa Dahina village, which remained in the news recently, is a testimony to it. More than 80 girls of the village went on hunger strike demanding upgradation of their village high school to senior secondary school, alleging that the senior secondary school that they are in, is about 3 km away in another village and they face harassment on the way to their school from local boys.
While sharing the details of the survey, Haryana Additional Director General of Police, O P Singh said the online survey began on May 2 with an aim to assess the nature and scale of the problem in the state and devise an action plan which is closer to the ground reality.
A total of 28,539 people from all over the state participated in the survey. Among the respondents, 40 per cent were females of 14 years and above.
The online survey is the biggest ever sample size for a population of 2.5 crore and the most exhaustive one. A total of 16 questions covering all aspects of eve-teasing were asked from the respondents and people from all age groups, gender and districts participated in the exercise.
The ADGP said, “Eve-teasing is a major problem in the state as eight out of ten respondents feared it in various degrees. Commuting to schools, colleges and workplaces is problematic as six out of ten said eve-teasing takes place during commute.”
Seven out of ten respondents said such incidents take place in buses and trains. Seven out of ten said eve-teasers use public transport or bikes. Seven out of ten said the culprits operate in groups. Schools, colleges, markets, parks and public transports are the affected places.
On being asked whether they fear eve-teasing, 85.2 per cent of the respondents replied in affirmative, while 24.4 per cent said they ‘felt it always’, 38 per cent said ‘most of the time’, 23.4 per cent ‘occasionally’ and 14.2 per cent said they ‘never feared’ such incidents.
Stating that maximum cases of eve-teasing takes place during commuting to and from schools, colleges and offices, the ADGP informed that 32.8 per cent said they feared it most in schools and colleges, 26.7 per cent in markets, 19.9 per cent in public transport, 16.5 per cent in parks, while 4.1 per cent said they fear it in workplaces, according to the survey.
39.1 per cent of the respondents said the maximum instances of eve-teasing take place in buses, while 30 per cent said they happen in trains, 14.8 per cent said in three-wheelers and 16.1 per cent said such incidents take place when one is out for walking.
According to the survey, 37.5 per cent respondents said eve-teasers use public transport, 32.8 per cent said they use two-wheelers, 22.8 per cent said they were among walkers and only 6.9 per cent blamed the car users.
As many as 40.4 per cent stated eve-teasers operate in a group of two, 25.2 per cent said in four and 23.1 per cent said they operate alone. Only 11.3 per cent said they operate in a group of more than four. Also, 40.2 per cent said eve-teasers were ‘irritating’, 23.5 per cent said they were ‘dangerous’, 18.1 per cent said they were ‘criminals’ and 18.2 per cent said they were ‘harmless’.
Haryana Police is carrying out ‘Operation Durga’ to curb eve-teasing in the state. The campaign was launched in the state on May 1 for ensuring women’s safety, said OP Singh.
He added that through the ‘Youth Against Sexual Harassment’ initiative, the state police is also trying to make people, especially the youth, aware that eve-teasing hurts the freedom, dignity and career prospects of women.
The survey also found that in case of eve-teasers under 20 years of age, 36.3 per cent respondents said the culprits should be counselled in presence of parents, 33.1 per cent said they should be chided publicly, 18.2 per cent wanted them to be beaten up and 12.3 per cent said the culprits should be jailed right away.
As many as 22.4 per cent respondents said counselling eve-teasers in presence of parents would not make any difference, 34.3 per cent said it would incite them to be even more aggressive.
However, 30.4 per cent said it would deter them and 12.9 per cent said it would deter even their friends.
34.2 per cent of the respondents said police can stop eve-teasing more effectively by catching those in the wrong with the help of plain clothed lady policemen, while 26.6 per cent said uniformed police patrolling would be a better option.
Also, 20 per cent of the respondents preferred information and warning boards in eve-teasing prone areas, while 19.2 per cent said CCTV would be a better bet, the survey stated.
On the safety quotient of Haryana, 27.5 per cent of respondents rated the state as ‘quite safe’, 40.6 per cent said it is ‘safer than neighbouring states’, 19.6 per cent said it is ‘as bad as neighbouring state’ and 12.3 per cent said that it is ‘quite unsafe’.
35.8 per cent of respondents rated the state police’s record on women safety as ‘good’, 33.3 per cent as ‘very good’, 21.9 per cent as ‘excellent’ and 9 per cent as ‘bad’.