Being 13

Mine was when I had wore a pair of jeans and full armed T shirt with a wide neck. Not only did I hear the boys on the road whistle and make those cheesy kissing noises (that most of the times is also used to call out to the dogs), even the Police men on the road were clearly leching. I was just about 12-13 years old. Though I did not understand why I was feeling humiliated, I felt humiliated and guilty even at that age. This took place in Kodagu district, Madikeri town. my hometown.

The second time was when a man passing by me, passed a lewd comment such as ""lovely knocks"" or some crap like that. My friend's sister who was walking along with me, instead of being irritated with the man who said it, in turn advised me 'not to wear' the sleeve-less T I was wearing, ever again!! I was around 18years old. This Happened in Malleshwaram area in Banagalore.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Karnataka

Being 12

I was 12-13 years old and on my way back from tennis practice. I would usually wear shorts and a t-shirt to tennis practice every evening. I would always sit in the front passenger seat and eat my snack on the way back home. One evening on the way back from tennis i had my snack box in my hand and i could feel my driver's eyes staring down at my legs. At first i thought he was just looking at the gear, but even at a traffic signal i could feel his eyes staring down at them. I can never forget that feeling of discomfort, I just couldn't wait to get home. I was so uncomfortable that I pretended like I needed something out of my tennis kit and reached to the back seat, grabbed it, pretended to look for something, and then placed it on my lap to cover my legs the rest of the way home. After that day I never sat in the front seat of the car next to my driver, I was not comfortable being in the car alone with him.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Bangalore

Being 26

My Lucky Stars. I know I would have been gang raped that day in Mathikere, one of the most crowded areas, if I hadn't rushed to my car & locked myself in & driven off at TOP SPEED. My brother & I had been to a restaurant a few lanes past my house. We parked in a dark by-lane opposite an old building, a hostel. There was rush in the hotel too & too many men. My bro feeling protective and did not want me to stand in the Queue. We decided one would get the food and the other would pick the car and come back to the hotel. As I was walking towards my car, I felt a groups of guys walking into the same lane as I was. I heard footsteps behind me. The Footsteps started gaining speed. I could hear them now & understand a few words of malayalam. "Lets catch the deer". Alarm bells rang in my head, strategies to escape the group of perverts. If I had run, they would instantly catch me. Hence I picked pace gradually and rushed to my car, sat in and locked my doors immediately. Started the vehicle. By the the guys had caught up and come to the car. They tried opening my door & started banging on the window & top. I just drove at top speed & might even have injured the foot of the person trying to open the door. It was a scare I still cannot forget. An advantage of a few seconds saved my life that day.

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Bangalore

Being 24

I was working in MNC Tech-support centre. The Tempo-traveler driver would drive at maniacal speeds for cheap thrills on the roads of Bangalore. Others did not want to go against the driver and make an issue out of it. Talking him out of speeding only earned his ire. Anticipating a road accident, I complained to the management about the driver. He disappeared from our route for a month & came back again to seek revenge. Some drivers warned & asked me to avoid his route for sometime. He would deliberately drop me last late in the night, make lewd comments, declare threats. It was scary to be in the same place as him. I had already put my papers and quit in a weeks time & hence unknowing escaped a plight that a few years later happened Pratibha from HP. She was brutally raped and murdered by the cab driver. A few months after I quit, one of the vehicles of the MNC lost control banged into the wall of HAL compound. A young lad, new joinee, died in the accident and many were injured. Speed control was introduced & measures were taken.

Action Shero Anonymous

place: Bangalore

Being 12

My first vivid memory of sexual harassment occured when I was around 12 or 13 years old. Those were the days when E-ticket booking was not common, and one had to reserve the seats online, and the ticket would be delivered at your doorstep.

Since my both my parents have jobs, I had the task of collecting the ticket.

The doorbell rang at around 3 in the afternoon. This is how it should've happened. I open the door but not the grill, collect the ticket, read out the PNR number, sign the slip and close the door.

Except that is not how it happened.

I collected the ticket, took the list and asked for the place to be signed upon.

There was the locked grill between us and yet that did not bother him.He cupped my breast and squeezed it and at the same pointed out the place to be signed.

I quickly signed on the paper, returned the papers to him and shut the door behind me.

This happened twice.

To this day, I shudder to think what would've happened if the grill wasn't locked. Also, i'm writing this story anonymously, not because I prefer not to disclose my identity, but because when I think of this incident, its a little hard to digest the fact that I had been a victim of child abuse. That I just let him get away with it. That I knew what he was doing, but did not slap his hand away, because I was so terrified and shocked

Action Shero Shipra

Place: Bangalore

Being 13

Well I haven’t had any nerve-wracking experiences, as far as eve-teasing is concerned. Mild forms of eve-teasing such as cat-calling, staring, passing comments, or just a once over, at least one of them is a daily dose for every woman.

The debate remains-How much is too much? To what extent must women ignore and move on? Is retaliating the best solution? Does walking away in silence with your head down seem right to you?

There’s no dearth of pepper sprays, pocket knives, or even self-defense classes. But what purpose do all of these serve when we are attacked and for a split second, we find ourselves in the shackles of fear, worry and helplessness.

With recent comments by politicians stating that women must learn to dress acceptably and must not get carried away by western influences, and blaming the rampant cases of rape on the explicit content featured in the films nowadays- Who is answerable?

In a century where there are cases of a woman being raped in her own apartment by her watchman, precautions like stay indoors after a certain time seem laughable.

So what should a woman do when confronted by such situations? If she turns around and slaps the offender, what’s to stop him from returning with a bunch of other hooligans like him, and swarming around the woman rendering her vulnerable?

Subah chaai peete waqt, akhbaaron mein balaatkaaron ki khabrein padhte toh hai, magar hamdardi ke alaawa de bhi kya sakte hai? (We read the news of women being raped as we sip our tea, but what more can we do apart from sympathizing? )

Action Shero Shipra

Place: Bangalore

Being 14

It was the day my parents first allowed me to go the mall and watch a movie with my friends without a chaparon. We were very excited with the new freedom that we had gotten. We watched the movie and then decided to hang out in the mall for a while until my friends car came to pick us up. As we went from shop to shop we realized that a man was following us. We were really scared because this was our first time out alone. He came close to us and in a really creepy way said 'Hi girls'. We looked at each other and started walking away. When we got a message that the car had arrived we started running towards the car as the man followed. Luckily we got into the car fast. It was an extremely scary experience. After that experience my friends and i realized why our parents hesitated so much to send us alone. It was after that day that i became conscious of eve-teasing.

Action Hero Saasha

Place: Bangalore

Being 15

When I was walking back from school and a young boy, probably a street child, grabbed my breast. Fortunately I was wearing my school blazer and so while I didn't feel as violated (if I had not been wearing the blazer) it left me feeling used and powerless even against a person almost my age and size.

Action Shero Elizabeth

Place: Bangalore, India

Being 12

A 12-13 year old boy stalked, faced me, put his hand forward to feel me up and said 'Do you know that I can rape you?'

Action Shero Anonymous

Place: Bangalore, India