“Sexual violence cannot be justified by blaming survivors of sexual violence.”

"Isn't the perpetrator responsible for his own action irrespective of what time we go out on the roads wearing the kind of attire we want to," she said. Clothes contributed to the drive are usually accompanied with a note by victims explaining circumstances under which they were harassed and the emotional trauma they underwent. Acting as a cathartic experience for these young girl victims, the initiative not only creates awareness, but also counters the tendency to brush off street harassment or live in denial about its existence. The action programme, as they prefer to call it, kicked off from Kolkata and Bangalore last month.

With plans to gather around a thousand clothes, the volunteers say they want to hold such events across the country in cities like Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Lucknow.

"Girls have been eve-teased in all kinds of clothes. Sarees, burkhas, school uniforms, T-shirts, skirts, bikinis, salwar we have received the entire range of women wear in response to our campaign,"" Patheja says adding that they have already collected hundreds of such outfits from all over the country."

Published in The Indian Express. Read more