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Outrage as college tells girls how to dress
Source: AFP |
December 11, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
AN Indian college has banned girls wearing jeans, short dresses and T-shirts in a bid to crack down on sexual harassment.
But the plan has sparked outrage from pupils and rights campaigners.
The Adarsh Women's College in Haryana state, 110 kilometers west of New Delhi, said students would be fined each time they broke the dress code.
"We have imposed a ban on jeans and T-shirts because these are completely Westernized and (so) are short dresses," school head Alaka Sharma said. "The small dresses don't cover students and that is the reason why they have to face eve-teasing."
"Eve-teasing" is a common phrase used in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to cover offences ranging from verbal abuse to sexual assault, though it is often criticized as a euphemism that hides serious crime.
"Jeans and short tops invite attraction and also distract the students," Sharma said.
Skinny jeans, T-shirts and other Western fashions have grown in popularity among young Indians, spreading from cities to rural states such as Haryana, though many older people disapprove.
Pupils at the college, which teaches girls between 16 and 19, say they are being punished instead of being protected.
"A ban on wearing jeans and T-shirts doesn't mean that there will be no crimes and boys will not pass lewd comments on you," college student Ritu said.
Mamata Sharma, head of the National Commission of Women, said sexual harassment could not be tackled by ordering girls to wear saris and other traditional styles of dress.
But the plan has sparked outrage from pupils and rights campaigners.
The Adarsh Women's College in Haryana state, 110 kilometers west of New Delhi, said students would be fined each time they broke the dress code.
"We have imposed a ban on jeans and T-shirts because these are completely Westernized and (so) are short dresses," school head Alaka Sharma said. "The small dresses don't cover students and that is the reason why they have to face eve-teasing."
"Eve-teasing" is a common phrase used in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan to cover offences ranging from verbal abuse to sexual assault, though it is often criticized as a euphemism that hides serious crime.
"Jeans and short tops invite attraction and also distract the students," Sharma said.
Skinny jeans, T-shirts and other Western fashions have grown in popularity among young Indians, spreading from cities to rural states such as Haryana, though many older people disapprove.
Pupils at the college, which teaches girls between 16 and 19, say they are being punished instead of being protected.
"A ban on wearing jeans and T-shirts doesn't mean that there will be no crimes and boys will not pass lewd comments on you," college student Ritu said.
Mamata Sharma, head of the National Commission of Women, said sexual harassment could not be tackled by ordering girls to wear saris and other traditional styles of dress.
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