New Delhi: Now it is the turn of another community to correlate between jeans and rape cases. The Brahmin Samaj of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh recently declared that jeans are provocative and young girls will not be allowed to wear this attire.
The suggestion comes close on the heels of similar moves by village khaps (caste council) in the same district. The Brahmin Samaj believes that rape cases are on the rise because of the preference of the girls for jeans and have therefore advocated a regressive dress code for them.
Rameshwar Sharma, a community member, said: "We strongly object that the girls should choose to wear jeans and top. They should also not use mobile phones, as these are things that provoke criminals to assault them.
"We have passed a resolution banning girls below 20 years of age from using such apparel and gadgets. But we want all girls to fall in line with this diktat for their own safety. In fact, we have urged all villagers to rein in their daughters, which is for their own good."
Rising crime
Uttar Pradesh has been making news for being the most unsafe for women after Delhi. About 1,757 cases of rape were reported in Uttar Pradesh in 2007 and 1,290 in 2010.
However, Plaksha Prakash, a Delhi University student, said: "It's not about comparison or competition between different geographic areas. The point is that crime against women has increased everywhere. The fundamental rights of women are encroached upon and this ban on jeans is ridiculous."
Umang Sabarwal, who spearheaded the SlutWalk movement in Delhi in August, said: "We don't wear jeans or mini-skirts daily. Why then are we subjected to harassment? If at all, is it to do with what we wear? Women should oppose any such ban on dress."
‘Teach their sons'
Ridhima held similar views. She retorted: "What I wear has nothing to do with others. How can someone have the moral right to pass nasty comments or touch me? As for using cell phones, when our own parents are for it, who are these people to put curbs on girls? They should rather teach their sons to behave with women and respect them."
Another leader of the Brahmin Samaj community explained: "It was a long pending decision. We are pained to see the atrocities and crimes against women and feel concerned. That's the reason we were forced to take this harsh decision. We are urging community members to make their daughters see sense, but stricter action will follow if our resolution is ignored."
Sexual harassment
A survey recently found India to be the world's fourth most dangerous nation in the world for women. Two out of every three women in Delhi have been sexually harassed two to five times in the past one year.
The National Crime Records Bureau and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights reported in 2008 that out of the 5,446 cases of child rape registered in the country, about 900 were from Uttar Pradesh.
