Sexual harassment in India: 'The story you never wanted to hear'

[AngryAmish]

Source: cnn

(CNN) -- Michaela Cross, an American student at the University of Chicago, has written a powerful account of her study abroad trip to India last year, during which she says she experienced relentless sexual harassment, groping and worse.
Upon her return, she says she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is now on a mental leave of absence from the school after a public breakdown in the spring.
Cross, a fair-skinned, red-haired South Asian studies major, titled her story "India: The Story You Never Wanted to Hear." She posted her account on CNN iReport under the username RoseChasm.
Her story has struck a chord around the world, racking up more than 800,000 page views as of Wednesday morning. It quickly found its way to India, where many readers sympathized with the story and men felt compelled to apologize for the experience she endured. Others called for greater perspective and warned against making generalizations about India or its people.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/20/world/american-student-india-sexual-harassment-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

[Sand Wind]

1. Yeah sur....the things are so better here....this is anti Indian propaganda ....

USA USA. USA. Bla bla bla

You know, all that stupid stuff you hear at the moment someone here post something not posit if about an another country ....

[heaven05]

2. yep

I hear you. Yet our laws do help to prevent this type of cultural behavior in america even with the REPUBLICAN/CHRISTIAN/TEA PARTY politicians and their voters doing their damndest to put women and minorities in 'their place' in this country.

[hedgehog]

3. My understanding is that it takes years for civil and criminal cases to move through

the courts in India. Unless people in a neighborhood are willing to take things into their own hands, there is little disincentive for predators. If you take 1000 men, and only 1 is a predator, and you pass several thousand men in the course of walking across a city, you'll encounter a predator. I would also imagine that a stranger is more likely to face this than someone from the neighborhood.

[loudsue]

4. Predators aren't usually one-in-a-thousand....they hang out in groups, for the most part.

Their MO tends to be that they are goaded on by their peers, and encouraged by successful groping done by others. Like most bullies, they are cowards at heart....therefore, they enjoy the company of other assholes. They enjoy strength in numbers.

[hedgehog]

5. I think you have it exactly right! I was using the

one-in-a-thousand example to show that even in the most civilized society, sooner or later a woman will encounter an asshole. I think the woman's experience in India has more to say about the number of people encountered than about Indian society. For comparison, look at how we Americans teach our daughters not to go to isolated spots or to get drunk in public!

[gvstn]

6. I once saw an article/segment

On the struggles of Indian women finding a place to go to the bathroom in peace. Restrooms and toilet paper are not the norm for the lower classes. So a young woman carries around a little pail of water, attempting to find a place along the river to "make her toilet" and wash up afterwards. The river is full of thousands of people doing the same. Monorails and buildings full of people are all overhead. Imagine being a young self-conscious teenage girl and searching for hours for a secluded spot of which there are none. It was eye-opening and heart-breaking. Now, add to that an open culture of "woman as objects" and acceptable leering (or worse) and it makes it even more dehumanizing.

I feel sorry for this woman for what she endured but far more for the poor women of India, and am glad she brought the subject up. I hope the Indian government addresses the issue and begins to fund some type of public baths for the poor. At the same time it can try to make public leering or at least groping unacceptable/illegal.

[Brigid]

7. There are several countries I would love to visit one day.

India is not one of them.