Don't tell me how to dress, tell them not to rape

'Don't tell me how to dress, tell them not to rape' 'Nazar Teri Buri Aur Parda Mein Karoon?'

These lines caught my attention while reading one news article in the Times of India. The article was about the protest against the relentless stream of rape cases that have rocked the National Capital Region (Delhi) in recent times. With 465 rape cases registered in Delhi in 2011, 489 in 2010, and 459 in 2009 (on average more than one rape per day), one can see that something is not right. No one can justify the occurrence of so many sexual assault-related crimes in the capital of India. The slogans above are not only against rape but also against moral policing which many times blame women for the crime committed against them. Many people advise females to dress up properly, they insist that females should dress in a ‘proper’ way to avoid unnecessary attention, or not to provoke the emotions of males around; they should control their behavior and limit interactions with males. So, the problem of males not being able to control their animal instincts is conveniently blamed on females. In any civilized society, everyone has the right to dress up in a way they like. Most societies give freedom to males to dress up the way they want but want to put restrictions on females in as many ways as they can, this practice has been going on for generations.

The use of dress codes is not uncommon in society, many events or functions have dress code associated with them and people follow it gladly. Normally this dress code is recommended for certain functions and parties and people can choose not to follow it. But the dress code I am talking about is forced upon certain sections of society and often sanctioned by government institutions. In many countries, these compulsory dress codes (especially for women) are enforced by armed groups, self-declared moral police, or other non-state actors. According to international human rights law every person has rights to freedom of expression and freedom to manifest their religion or beliefs. Many times the way people dress can be very important for them to express their religious, cultural beliefs, or personal identity. As a general rule, in many countries where rights to freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression exists, it means that all people should be free to choose what they do or don’t want to wear. Governments must ensure that every individual’s fundamental rights (such as freedom to express their beliefs and identity) are protected and respected. Religions and cultures can be interpreted in many ways; many people have interpreted so-called holy books (scriptures) in many different ways. Interpretation of culture or religion or these holy books cannot justify imposing dress code on people, this is unjust to people who want to dress differently. It is the government’s responsibility to create a healthy environment where every person can exercise their basic rights. People’s religious belief is their personal thing, they cannot be imposed on the whole society.  I know that there are many more important issues for the government to look after than how people should dress. But when situation goes out of hand and stats clearly show that there is some problem then they should do something to protect their citizens. They should take measures to protect individuals or communities from being forced to dress in specific ways by their family members, religious groups, leaders or community.

Normally, ideas associated with dress codes are also one of the ways to stereotype gender identity, most of the time victims of this are women because somehow society, family members, and even the state believe that they are entitled to regulate women’s dress and behavior. They consider women’s image as the symbolic reflection of the community’s values and culture. People who think like this even don’t care or bother to check whether these beliefs are shared by the people on whom they are enforced. Enforcement of dress codes can be a result of age-old biased views against women which resulted in discriminatory attitude towards them and also reflect a desire to control women's sexuality and behavior. I wonder whether society or people who are doing this even realize that they are objectifying women and denying them their personal freedom. Many times, when women are victim of violence, sexual or physical assault, or are stigmatized for not abiding by dress codes, they are told that the blame lies with them. These incidents are often used as a reason to emphasize the importance of the dress code. The victim is blamed for perpetuating the crime against them rather than the offender.

I can understand this rebellious attitude of women who are targeted continuously and forced to carry the moral burden of society on their shoulders, it seems that males are free to do whatever they want but women should not cross their line. I think our society and culture have evolved enough to understand that we need to respect others beliefs and choices. Everyone has the right to practice their right to express themselves in whatever way they want. Let's stop judging others by their external appearance, let's not stereotype any gender, community, culture, or country. Along with our body, our thinking should also evolve, we can not live in the 21st century with the 1st-century mindset. Respecting our fellow citizens' feelings and rights is not such a big expectation to have. Let's try to become a law-obedient, respectful, and aware world citizen.

Thanks for reading and please share your comments.

Reference:

1. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-05-05/delhi/31586102_1_protest-march-jantar-mantar-house-station

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing at vvt1974@gmail.com)