The Onus Of Sexual Safety Lies With Women, Because Men Will Be Men

We have enough proof to argue that safety of women in India is an uphill battle In order to reverse the situation and actually make women feel safe while walking alone on the streets, one expects policy changes, stricter measures against culprits and change in societal mindset. Sadly, the debate over the safety of a woman mostly revolves around how she can protect herself. How she can tackle her abuser and come out of dangerous situations unhurt. How she should be strong and fearless against men who try to violate her.

While it would be nice if all of us women could feel strong enough to tackle attackers on our own, is it fair to ask women to ensure their own safety while perpetrators refuse to respect women? An advertisement by a spice company raised many concerns over the same stubborn mentality of the media and the people alike.

Safety Of Indian Women

In the viral advertisement doing rounds on social media, a woman is seen walking alone in a disserted area when a man holding a flask with acid starts following her. Scared of the man, the woman then hurriedly takes out a packet of what looks like chilli powder from her bag and throws it at the stalker. The ad then ends praising the brave act of the woman and how that particular company's chilli powder can be a weapon to be used by women against their attackers. The idea behind the advertisement is no doubt bizarre. It also gives simplistic solutions for something as grave as acid attacks against women. Only if thousands of acid attack survivors in India had carried a packet of chilli powder with them, their lives would have turned out to be so different.

Mainstream media and brands have been treating women empowerment like a profitable tool for decades. They use "progressive" angles to draw in people and make them believe that brands actually care about women. No matter how nonsensical the approach may seem, the intent is always explained as something benevolent and "feminist". Are we ready to question how much corporate marketing strategy actually makes a difference in lives of women? Will the spice ad stop acid attacks against women? How much responsibility are brands willing to take when it comes to actually uplifting women in our society? By the looks of the current situation, it seems as though women empowerment is nothing more than a story angle with zero positive impact on its target audience.

Suggested Reading: Street Lights For Larger Concern: Why We Wait For Women To Get Raped Before Ensuring Their Safety?

Why is it that we always making women take physical defense training and warn them against stepping out at night? Why can't we teach men to behave themselves on streets and not attack women? What is stopping us from holding the actual culprits accountable? Perhaps it is because restricting women is easier than punishing men for their crimes.

Views expressed by the author are their own.