The Goan spoke to some women about their safety and wellbeing in Goa. This is what they had to say
Megha Gulati,Lecturer - Frankly, the Guwahati incident exposed the law enforcementagency not being in place. The fact is that it happened in a place where itseemed it was alright to behave this way without any fear of getting caught.Have the law and order in place before advising us on how to dress! We needpolice, not moral police!
Nikita Aneja, student–The Guwahati incident, of course, is horrendously disgusting. However, what isridiculous is the apathy and the lack of compassion of the onlookers present.In times, where we talk of women leading the corporate and political world ofour nation, the question to be asked is – do we even have it in us to givewomen the basic security they need to survive?
Harshata Kerkar- Asfar as dress is concerned, even if a woman walks naked, nobody has the right tomolest and rape her unless she gives permission to do so. Clothing is not theissue. Even if a woman wears a burka, people will rape her, considering thecurrent mindset. In view of the girl who burnt herself from a public school,what have the womens’ organisations been doing? If she received propercounseling she wouldn’t have set herself on fire.
Dr Niceta CunhaCosta, veterinarian- Men are to be blamed for their attitude and for theway they think about women. If they didn’t have filthy thoughts, they wouldn’tdo this. The way Indians dress is decent enough. If men can see through this, Idon’t know what else women should do to protect themselves from lustful eyes.
Dr Rashmi Rawal,Homeopathic doctor- Nobody has the right to treat women that way, no matterwhat women do. If somebody is perceived to be doing something wrong, you do notneed another wrong to correct it. Everybody should be treated with dignity; itis a Universal Human Right. Every woman has the choice to dress the way shewants. We do not command a dress code on boys. Why then cannot women have freedomof expression by dressing the way they choose to? If there is a dressingcompulsion, it should be imposed on both sexes.
Swapna Pujari, Model– I think girls today are mature enough to decide what to wear. It depends onthe mentality of men and not the way women dress. I think Goa is safe enoughfor girls minus few minor incidents in buses which can be dealt with.
Jyotsna Bhat, FashionDesigner - I don’t think it depends on what we wear. Women who wear salwarsare targeted too. The society needs to be educated right from childhood on howto treat women. As compared to other states, things in Goa are relativelybetter. Having said that, women need to be alert to face unforeseenincidents.
