From 1980s to 2026 - Times Have Changed but Harassment of Women Continues Unabated

Meera Bhardwaj, Editor, Green Minute News | Senior Media Journalist

Times have changed – my days as a college going youngster was fraught with many problems of harassment in the tumultuous 1982-85 period. But once I started working as a journalist, I too developed many ways and means to tackle the problem of eve teasing and harassment on the streets and buses of Delhi.

Let me go back to the 1980s period – when I was living in a highly patriarchal society and that too in Delhi – I faced problems especially travelling to the college early in the morning in the public transport and that too in the notorious DTC buses on Route No 155 from Arya Samaj Road to the Delhi University.

During those days, any female be it a youngster, middle-aged woman or an old lady, they were forced to tolerate indecent behavior and groping by men of all ages especially from the industrial class crowd and unemployed migrants from rural areas.

Fortunately, majoring in Biology, I knew how to tackle these rapacious crowd with all kinds of objects that is small arms. I used to empty my entire dissection box comprising scissors, knives, scalpels, forceps, blades, pointed needles and what not into my thin cloth college bag. In the event of anybody sitting or standing very close to me in a crowded bus, I used to hit them hard with my bag as the dissection instruments sticking out of the bag used to hurt these sexually avaricious men to no end.

I still remember once when me and my friend Balvinder Kaur were travelling from Kamala Nagar to Kingsway Camp, we were waylaid by some 9-10 ruffians on the bus. They tried to remove the dupatta from my friend’s neck and she started hitting them with her shoes.

But since the scene turned violent, I somehow managed to pull her out of the bus and asked the driver to speed away. Otherwise, we would have got beaten by the unruly crowd of men. Sometimes, we have to use our brains rather than brawn to deal with a worsening situation and escape from such violent men.

There have been times, when I used to be scared to travel on DTC buses during the night time especially but somehow managed to overcome such harassment in the best possible manner by stealthily running away from such situations.

Eve teasing and passing lewd comments and remarks during 1980s was very common and so, the local govt introduced Ladies Special buses exclusively for girl students and women during peak hours. But that hardly solved the problem as they were very few and infrequent. Even missing the “U” special buses was a big issue for us since we felt safe travelling on these buses as there were only college students.

The 1980s period for women in Delhi was very horrible as they were subjected to harassment on the streets, bus stops, shopping areas by unruly, uncouth and uneducated men in every nook and cranny. If we had to buy our books, lab materials and other scientific requirements, we had to go all the way to Old Delhi and that too Nai Sarak and that was sheer torture – travelling with the lecherous crowd particularly when we entered the older parts of Delhi.

However, all this changed once I became a working professional and knew how to protect myself. My days as a television journalist was not fraught with such problems as I could mange to deal with such problems since I had become very aggressive and knew how to deal with any kind of situation. I cannot remember a single incident of harassment while working as a journalist in both print and electronic media either in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Srinagar or even during my reportage in foreign countries.

Since we had no access to mobile phones, social media or any other form of communication during 1980-2000, I managed to deal with any dangerous situation by taking help from friends and colleagues. During our days, there was a big stigma going to the police station and imagine lodging a complaint against such males.

Further, there was no legal protection as all the blame was put on the victims and even the police (mostly men) who belonged to patriarchal families would not even entertain such sexual harassment complaints.

Despite strengthening of existing laws on harassment of women – even today, the situation has not changed for the better. Women especially students even now face challenges both at home and the workplace as the mindset of Indian men remains the same. Day in and day out, the media highlight cases of eve teasing, harassment of girl students and even rape of a young student in Delhi two days back.

Harassment of girls and women have been going on and on for decades be it in Delhi or Bengaluru as Police do not bother to register such cases and the existing laws have many loopholes for the sexual offenders to escape with impunity. Demands for enhanced campus security has fallen on deaf ears while continuing protests by girl students and women’s groups has not led to any action by the authorities. So, girls – do not depend on the police or the so-called laws as they do not give any protection. Use your brains and brawn ( I mean small arms and calling up the nearest contact on your mobiles, if possible) to protect yourselves

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Meera Bhardwaj is an acclaimed senior journalist. She is the Editor of Green Minute News, an environmental news platform covering conservation, forests, wildlife, biodiversity and related issues, particularly across Karnataka. She has previously worked for over two decades with Doordarshan News and has also served as a Special Correspondent with The New Indian Express.

The laws have changed. The workplaces have changed. But the experiences of women remind us that meaningful change requires more than compliance. For organisations looking to build stronger systems and safer, more inclusive workplaces, write to us at hello@shesr.in