I live in a society where rape cases are mentioned in the newspapers every single day. In India, they may not always be front page stories, but they are always there, lurking in the background of our day-to-day lives.
I am a high school student from Noida, a satellite town of Delhi. The unsafe conditions in my city have always scared me. As a woman, as a girl, I am afraid to walk on the street in front of my house without my father. I cannot wear anything too “revealing” or that is considered an “invitation” for harassment. I cannot go to markets alone. I can’t stay out after seven in the evening.
The worst part of it is the disgusting familiarity of it all. Rape and harassment are so common here that these rules don’t have to be imposed to be followed. The fear keeps us indoors of our own accord.