The Blank Noise Project in India is one of the most provocative movements in India battling sexual harassment on the streets. My very good friend and writer Neelanjana Banerjee was just there hanging out with and interviewing some of the folks involved with Blank Noise.

She reports. . .

A number of women stand placidly by the railings. For more than two hours, these women – members of the Blank Noise Project, a public art project concerning sexual street harassment – will do one of the most subversive things they can do as women in India: occupy public space. n a rapidly changing India, traditions such as purdah (keeping women secluded inside the house) are no longer in effect. Women are an important part of the growing middle class, with jobs in call centers, technology firms and at the coffee shops and malls that are entertaining this new generation. But as women hit the streets in greater numbers, often in Western clothing, their vulnerability to street harassment — including physical assaults — has increased.

“’Eve-teasing,’ or street sexual harassment, is something that we experience every day,� says 27-year-old Jasmeen Patheja, the founder of the Blank Noise Project. We’ve learned to deal with it mostly by not dealing with it — by ignoring it.�

Check out the rest of the article here.

1 Comments

March 21, 2007 2:45 PM

[0+|0-]  Moxie Hart said:

Thanks for posting this! I was going to say that the project reminds me of Hollaback NYC but then the full article mentioned them. I got a camera phone just so I could participate in that.

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