Uttarakhand: Think twice before calling a woman ‘Honey’ or ‘Baby’ or ‘Chinki’ as it may land you in jail.
The Uttarakhand state commission after receiving 1,118 harassment complaints from April to December 2015 has decided to take strict action.
Sarojini Kaintura, Chairperson of the Commission, said women choose to pay no heed to such objectionable behavior and didn’t know what counted as harassment or violence, as per reports published in Hindustan Times.
“We want the boys to know how (and how not) to behave with girls and the girls to realise when they (boys) are crossing the line,” Kaintyura said.
To inform youngsters on how such inappropriate terms could be counted as harassment or violence against women, the commission is planning to hold special sensitisation camps in schools and colleges.
‘Innocuous’ acts like calling a woman names, making repeated offensive comments, remarks or jokes, displaying sexist or other offensive pictures or messages, and rumour-mongering about a woman’s private life, all fell under harassment.
“For instance, for making an indecent body language and lewd comment, a man can get a one-year jail term under Section 509 of the IPC,” she said.