Some activists are calling for a “rejection of victim blaming” over violence against women in the wake of murder of Sarah Everard. During police investigations, local women were warned to be careful about venturing out alone. Activist Hera Hussain says we need to shift the focus from the victim’s actions to instead look at the perpetrators’ behavior.
Hera Hussain activist and founder of Chayn – an award-winning open-source project says: “we blame victims of street harassment because we live in a patriarchal society and we believe that men will be men and women are responsible not to invite and create conditions and find them in places where harassment can happen, this is extremely wrong and damaging to put all the responsibility on the women who have no control over someone else’s action rather than tackling the root and the root is misogyny.”
In an answer to a question: how can we make streets and public places safe and welcoming for women? She added:” what we need to change is the attitude. The norms that guide young boys and men into thinking they have some sort of right over women’s body that is what needs to change there is nothing else that will make more difference than that.”