"Eve-teasing": Young people’s experiences in the urban slums (bustees) of Kolkata, India

1. Eve-teasing: Young people’s experiences
in the urban slums (bustees) of Kolkata,
India
Kabita Chakraborty
Assistant Professor
Children’s Studies Program
Department of Humanities
York University
Children’s Studies
Program
York University
Toronto, Canada

2.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIioOAPOVK8
0:00-0:24

3. Research in the bustees of
Kolkata (2014-2016)
50 Young women and Men,
aged 160-25
2 Communities side-by-side
2.5 km2
, 300, 000+
population
Muslim communities where
purdah is practiced

4. Purdah in the bustees
for young women:

5. Purdah in the in
the bustees for
young men:

6. Eve-Teasing as
Timepass
In the bustees Eve-
teasing as Timepass is
linked to male early
school leaving and high
levels of unemployment;
For female youth not all
boys practice eve-teasing
as Timepass;
“It is the guys with no
class [ghatiya] that
timepass like that way
[eve-tease]” (Reema,
female, 21).

7. Eve-teasing: In Response to a
Wounded Masculinity
 “Sometimes you see them dressed up all hifi…
maybe going to college …I would say ‘hi, why
are you dressed up so’…We know she is going
to college…who knows what she is doing there,
why does she need to dress this way? She
should remember her izzat (honour)”. (Rizwan,
male, 20).

8. Roadside Romeo
“It is not like if you spend 2 hours
everyday standing in front of the
school…who can do that? (because)
it’s not like you are wearing your
sunglasses and watch and belt
everyday like that”. (Samshaad, male
24)

9. Eve-Teasing leading to Love
Where are you? Have you forgotten about me? I
haven’t see you for 3 days, are you mad at me or
have you found someone else? I love you so
much, please return. Inshallah I only hope you
have gotten a job, and in which case, please
inform me. I’ll return to the bus stand every day
until I see you.
(Love letter from Mumtaz, female 17 to Saif, male
21, 2013)

10. One-Sided Love
“Bechara; one-sided ho jata…”
Afroz, female, 18

11. “Girls want to be teased, I’ve seen them when they
give you a look so that you will tease them. If I was
good looking then they’d respond to me…the good
looking guys always get responded to”. (Lucky,
male, 19)
“…it’s not like we have so many places to meet
and discuss, but on the streets how do we know he
is serious, not just trying his luck with every single
girl that passes by? How can we tell if he is
genuine or not? How can we tell if he is safe or
not? ” (Rinki, female, 17)

12. Ongoing Research
Context: High levels of anti-eve teasing activism
coming from different state and civil society actors,
often highly class and status specific
In this activism, youth who use eve-teasing are “bad”
and those who need it as a gateway to romance are
“backwards”
Narratives of eve-teasing needs to be considered
from a youth-centred perspective, particularly in
communities where premarital mixed-sex interactions
are not the norm.

13. Thank You
Kabita Chakraborty
Assistant Professor
Children’s Studies Program
Department of Humanities
York University
Children’s Studies
Program
York University
Toronto, Canada