[INDOLOGY] Resource for female students traveling to South Asia

Mon Apr 29 22:26:16 UTC 2013

Dear all, 

I very much appreciate that the topic is addressed in
detail by someone finally, and I sincerely hope that this triggers
serious discussions on the issue in academic circles. 

Best 

Ute
Huesken 

-------- Original Message -------- 

		SUBJECT:
 		H-ASIA:
Resource for female students traveling to South Asia

		DATE:

		2013-04-29 23:56

		FROM:
 		Frank Conlon
<conlon at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

		TO:
 		H-ASIA at H-NET.MSU.EDU

		REPLY-TO:

		H-Net list for Asian History and Culture
<H-ASIA at H-NET.MSU.EDU>

H-ASIA
April 29, 2013

Resource for female
students traveling to South Asia

(x-post
RISA-L)
**********************************************************************
Ed.
note: Some old timers on H-ASIA will recall the quotation that 
emerged
out of a fellowship selection meeting maybe twenty years ago 
which ran
"Nobody should go to India for the first time." While this 
gentle
ribbing about 'culture shock' has amused some friends, I think 
Erin
Epperson has provided a very positive contribution to not "making

little jhok" but tackling an important issue. I have cross-posted 
this
from RISA-L, and think it would be of real interest and utility
to all
scholars, women and men, heading off to South Asia. While one 
item
refers to 'white women'--I suspect that in many contexts, the
skin of a
woman is irrelevant to predators, of whom there are many.

FFC
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Erin H. Epperson <eheppe at uchicago.edu>

I am writing to share
with you a resource I hope will be helpful for your
students, especially
female students traveling to South Asia for the first
time. By way of
introduction, I am a Ph.D. Candidate from the University of
Chicago
writing about the role Buddhism played in the transmission
and
translation of Sanskrit literature into Tibetan. I have visited
India and
Nepal several times for research and language study and
recently spent 6
months in India for my dissertation research.

In
response to a shared experience of harassment with two other women
while
riding in an auto-rickshaw, I decided to start a blog addressing
harassment
issues for female travelers:
(http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/ [1])

The purpose of this
blog I summarized in my first entry

<http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/women-traveling.html
[2]>:

I created this blog as a public resource for female travelers
concerned
with issues of sexual harassment while travelling, in
particular in South
Asian countries. ... despite this recurring issue,
most female travelers,
including myself, prefer to minimize their
experiences, shrugging it off as
"no big deal" or else trying to block
more painful experiences from their
memory. This is not meant to scare
women-- this is intended to be a
resource for women wanting to talk
through and share their experiences.

I believe fundamentally that it is
important for women to share these 
stories and talk through their
experiences, no matter how large or 
small. Sexual harassment and
sometimes sexual assault are realities, 
even while traveling, and there
are too few resources available for 
women trying to cope with
cross-cultural issues.

I wrote 10 entries over the 6 months that I was
in India.

Some topics include:
"Sexual Harassment of White women in
India"
<http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/sexual-harassment-of-white-women-in.html
[3]>,?

A review/critique of "Travel guidebooks and blogs on
sexual
harassment"
<http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/travel-guidebooks-and-blogs-on-sexual.html
[4]>,

Advice regarding ?Openness to Travel and Trusting our Instincts

<http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/openness-to-travel-and-trusting-our.html
[5]>,

An analysis of media coverage of rapes including the West Bengal

rapes in November and the so-called "Delhi
gang-rape"
<http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/12/recent-narratives-on-rape-in-india.html
[6]>,

and a post attempting to give a response to a question I often

receive from female travelers in India: "Why should women come/return

to India" 
<ht
tp://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2013/02/why-should-women-come-to-india.html>?
(given
risk of harassment or worse).

I started this blog with the idea that
it could be a public resource for
female travelers, especially for
students. It was suggested I share this
blog with this list in case
anyone might find it of use for themselves or
for their students. If
anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me
at
eheppe at uchicago.edu

Sincerely,

Erin Epperson

Erin Epperson
PhD
Candidate, SALC
University of
Chicago
eheppe at uchicago.edu
******************************************************************

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[7]

 --

-- 

Ute Hüsken
Professor of Sanskrit
Department of Culture
Studies and Oriental Languages
University of Oslo
Faculty of
Humanities
P.O. Box 1010 Blindern
N-0315 Oslo
Norway

Room 387, P.A.
Munch's Building
phone: +47 22 85 48 16
telefax: +47 22 85 48
28
ute.huesken at ikos.uio.no
http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/personer/vit/uteh/index.html

Co-editor,
Oxford Ritual Studies Series
(http://ritualstudies.com/oxford-ritual-studies-series/)
Head of the
"Kanchipuram Research Project"
(http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/projects/kancipuram/index.html)

Board
member (Norway) of the Nordic Centre in India (NCI)
The Oslo Buddhist
Studies Forum (OBSF):
http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/network/obsf/events/
Member
of the International Beirat of Paragrana. The International Review of
Historical Anthropology

-- 

Ute Hüsken
Professor of
Sanskrit
Department of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages
University
of Oslo
Faculty of Humanities
P.O. Box 1010 Blindern
N-0315
Oslo
Norway

Room 387, P.A. Munch's Building
phone: +47 22 85 48
16
telefax: +47 22 85 48
28
ute.huesken at ikos.uio.no
http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/personer/vit/uteh/index.html

Co-editor,
Oxford Ritual Studies Series
(http://ritualstudies.com/oxford-ritual-studies-series/)
Head of the
"Kanchipuram Research Project"
(http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/projects/kancipuram/index.html)

Board
member (Norway) of the Nordic Centre in India (NCI)
The Oslo Buddhist
Studies Forum (OBSF):
http://www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english/research/network/obsf/events/
Member
of the International Beirat of Paragrana. The International Review of
Historical Anthropology

Links:
------
[1]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/
[2]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/women-traveling.html
[3]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/sexual-harassment-of-white-women-in.html
[4]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/travel-guidebooks-and-blogs-on-sexual.html
[5]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/10/openness-to-travel-and-trusting-our.html
[6]
http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/2012/12/recent-narratives-on-rape-in-india.html
[7]
http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/

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