[INDOLOGY] Fwd: Resource for female students traveling to South Asia II

Wed May 1 12:48:56 UTC 2013

A further comment o the blog by its author to clarify background and
intentions: 

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

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

		DATE:

		2013-05-01 13:41

		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
May 1, 2013

Further comment re: Resource
for female students travelling to South 
Asia

(x-post
RISA-L)
***********************************************************************
Ed.
note: This is a continuation to the discussion on April 29 
introducing
a new blog resource on issues facing female students 
travelling to
South Asia. (http://travelingwhilefemale.blogspot.com/ [1])

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

I want to thank everyone for
their support of this project. I feel obliged
to add that this is a very
difficult topic for most women (myself included)
to discuss because of
the vulnerability involved in harassment experiences.
I would like for
one to see more support of women who have these
experiences and less
victim-blaming (i.e. "she should have worn this
instead"). Most female
colleagues I have talked with are not comfortable
sharing their
experiences, so this my attempt at a much-needed first step.

I
certainly agree based on personal experience that the most
modest
clothing is safest, and that traveling in groups and only during
the day is
safest. But I believe it is a disservice to teach our
students that any
preventative measure is fool-proof, and in fact
statistics show that what a
victim wears in fact matters very little.
Harassers, like rapists, report
that the number-one factor in choosing a
victim is not their clothing or
appearance, but opportunity and
perceived vulnerability. We teach this at
the Self defense center I
volunteer for, and from what I've read and had
reported to me from
Indian women, the same holds true in India. You can
just as easily be
harassed wearing a burka as jeans. For foreigners I would
certainly
recommend local dress (add I myself choose to wear), but I would
also
want to emphasize that nothing is completely preventative and
any
harassment they may receive is not their fault.

I also want to
address concerns that my blog might be white-centric
or
foreigner-centric. Some context might help. When I started to write I
was
attempting to process through what I (mis)perceived to be a
mostly
foreigner problem. As I began to write and began discussing this
work with
Indian women, I began to take a wider perspective. Thus as the
entries
progress, I hope the progression of my understanding of the
situation is
visible. I have recently returned to the US and have been
wrapped up in
other academic duties, but I have several entries in mind
to write and post
over the coming weeks and months (in part based on
conversations I had with
women in Delhi during a self defense course I
helped teach back in March)
that will continue to reflect this shift.

I
would also like to apologize if my blog comes across as inflammatory
or
fear-mongering. I certainly don't want to scare women away from
India
(which is why I wrote the most recent entry). But I also don't see
how
minimizing the issue will help women. Without serious discussion,
women
will continue to suffer in silence. Like with most important
issues, waves
have to be made initially before we can eventually reach a
sort of balanced
equilibrium on the topic. I should perhaps also add
that street harassment
is a global phenomena and is certainly present in
the US in cities and
towns, large and small so thus problem is not
limited to South Asia. As a
white foreigner there are limitations based
on both my foreign-ness and my
(white) privilege, which I want to
acknowledge.

I whole-heartedly welcome any suggestions for how I can
advance the
discussion through this blog. Any suggestions for future
entries or advice
for tone would be appreciated (by private
correspondence)

Sincerely,
Erin Epperson
PhD Candidate, SALC
University
of
Chicago
eheppe at uchicago.edu
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[2]

 --

-- 

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://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/

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