Do Women in Our Country Still Need Protection?

"You’ll only have one glass one wine won’t you?” is the question that my mum usually asks before I leave for a night out. I’ve grown up with the idea that women shouldn’t drink, and if they do then one glass is more than enough. Many of my Indian friends drink and party till the early hours but most of their parents are not always aware of what they are up to.

So when I learnt about recent events in South India, where a right wing group of activists beat up a group of young girls drinking in pub I was shocked, but not surprised. It got me thinking about attitudes towards women in my culture, and why it is that despite being born and bred in Europe, many of my Indian friends still find it hard to be entirely open with their family. Despite the fact that more and more women are going out to work and becoming financially independent, it is still difficult to stray away from the “norm”. Elders of the family say they are just looking out for us, and I often find myself annoyed at the fact that my partner is not overprotective. It’s been the norm for me throughout my childhood, but do I and other women really need protecting?

The men who attacked the young women in the pub were angered by the fact that they were drinking alcohol, mingling with men and wearing clothes that they called “indecent”. The leader of the party, Pramod Muthalik said that his party were the “custodians of Indian culture” aimed at stopping women from “going astrayThe fast growing Facebook group, The Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women, is encouraging women to “walk to the nearest pub and buy a drink” on Valentine’s Day tomorrow. The group has nearly 30,000 members. Is this about protecting women’s rights or protecting women from negative influences of society?