As a young person you may face situations in which you are a victim of verbal, emotional or physical abuse. These situations can occur when you are walking on the street, visiting a movie hall, in a bus, in a market place, on Facebook or even receiving a text message on your mobile phone.
The location could be public places or even at home. While it is difficult to deal with these situations because you feel scared and angry, there are some ways in which you can protect yourself.
You have every right to feel safe and it is important that you take care of yourself and avoid situations which may provoke harassment — coming back alone late at night on a deserted street, making friends on facebook with people who do not treat you with respect and being with people who bully you by calling you names.
One form of abuse is ragging. It is important to report ragging to school/college authorities because it is banned by law. The schools must also encourage group discussions on these issues, have anti-ragging cells and ensure peer support for those who get ragged. On the streets you may be taunted or insulted because of the way you look, what you wear, or just by virtue of being a girl. Many girls complain of being molested. A person who is attacked by a perpetrator needs to report the incident immediately and ensure it is documented and acted upon. There are helplines that have been set up to report these incidents.
In public spaces you can deal with comments and insults by ignoring them and not showing that you are upset or angry. Inform your parents/teachers/friends about these. Also remember, if you are being abused in a relationship, you need to make a choice whether to continue with it.
An important aspect of keeping yourself ‘safe’ is also being well informed about sex, drugs and alcohol. Your peers may cajole you to try out this ‘risky behaviour’ just out of curiousity or as a means to ‘cement’ your relationship. You should learn to assertively say ‘no’ to your friends because it is important not be exploited in such situations and feel a sense of guilt and shame afterwards.
Since prevention of violence is a form of action, there should be zero tolerance towards violence.
Awareness and sensitisation is brought about through street plays, media and discussion in open forums. Counselling should be available for those who need help in dealing with violence.
In your daily life, you may have to face single or multiple incidents where your safety is compromised. It is very important that you should be aware of these situations and find ways to deal with it.
After all like every human being, you deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.