CHENNAI: The makers of American soap ‘Sex And The City’ would have been petrified at the urban Chennaiite’s views on fashion.
In a survey conducted among 7,606 people across the city, a majority of whom were graduates born and raised here, 47.7% believed that the way people dressed led to them being sexually assaulted. “To be honest, we were quite surprised with people’s answers to this question. Especially because we asked lawyers and judges in the High Court who seemed to feel strongly about this,” said Dr D Rajasekar, WCF Hospitals, who commissioned the survey.
At a time when kissing protests are being held to make a statement against moral policing, most people who were surveyed appeared to be on the same page. When asked if people (not women, for that would be sexist) should have their sense of dressing restricted, a whopping 73.6 percent said yes. “Less than 1 in 5 people believed that women and men should be allowed to wear trendy or revealing clothes. This is quite surprising given how much change we have seen in recent times,” added the gynaecologist. While 64% of those surveyed were professional graduates and lawyers, 57.6% were under the age of 25.
Conducted over a period of five months by staff and paramedics from their hospital, the survey’s findings were released ahead of the International Day for Prevention of Violence Against Women. Having seen a lot of victims of rape and sexual abuse who are unwilling to go to the police, Dr Rajasekar has devised a method of helping victims cope with the medical fall-out, anonymously.
“An android app will go live tomorrow through which women can order a rape kit or an unwanted pregnancy kit, to be picked up at our pharmacies or to be delivered at home with a Cash On Delivery option. This will have a contraceptive and antibiotics that will stave off most Sexually Transmitted Diseases,” he added.