Stripping the teasers

A leading television channel has started a campaign that hopes to inspire women to stand up against eve teasing with real-life stories.

Tired of filing complaints against eve-teasers that go unheeded most of the time? Stop gritting your teeth, ladies. You now have a forum where you can voice your problems and be heard.

The show on Star Plus, Pratigya, has launched a campaign called ‘Meri Pratigya’ that will focus on finding real-life stories and honouring the victor.

The show is a story of an ordinary girl, a victim of eve teasing who stands up to reclaim her respect. Anupam Vasudev, executive vice president, marketing, Star India Pvt Ltd, says, “We plan to initiate a human chain to gather support for Pratigya’s fight for mistreatment against women.”

THE CAMPAIGN

“We are planning large-scale college activities, sign-up campaigns and counseling camps. In association with an NGO, we will reach out to women across the country and ask them to share their experiences with us. For those, who have been eve teased, harassed or have felt disrespected at any point, this will be a platform to talk about their experiences and how they emerged stronger from them,” Vasudev adds.

Ask him, if like many others, this campaign will fizzle out after a while and he replies, “We will consistently work on this and hope to bring tangible results.”

Doesn’t TV overdo these women based issues? He disagrees, “No, we think that these issues are relevant and therefore various themes are been taken up. Television needs stronger and positive characters like Pratigya.”

The human chain is scheduled to take place on December 23, at Nariman Point, with leading ladies from the Star Parivaar like Parul Chauhan, Hina Khan, Neha Saxena, Zalak Desai, Sara Khan supporting the endeavour.