Banaras Hindu University

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Student pastimes

‘Lanketing:' ogling women

Piyush Rai, Where women's harassment has a `brand name', September 26, 2017: The Times of India

Students Say BHU Campus Unsafe

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) vice-chancellor has justified curbs on women students' movement outside the campus citing threats to safety in public spaces, but women students say men have harassed them just outside their residence halls as well, claims that raise questions about safety on the premises as well.

The roots of the unsafe en vironment for women lie in how sexual harassment has, over time, been institutionalised around campus and in Varanasi. BHU is arguably the only university in India with a unique term for harassment of women -`lanketing'.

The term is derived from the name of a market near BHU's iconic Singh Dwar gate.Lanka market, which has a lot of cafes and restaurants frequented by students, sees local youths on bikes cruising the area, following women and harassing them. The trisection outside BHU's only women's college, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, also has men loitering around and harassing students. Such behaviour has led to frequent clashes between students and these locals.

Women say they feel unsafe at the market. “We get a male friend to come along every time we go to the market.The risk of a stranger accosting us or passing remarks always exists,“ said Sakshi Malik, a BA student. Other students said they have not reported such harassment on several occasions fearing victim shaming.