INDECENT AND

OBSCENE
BEHAVIOUR
PROJECT DONE BY – AYESHA KHYSER
HARSHITHA S
RADHIKA KULTHIA
 INTRODUCTION

INDECENCY –
 Not conforming to generally accepted standards of behaviour, especially in
relation to sexual matters.
 A habit or action of being offensive or improper
 A state of being unseemly or immodest
 Behaviour that is morally or sexually offensive 
OBSCENITY –
 Offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency
 Any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time
 Anything expressing or suggesting unchaste or lustful ideas and impure, indecent
and lewd comments
 CURRENT SCENARIO

 The world economic forum ranked India105th out of 135 countries in its 2012
Global Gender Gap Index.
 In India, gender equality is deep rooted in societal norms which give rise to
discrimination against women.
 The structure of Indian society has always been male dominated. But in the
modern era, women tried to break the centuries of shackles by venturing into male
dominated areas.  Though, we have grown by leaps and bounds yet the most basic
structure of society is showing no signs of improvement.
 Indecent and Obscene Acts towards women is a huge issue in many metropolitan
cities of India. A large percentages of Indian women have faced or are facing this
menace
 Whether it is a public transport system or public places or shopping malls or
multiplexes, women find themselves vulnerable to the threat of indecent
behaviour by men everywhere.
 If girls go to other countries, they don’t feel threatened because of the positive
attitude towards girls, who are not seen as mere objects.
 TrustLaw, a service run by Thomas Reuters has ranked India as the worst G20
country in which to be a woman.
 But on a positive note, there are plenty of NGOs in India who are working for the
cause of woman empowerment. Workplace gender discrimination is not a new
thing but some prominent organisations are leading the way to rectify the
situation. The government has also implemented various laws against indecent
and obscene acts to curb such situations.
 RESEARCH

 The data for the research was collected using survey method through the use of
questionnaires.
 The size of the sample considered for the study was 30 students from Mount
Carmel College in the age group of 18 to 25.
 The questions in the questionnaire were in the form of close ended questions
which were logically framed in order to achieve the following stated objective –
to acquire information regarding the extent to which indecent and obscene
behavior takes place against young women and to gather their viewpoints
regarding this topic.
 QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Have you ever been violated against or faced indecent or obscene behaviour by a
person of the opposite sex?
 a. If yes, was the person a stranger, someone you know/friend or a relative?
 b. Did you take any action against it?
2. Do you believe that there is a need for stricter rules and laws when it comes to
indecent and obscene behaviour?
3. Do you think that such situations are faced equally by both the sexes?
4. Do you think factors such as the clothes worn by a person affects whether they
are faced with such situations?
 DISCUSSION AND ANLAYSIS OF
DATA
1. From the data collected, 30 of the respondents answered yes and 0 answered no.

a. From the data collected, 20 of the respondents answered stranger, 6 answered someone they knew and 4 answered
relative.
b. From the data collected, 6 of the respondents answered yes and 24 answered no.

2. From the data collected, 30 of the respondents answered yes and 0 answered no.

3. From the data collected, 3 of the respondents answered yes and 27 answered no.

4. From the data collected, 4 of the respondents answered yes and 26 answered no.
 Question 1(a) Stranger Someone they knew/friend
13%
Relative

If yes, was the person a stranger,

someone you know/friend 20%

or a relative?
67%

 Question 1(b) Yes No

Did you take any action against 20%

it?

80%
 Yes No
 Question 3
10%
Do you think that such situations
are faced equally by both the
sexes?

90%

 Question 4 Yes No

Do you think factors such as the 13%

clothes worn by a person affects

whether they are faced with
such situations?

87%
 It is important to note the fact that most of the respondents added that irrespective of the kind of
clothes they wear, they believe that they are still susceptible to be a victim of such situations and it
does not reduce the likelihood of such an event taking place.
 In the case of having faced such situations by relatives (4 out of 30), none of the respondents took
any action against it – they said that they hesitated because they felt that nobody would believe
them or it would cause unnecessary and avoidable chaos among the family members.
 One of the main reasons as to why 24 out of 30 of them did not take any action against it was
because they felt ashamed, weak and that they would be judged by others.
 The respondents specifically voiced their concern regarding current rules and laws regarding
indecency and obscenity.
 Two of the respondents suggested that spreading awareness and education about such matters can
act as a preventive measure.
 CASE STUDIES

 SEMEN-FILLED BALLOONS THROWN AT A GIRL IN DELHI IN THE

NAME OF HOLI
 In the last few days, students of Delhi University have reported on social media
that they were hit by balloons reportedly filled with semen.( was telecasted in
NDTV)
 A BA history student of of Jesus and Mary College (JMC) is the latest victim of
the semen situation, she wrote, "Till yesterday, I had just heard about semen
throwing at girls and my heart was broken to hear it. Today I was the victim to it
and that was when I wholly realized and understood the absolute depravity of
human beings. I would have said humans behave like animals but then that's a
disgrace to animals in itself.“
DELHI STUDENTS PROTESTING AGAINST
THE INDECENCY BEHAVIOUR DURING
HOLI
 FLASHING PRIVATE PARTS AT GIRLS

 Multiple times over the last few months, the students of Mount Carmel College in
Bangalore were greeted with a pathetic sight: A man, presumed to be a journalist
because of the 'PRESS' sticker on his bike, would flash his penis at them as they
walked past him.
 Sick and tired of the harassment, ten of the students decided to holler back: The
students got hold of the offender, dragged the man to the High Grounds police
station on Saturday, and filed a written complaint against him.
 This happened on August 19,2017
 REFERENCE : NEWSMINUTE
 MAN FILMS A WOMAN IN SINGAPORE METRO

 An Indian woman in Singapore has exposed a man, who was trying to make video
of her in an underground train. Uma Mageswar came up with a creative idea to
make a video of the man, who was secretly trying to film her.
 She later posted the video on Facebook, where it has gone viral. Close to six
million people have already watched the video with it being shared thousands of
times.
 This happened on 13th may 2017
 REFERENCE : JANTAKAREPORTER
 RULES AND LAWS

The following are the legal implications and provisions made in our country regarding
indecent and obscene behaviour –
 Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code lays down the punishment for obscene acts
or in public. The other sections of Indian Penal code which deal with obscenity are
292 and 293. The law does not clearly define what would constitute an obscene act,
but it would enter the domain of the state only when it takes place in a public place
to the annoyance of others.
 IPC 509 Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.—
Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any word, makes any
sound or gesture, or exhibits any object, intending that such word or sound shall be
heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon
the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term
which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.
 Indecent Representation of Women: Since time immemorial, man’s fascination with women has
been unbounded. It is manifested sometimes in her adoration and at other times in her abuse. There
is a thin line that separates decency from indecency, art from obscenity and nudity from aesthetics
and often it is difficult to decipher the same. Very often one finds derogatory depiction of women in
the media. To achieve their commercial and publicity objectives, business, trade and other media
often transgresses the limits of decency and propriety by exposing and depicting a woman’s
personality or the privacies of female life in an objectionable and obscene manner. Not being fully
covered by the provisions of Indian Penal Code regarding obscenity, the Indian Parliament,
therefore, passed an Act in 1986 entitled “The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act,
1986 (Act No. 60 of 1986)”. The object of the Act was to prevent the depiction of the figure of a
woman in a manner which is derogatory or denigrating to a woman or which is likely to corrupt
public morality.
• “Indecent representation of women” has been defined in the Act thus: “It means the depiction in any
manner of the figure of a woman, her form or body or any part thereof in such a way as to have the
effect of being indecent, or derogatory to, or denigrating to women, or is likely to deprave, corrupt or
injure the public morality or morals”.
• Section 3 of this Act lays down that “no person shall publish or cause to be
published, or arrange to take part in the publication or exhibition of any
advertisement which contains indecent representation of women in any form”.
Section 4 further lays down that “no person shall produce or cause to be produced
sell, let or hire, distribute, photograph, representation of figure which contains
indecent representation of women in any form. 
 CONCLUSION

 Living in a male dominated society , all of face indecency and obscenity very
often in our lives , it has become a non controllable part of our living.
 The only solution to this is to RAISE VOICE AGAINST THE CRUELTY.
Only when women raise the voice against the indecency they face there will be
scope for publicizing the crime and finding solutions to it.
 Each one in this society should realise the importance of women and women are
just not an object of sexual pleasure
 THERE ARE MANY LAWS WHICH SUPPORT WOMEN AND PROTECTS
THEIR RIGHTS , some of which are mentioned below ;
 Eve Teasing: Sections 294 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) prohibit any
individual or group of people pass any kind of offensive comment or execute any such
gesture towards a girl of any age
 Offensive Propaganda: The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act,
1986, prohibits any individual or organization to publish or help post, publish, exhibit
or advertise - online or offline - any kind of representation of women that can be
considered to be indecent.
 Domestic Violence: This falls under Section 498A of the IPC. According to this law,
any person can complain about any incident where a family member has offended him
or her cruelly or with the intention of cruelty. This law is applicable for or against any
member regardless of gender
“ EACH TIME A WOMEN
STANDS UP FOR HERSELF

”
SHE STANDS UP FOR ALL
WOMEN