South Asian company launches campaign to raise awareness about public sexual harassment

A new campaign that aims to highlight and initiate conversations around public street harassment has been launched by South Asian brand Vatika UK.

The campaign is called #UntieYourFears and highlights issues around public street harassment (PSH) is a form of harassment that is directed at someone in a public space without their consent.

Public street harassment is not limited to actions or comments that have sexual connotations. It often includes homophobic and transphobic slurs and hateful comments regarding disability. Recipients include people of all genders but women are more commonly victims of harassment by men. Furthermore, South Asians frequently experience various forms of abuse, including insults based on their race, religion or ethnicity. However, reporting rates in South Asian communities are statistically lower due to a number of cultural norms that exist, inhibiting people from coming forward. There is also a clear lack of awareness and understanding of what constitutes harassment and sexual abuse and when it manifests in casual forms we often let it pass as a societal norm.

Watch the campaign video

The campaign’s central message is to empower women; raise awareness to identify different scenarios of street harassment; encourage women to share their experiences; start conversations; and advocate the public call out this behaviour when witnessed on the streets.

Speaking about the #UntieYourFears campaign, Zakir Mansoori, Business Head UK & Europe, Dabur International says, “Women empowerment and gender equality are central brand missions for us at Vatika UK. It is unacceptable that, in modern society, public harassment targeting women or persons based on their race, religion, ability, sexual or gender identity is as commonplace and normalised as it is. Our aim with the #UntieYourFears campaign is to call out public harassment that has become so casually entrenched in daily life. Its consequences can be long term and far reaching for victims, and perpetrators need to know that this is intolerable behaviour. As a society, we need to call out this behaviour when we see it; we need to stand in solidarity with women and recipients of public harassment; and we need to start having these conversations to bring a stop to this behaviour.”