"Seniors whistling, speculating loudly about my bra size."
Sona Mohapatra is a huge supporter of India’s #MeToo movement and has called for an end to victim-blaming.
The movement was started by Tanushree Dutta and it encouraged women to publicly share stories of their sexual abuse and harassment.
Sona Mohapatra has been using her social media presence to amplify previously unheard voices of survivors of sexual assault and harassment.
Now, she is lending her support to another movement that calls out the practice of victim-blaming.
Using the hashtag #INeverAskForIt, Sona has urged everyone to tweet what they wore when they experienced sexual misconduct.
The movement is aimed towards sexual assault survivors, who are frequently asked what they wore at the time of a sexual assault.
Sona Mohapatra also narrated an incident of ‘eve-teasing’ from her college days.
Writing on Twitter, she shared: “During my BTech Engg, walking to the microprocessor lab in a loose khadi green kurta with a salwar.
“Seniors whistling, speculating loudly about my bra size.
“One ‘well-wisher’ walked up & asked why I wasn’t wearing my dupatta ‘properly’, fully covering my ‘boobs’. #INeverAskForIt.”
During my BTech Engg, walking to the microprocessor lab in a loose khadi green kurta with a salwar.Seniors whistling, speculating loudly about my bra size. One ‘well wisher’ walked up & asked why I wasn’t wearing my dupatta ‘properly’, fully covering my ‘boobs’. #INeverAskForIt
— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) November 23, 2020
In another tweet, she continued:
“Tweet what you remember wearing when you experienced sexual violence, threat or intimidation. Draw attention to victim blame.
“I’m tagging @lydiabuthello @sonamakapoor @MadhumitaM1 @Chinmayi @MasalaBai @TheRestlessQuil #INeverAskForIt.”
Tweet what you remember wearing when you experienced sexual violence, threat or intimidation.
Draw attention to victim blame.
I’m tagging @lydiabuthello @sonamakapoor @MadhumitaM1 @Chinmayi @MasalaBai @TheRestlessQuil #INeverAskForIt https://t.co/dJsmgdFjgV— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) November 23, 2020
Reacting to Sona’s tweet, a section of netizens trolled her saying she wrote such things because she was hungry for publicity.
Others could relate to what the singer said and shared their opinions and experiences on the same.
One Twitter user commented on Sona Mohapatra’s post:
“Being an ex-cetian, I second that. 1st yr and You are supposed to be totally covered up. Seniors ogling at you.”
“Male classmates having endless night discussions on your size and beauty. Some girls enjoyed the attention. Some like me always wondered why? #INeverAskForIt.”
Another suggested: “College campuses are absolutely the worst.
“They should have an orientation program or better, schools should have sex-ed classes on how to handle puberty and how harassment is not manliness.”
In early 2020, Sona Mohapatra talked about the price she had to pay for taking a stand and supporting the #MeToo movement.
She said that when she accused singers Anu Malik and Kailash Kher for sexual misconduct, she was the “first one to be punished”.
She was asked to leave Indian singing competition show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, which she was a judge on.
Sona Mohapatra previously said:
“I feel that when you end up losing some work because of what you stand for and what you believe in, it is the kind of work you are anyway never meant to do.
“The kind of work that comes your way, the allies and friends that come your way are the ones that take you much further.
“So, in the long run, I have never really seen any huge downside of being myself.
“I have only grown from strength to strength as an artist, I play to bigger and bigger crowds, and I have found my allies.
“They might be few but they are the ones worth working with.”
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