I Think: The media exaggerates the issue of sexual assault
Karan Singh, bartender, Goa
I don’t really get too much time to see the news. When I do read the news it is usually about sports like football and rugby. I sometimes watch the English-language news channels, but not often. I hear about rape sometimes, but I don’t really like seeing news about these things. It makes me ask how people can think and do things like this.
For me, rape is not how the news makes it out to be. The news makes these issues seem over-the-top. I don’t think it is actually what they are making it seem like. They are speaking about these issues to make it news. They are trying to raise their TRPs. This is not a good thing.
As a bartender, I feel responsible for people’s safety, all the staff is responsible. Girls often get teased at clubs. When we see someone tease them we can ask them to leave politely, but we cannot control what happens outside. I see people come to the club to enjoy themselves. But they drink over their limit, and lose control of themselves to the extent that they don’t know what they are doing. I see this at the club every night. When I was in Australia, I saw that they had a rule about when to stop giving a person drinks.
When people talk about these issues it is a good thing. The media is good, it can help people talk. Journalists can help make people open-minded. They can show the reality of the situation and show what the correct behaviour should be. Fighting doesn’t bring change. We should be open, make it better, ask questions, and only then we can change people.
