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I-Tutorial 101: What Is ‘Flashing’? Is That A Real Crime?

Written By: Sonali
November 13, 2020
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It’s been more eight months since the lockdown, and we are pretty much getting into the new normal — but something that remained unchanged is the sexual abuse of most women by male abusers.

On November 08, when a Bengaluru based writer asked, “is flashing an offence in India?”, half of the Instagrammers got into a debate!

But what left me startled were the comments made by multiple people on the social media platforms — which showed me their instant disdain towards not only the womenfolk but also the fact that how many people are unaware of the basic form of sexual harassments and how, knowingly or unknowingly, they kept normalising a lot of them all this while.

Man Arrested For Flashing At Bengaluru Based Writer!

This incident which was first covered by us was later given limelight by a lot of digital media platforms, but the one thing that kept anguishing me was the constant contemptation by these men which eventually made me write this.

What is ‘flashing’?

First and foremost, for people asking, ‘yeh flashing kya hota hai’, here’s something you need to understand:

Flashing is a term coined for the act of showing/ revealing your ‘private parts’ to another person; this is something that’s done intentionally, and yes, this is an offence.

The Indian law doesn’t particularly cover the offensive, harassing and sexually abusive act of flashing or cyber-flashing but over time, the law authorities have shared their opinion and concern over this, and though the law doesn’t count it under a crime, there have been enough incidents where the offender have been punished or jailed for the same.

Source: Facebook Comments

Since the reported cases of such incidents are relatively low in our country, there hasn’t been enough legal developments, but the chances of meeting someone, especially a woman, who would have encountered such an incident at least once would be quite common.

And as if this wasn’t enough, ask any girl/ woman and most of them would probably have got a cyber-flashing story to tell — with social media users growing more than ever, several male users have been found sending unsolicited pictures of their genitalia, pornography or other sorts of visual sexually offensive images into women’s inboxes.

And oh, let me clear the fact that cyber flashing amounts to cyber sexual harassment!!

Is flashing a real crime?

Coming back to the objective of my writing; yes, flashing is an offence. “Such behaviour is a form of exhibitionism which derives pleasure from shocking and intimidating the other party,” says Pulkit Sharma, a clinical psychologist. “When they flash their private parts to someone, the expression of disgust and fear is turn on for these people. In India, girls are taught to hide their private parts, but men aren’t. By flashing, they give the message that they are not at all vulnerable, and the woman in the situation is!”

Source

In the cases reported before, the offenders have been put behind bars for a minimum of six months to upto two years. And though it leaves a lifelong traumatic impression on the victim, not everyone is convinced about the seriousness of the issue.

When singer and activist Chinmayi Sripaada had asked her female Twitter/ Instagram followers to share their experiences of being flashed, she was sent more than 600 responses in only a few days.

The demographics

Speaking of victims, school going, or teenage girls are often flashed. “School-going girls are less sexually experienced, and their reactions are way more pronounced than older women. So they are not only easy targets but also most targeted,” says the middle school counsellor Vandana Nangya.

Source: Facebook Comments

In fact, auto drivers flashing outside schools or on the routes to working women’s hostels is also very common. A lot of women faces these experiences on buses and trains too, which makes it more difficult for them to commute. Eventually, they either change their routes or jobs.

The outcasted response

Half of the janta doesn’t even know what ‘flashing’ means, and this shows the clear lack of awareness about the basic forms of harassments too.

Source: Facebook Comments

And these comments made by so many men would give you a clear idea of how lightly the society we live in take these issues.

Is this because they have been raised this way or because they weren’t taught about the disgust, the fear and the trauma it brings?

Source: Facebook Comments

And those arguing that women should also be punished for flashing themselves lack a clear sense of understanding. The victim could be of any gender and so can be the offender — what one must be concerned about is the offence. The psychology behind flashing is not just limited to the exposure of obscenity but also to the fact that the offender knows that he/ she could potentially get off it easily and safely — that’s how less it matters!

This is not about Milind Soman or Poonam Pandey — this is about the consent, about the etiquettes, about the correct psychology.

Our nation soon should come up with specific laws regarding flashing — in clear terms. And it won’t happen until the adequate amount of awareness is spread awareness among the masses about such forms of sexual harassment.

Until then, do not back out to report such cases — because every time you choose silence, someone else suffers!

PS: All the comments were screengrabbed within 12 hours of posting on the social media!

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Sonali

A 'non-9-5 desk job' ambivert geek who chooses her own audience, Sonali loves sharing stories and finding the corners where humanity still exists! She believes that every individual's story is unique and special. She loves writing about the untouched and unspoken segments of society. When not writing, you can find her listening to someone's stories or playing with dogs. Sonali values mental health and encourages people to speak their heart out!

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Infano Care

Vaginal Changes Post Childbirth

Written By: Shweta Singh
August 31, 2022 | 01:53 PM |
225

Highlights

  • How does pregnancy and child-birth affect the Vagina?
  • What happens to the vagina during child-birth?
  • 5 Vaginal changes that occur post the child-birth
  • How do you deal with these changes?

 

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A to-be mom would definitely love to imagine the bulging out belly, gorging the ice-cream tubs, going for random spree and much more adorable things but it is all the hay days only. Well quite not. It is difficult to fathom the postpartum bodily changes such as weight gain, hair-fall, stretchmarks and most importantly changes your vagina. Five common changes that your vagina might experience post child-birth are Vaginal dryness, Vaginal Soreness, Internal Scars and Vaginal discharges.

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A to-be mom would definitely love to imagine the bulging out belly, gorging the ice-cream tubs, going for random sprees, and many more adorable things but it is all the hay days only. Well quite not. It is difficult to fathom the postpartum bodily changes such as weight gain, hair fall, stretch marks, and most importantly vaginal changes  

Here we are going to talk about how the baby finally makes it out of vagina.  

It’s basically the pelvis, cervix, uterus, and structure surrounding them that hold up the baby during the gestation period and form the passage to push out the baby during delivery. 

Pelvis: The pelvis forms the base and supports the growing uterus and baby and lays out a passage through which the baby emerges. 

Uterus: The uterus surrounds the baby during the growth stage. 

Cervix: Cervix is made up of different tissue. During pregnancy, the cervix is thick and contracted. As the pregnancy advances the cervix becomes thinner and opens this process is called dilation. Once the cervix is fully dilated, the contractions help to push the baby from the cervix to the vagina 

Vagina: As the baby enters the vagina the skin and muscles stretch. Post this, the labia and perineum stretch to the maximum limit to push the baby out of the vagina. 

5 Changes In Vagina after childbirth 

Vaginal Dryness

After birthing a baby, the elevated estrogen levels in your body drop. Estrogen is a clear lubricant fluid that keeps your vagina moist. Thus, nursing mothers experience extreme vaginal dryness as the tissue in the vagina shrink due to low levels of estrogen. On the other side, Women who are not nursing may recover their estrogen levels to normal within a few days post birth. Besides this vaginal dryness can make sex difficult and painful. As a solution, one can use a prescribed lubricant to pacify the pain.

Vaginal Soreness

It’s not actually the vagina that bears the soreness post the baby birth but the poor little perineum that bears the brunt. The perineum is an area between the vagina and the anus. As the baby passes through the birth canal your skin and muscles stretch. The perineum also tears during vaginal birth. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Between 53 to 79 percent vaginal deliveries will cause some sort of tearing. Hence, It is not an issue of major concern. 

Vaginal Discharge

You might often feel that you have peed your pants when you are postpartum however, this is actually the lochia that makes you feel so. Lochia is residual blood, mucus and tissue that comes from the vagina after childbirth. This discharge lasts for four to seven weeks changing colors from dark red, pink, and brown hue to eventually turning yellowish. The passing of a few blood clots in this discharge line is also normal.

Scar Tissue in Vagina 

After childbirth it is normal to have scar tissue in the vagina. Such scar could be painful for some time however, it heals in due time. This might make sex a painful experience but one can use lube to reduce the friction. 

Vagina gets wider after childbirth

Your vagina stretches beyond its normal shape during childbirth but doesn’t retain the exact pre-birth shape. Once it gets wider postpartum you may find it uneasy to use period products like tampons. It may be slid out slowly once you put it inside. 

Some of these changes in your vagina may bother you to some extent. But you must know that these changes are not a matter of concern as such changes are pretty obvious post-delivery. Do not flinch from taking out any of your concerns with your doctor as they can help you better with any of these issues. 

To read more such articles, Click Here.

Vaginal dischargeVaginal DrynessVaginal soreness

Shweta Singh

A Writer, who sometimes lends voice to audio book and loves to be on camera. An avid reader with a penchant for storytelling on camera.

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