http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/world/asia/india-tourism-women-sexual-assault.html 2016-09-05 09:58:40 Safety Tip for Visitors From India’s Culture Minister: ‘Don’t Wear Skirts’ The minister’s remarks drew broad criticism in a country trying to convince female tourists that they need not fear sexual assault. === Mahesh Sharma, “The tourists, when they arrive at the airport, they are being given a “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts,” he added, He later said he meant it as “an advisory when going to religious places,” comparing it to removing shoes when going into a temple. “I am a father of daughters,” Mr. Sharma said. “I have not said what one person should wear or not wear, neither it is desired nor I am authorized to say so. I have only said this as an advice when they visit to religious place.” Officials, including the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, and other critics on social media denounced Mr. Sharma’s suggestion. India has India reported 36,375 rapes against women in 2014, the most recent year Mr. Sharma’s comments do not veer too far from “Although most victims have been local residents, recent sexual attacks against female visitors in tourist areas across India underline the fact that foreign women are at risk and should exercise vigilance,” say the guidelines, last updated in 2015. Sachi Maclachlan, 27, a filmmaker from Brooklyn, has been to India four times and said she always recommended to her American friends that they dress traditionally as “a way of survival.” But she struggles with how that suggestion conflicts with her feminist philosophies, she said, including the idea that victimization is not the woman’s fault. On several occasions, she has been harassed and touched in the streets while wearing traditional Indian clothing, she said. It suggests to her that the problems run deeper than the clothes women wear. “I could have just been wearing shorts and been super comfortable and still been touched, so does it matter?” she said. Jessica Ault, 31, a program and records manager for a nonprofit in Washington, said she had packed modest clothes for her trip to India in January, but had been motivated more by respecting local culture than by safety. She said Mr. Sharma’s comments struck her as victim blaming, suggesting that a woman would invite sexual assault based on what she was wearing. “She can be in a burqa, she can be in a sari or she can be in a short skirt and still get raped,” Ms. Ault said.