I remember the day with crystal clarity. I was wearing a lemon-yellow salwar kameez, just months shy of my 18th birthday. As usual, I had walked the kilometer to catch the State transport bus to college. In my mind, I was confident and beautiful. Fortune smiled as I secured a window seat, enjoying the wind in my hair and sporting a gentle smile, eagerly anticipating reuniting with friends at college.
My moment of peace was shattered when a man sat beside me and began touching me inappropriately. I endured as much as I could before finally rising to leave, tears burning my eyes, my mouth seemingly sewn shut. Even now, nearly two decades later, I berate myself: Why didn’t I scream? Why didn’t I act against him? And most painfully, why did I feel guilty when he was clearly at fault?
This experience haunted me for years, but it also became the catalyst for understanding something crucial: public safety belongs to everyone and we all deserve the confidence to speak up when that safety is violated. The journey from that silenced teenager to the professional I am today with over 20 years of work experience has taught me valuable lessons about empowerment and voice.
The silence I maintained that day wasn’t unusual. Many survivors, particularly young people, respond similarly when faced with sexual harassment. Shock paralyzes. Fear silences. Society often conditions us, especially women, to avoid making scenes or drawing attention. We worry about not being believed or being blamed for somehow inviting this kind of harassment.
What I understand now is that my silence wasn’t my failure, it was the result of a society that hadn’t adequately prepared me to respond to such violations. No one had told the teenage me that I had every right to loudly object, to call for help, to identify the perpetrator publicly.
Today’s young people deserve better preparation. They need to know that their bodies are inviolable, that unwanted touch is never acceptable, and that their voice is their power. We must teach assertiveness not as an optional social skill but as a fundamental tool for personal safety. Schools and colleges should incorporate workshops on responding to harassment. Families need to have open conversations about bodily autonomy and appropriate responses to violations. Public transportation systems should prominently display reporting mechanisms and zero-tolerance policies. As adults, we must model appropriate responses. When we witness harassment, our intervention sends a powerful message both to perpetrators and to young observers who are learning how to navigate the world. My mission now is to ensure others find their voices sooner. Through mentorship, advocacy and simply sharing my story, I am working to create a world where no one suffers in silence as I did—where young people are equipped with both the awareness to recognize inappropriate behavior and the assertiveness to confront it.
The seventeen-year-old in the yellow salwar kameez deserved better. Today’s seventeen-year-olds deserve better. By breaking the silence around these experiences, by transforming personal pain into collective empowerment, together we can move closer to a world where everyone can travel, study, work and simply exist in public spaces without fear. My voice is now my power. May all those still searching for theirs find it before they need it most.
Dr. Varsha Pillai, a Gender Advocacy and Communications Specialist, leads Women in Manufacturing at Tata Electronics and is a volunteer with Safety for Women