Panaji, January 30: A top tourism official from the state said authorities are preparing new directives for international tourists that, among other things, will forbid women from wearing bikinis in Goa’s hugely popular beaches.
THE GOA government has responded to the January 26 rape of a nineyear- old Russian girl with a move that the travel business fears will only diminish the beleaguered beach haven’s reputation internationally.
Speaking on the sidelines of the SATTE travel and tourism exhibition in New Delhi, the deputy director of Goa Tourism, Pamela Mascarenhas, blamed foreign tourists for bringing the assaults upon themselves.
Expressing sentiments similar to those of Goa MP Shantaram Naik, which had led to a furore in the Rajya Sabha in December, Mascarenhas said, “ You can’t blame the locals; they have never seen such women.
Foreign tourists must maintain a certain degree of modesty in their clothing. Walking on the beaches half- naked is bound to titillate the senses.”
She said women should not dress in bikinis so as not to attract unsolicited attention towards them — ignoring the fact that the state has had a tradition of beach tourism, and of nudist beaches, that dates back to the early 1970s.
Mascarenhas seemed to contradict herself when she refused to acknowledge the rise in the incidents of sexual violence in Goa but insisted that the state was planning to issue fresh guidelines to international tourists on dressing modestly. “ These are stray incidents and guidelines on propriety in dressing will help curb them,” she said.
Her statement, ironically, came on a day when the Goa Police arrested Aman Bharadwaj, an employee of a pharmaceuticals company, on the charge of raping the nine- year- old. On December 15 last year, when a Russian national was raped in the state, leading to a strong reaction from Russia’s consul- general in Mumbai, Congress MP Naik had said a woman “ who moves with strangers for days together even beyond the middle of the night” ought to be treated differently.
Since then, Naik has changed his tune; his latest stand being rapists must be awarded the death penalty and cases disposed of in six months.
Criminal acts such as these, combined with the moralising by the government, which is intent on policing the tourists more than the perpetrators of the sexual crimes, are bound to tarnish Goa’s already tainted image further tourism executives said.
A travel business insider said: “ Incidents such as rapes and diktats such as the one now being contemplated by the state government attract negative publicity that will not only harm Goa, but also dent India’s ‘ incredible’ image.” Expressing the anger of people on the retrogressive move considered by the government, Oscar Rebello, who heads the Goa Bachao Andolan, says, “ Rape can happen anywhere.
But it is the lethargy of the authorities and their tardy responses that mar the image of the state. The response to rape must be efficient and sensitive. The law and order machinery must crack down on the perpetrators.” Those in the travel business point out that women wear skimpy bikinis at beaches all over the world, but that doesn’t make them targets for rape. Even an Islamic country like Egypt earns 80 per cent of its tourism dollars from beaches, where women move around in bikinis without attracting the adverse male gaze.
Sabina Martins, who runs Bailancho Saad, an NGO campaigning for women’s rights in Goa, said the issue goes much beyond tourism numbers. “ Rape is a heinous crime and has to be dealt with severely, irrespective of the nationality of the victim,” Martins said. “ The problem is that everyone is looking at it from the economic point of view and how it’ll affect tourism. People forget that this is a human rights issue.” Tourist operators tend to promote Goa as a destination where wine, women and drugs come cheap. The problem starts, Martins said, when tourists begin to think that they can have their own way with everything, just because they have paid for it.
By comparison, states such as Kashmir, despite grappling with terrorism, have paid careful attention to their image. “ Kashmir has seen a rise in the number of tourists, domestic as well as international, in the last three years.
Our tourist profile is very different; we have more families or large groups on study tours visiting the state,” said Abid Maqbool Bhat, assistant director, tourism, Jammu & Kashmir.
Goa’s image as a tourist’s nightmare, which first took a dent after the March 2008 rape and murder of British teenager, Scarlett Keeling, may not be repaired that easily.
Mascarenhas even has an unpalatable take on the Keeling episode. She asked: “ What was she doing with those men in the wee hours?” And then added: “ I think parents must also inculcate the right values in children.” Though for the nine- year- old Russian child who was raped when she was playing on a beach, words like these won’t erase the emotional scars that she’ll carry through her life.
She said women should not dress in bikinis so as not to attract unsolicited attention towards them — ignoring the fact that the state has had a tradition of beach tourism, and of nudist beaches, that dates back to the early 1970s.
Mascarenhas seemed to contradict herself when she refused to acknowledge the rise in the incidents of sexual violence in Goa but insisted that the state was planning to issue fresh guidelines to international tourists on dressing modestly. “ These are stray incidents and guidelines on propriety in dressing will help curb them,” she said.
Her statement, ironically, came on a day when the Goa Police arrested Aman Bharadwaj, an employee of a pharmaceuticals company, on the charge of raping the nine- year- old. On December 15 last year, when a Russian national was raped in the state, leading to a strong reaction from Russia’s consul- general in Mumbai, Congress MP Naik had said a woman “ who moves with strangers for days together even beyond the middle of the night” ought to be treated differently.
Since then, Naik has changed his tune; his latest stand being rapists must be awarded the death penalty and cases disposed of in six months.
Criminal acts such as these, combined with the moralising by the government, which is intent on policing the tourists more than the perpetrators of the sexual crimes, are bound to tarnish Goa’s already tainted image further tourism executives said.
A travel business insider said: “ Incidents such as rapes and diktats such as the one now being contemplated by the state government attract negative publicity that will not only harm Goa, but also dent India’s ‘ incredible’ image.” Expressing the anger of people on the retrogressive move considered by the government, Oscar Rebello, who heads the Goa Bachao Andolan, says, “ Rape can happen anywhere.
But it is the lethargy of the authorities and their tardy responses that mar the image of the state. The response to rape must be efficient and sensitive. The law and order machinery must crack down on the perpetrators.” Those in the travel business point out that women wear skimpy bikinis at beaches all over the world, but that doesn’t make them targets for rape. Even an Islamic country like Egypt earns 80 per cent of its tourism dollars from beaches, where women move around in bikinis without attracting the adverse male gaze.
Sabina Martins, who runs Bailancho Saad, an NGO campaigning for women’s rights in Goa, said the issue goes much beyond tourism numbers. “ Rape is a heinous crime and has to be dealt with severely, irrespective of the nationality of the victim,” Martins said. “ The problem is that everyone is looking at it from the economic point of view and how it’ll affect tourism. People forget that this is a human rights issue.” Tourist operators tend to promote Goa as a destination where wine, women and drugs come cheap. The problem starts, Martins said, when tourists begin to think that they can have their own way with everything, just because they have paid for it.
By comparison, states such as Kashmir, despite grappling with terrorism, have paid careful attention to their image. “ Kashmir has seen a rise in the number of tourists, domestic as well as international, in the last three years.
Our tourist profile is very different; we have more families or large groups on study tours visiting the state,” said Abid Maqbool Bhat, assistant director, tourism, Jammu & Kashmir.
Goa’s image as a tourist’s nightmare, which first took a dent after the March 2008 rape and murder of British teenager, Scarlett Keeling, may not be repaired that easily.
Mascarenhas even has an unpalatable take on the Keeling episode. She asked: “ What was she doing with those men in the wee hours?” And then added: “ I think parents must also inculcate the right values in children.” Though for the nine- year- old Russian child who was raped when she was playing on a beach, words like these won’t erase the emotional scars that she’ll carry through her life.
–Agencies