Varsha Joshi is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of 1995 batch.
A Delhi-based senior IAS officer has shared her experience of facing violation of space by men in her own chamber "who simply do not understand what they are doing" in response to a tweet on sexual harassment.
North Delhi Municipal Commissioner Varsha Joshi was responding to a tweet on Wednesday when she was prompted to ask for solutions for "a challenge women face 24/7 across North India".
In a post on sex harassment faced by women in a locality in Delhi, a user tagged Varsha Joshi and tweeted: "Good morning mam, It's very difficult for any female to pass by this street, as ppl keep sitting here to stare, have hukka n play cards all d tym of d day, have raised d issue earlier also but no action till date, kindly take immediate action for assisting your ppl. (sic)"
Ms Joshi retweeted the post and said she has faced such behaviour "in her own chamber". "While this could indeed be a matter for the police, its a challenge women face 24/7 across North India. I face it in my own office chamber- misbehaviour, entitled behaviour, and violation of my space by men who simply do not understand what they are doing. What are the solutions?" she wrote, without naming any institute or a person.
In her tweet, Ms Joshi sought solutions and one of the users offered a suggestion. "I believe if we can get women of the neighbourhood to come out, gather or just spend some time talking, laughing, knitting etc anything they like...in public places, we can see some change. I understand it's hard to change behaviour but we can try one neighbourhood at a time!" wrote the user.
Ms Joshi is an Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of 1995 batch. In her nearly two-decade long career as a bureaucrat, she has also been associated with the United Nations.