Indian Men ... sexual harassment and hassle

Where do I start ... every day during my 5 months in Goa I was hassled by men, both Goan and Indian, and in May I was assaulted/groped by a drunk Indian man on a packed bus to Calangute (and no-one came to help me as I fought him off). Sadly, most Indian men think that a lone white female in Goa wants sex. This attitude isn't helped by a recent influx of Russian prostitutes wearing teeny bikinis who approach men on the beach (8,000 rupees for full sex - one approached my married Sikh friend). Now some women/tourists may welcome and feel flattered by the endless male attention, and some women do go to Goa for sex. However, I found it sinister, annoying, at times frightening, downright sexist and predatory.

Calangute and Baga, North Goa are now the hubs for domestic tourism and thousands now flock to the beach. On a weekend you'll witness groups of Bombay Businessmen running drunkenly into the sea in their see-through underpants or cruising the beach to stare/photograph Western tourists in their bikinis. I could make a fortune selling cheap swimming shorts to drunken Indians (I'm copyrighting that idea). Large groups of men with moustaches carrying plastic bags drink until they can't stand, in Goa alcohol is cheap and readily available and alot of Indian states are dry. So they drink themselves silly, lie in the surf until a weedy lifeguard saves them, drunkenly parasail and pile onto 'bananas' and scream like girls, then they wander the beach looking at the unobtainable white women wearing bikinis - it's all part of the Goan experience. The introduction of the camera phone has made blatantly photographing females 100% easier, so expect to be photographed, stared at and cruised at close proximity - one day in Baga a man came so close to me sitting on a lounger I thought he was going to jump on me! I discovered that photographing females without permission is an offence under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code under State law, in Palolem I shouted at some men to delete my photograph or I'd call the police, hopefully me and my flabby bits aren't being used for porn in half of India. I was also propositioned and approached on the beach, the beach shack owners kept people away from customers. However, I also found out that some beach shack workers may take unflattering photographs of customers sunbathing and pass them round. A Kashmiri jeweller selling his wares on the beach regularly invited himself to sit on my lounger and said he wanted "to do the sex" with me - naturally, I politely declined. When the beach shacks disappeared the local dogs I befriended with biscuits guarded me and chased drunken Bombay Businessmen down the beach snapping at their heels.

It's easy to say "ignore the hassle", but after five months of it I had to look after myself, I wouldn't put up with it in London! Taxi drivers should know better, but right up until my final day I was hassled and asked if I wanted a taxi in very strange ways, taxi drivers don't seem to understand that calling a potential customer "baby" or "darling" may cause offence and the last thing you'd do is get in a taxi with someone who follows you down the road whistling at you like your a dog. Men also stopped alongside me on motorbikes as I walked down the road and asked me if I wanted a "ride on the back of my bike", my standard reply would be "do you think I'm stupid, what would your wife say?" or "what, so you can drive me off and rape me!". Don't think that these men are just being nice and friendly, they rarely do it to local women, their poor wives would be furious!

Sex with white women is almost a holy grail amongst Indian men, they think we are dirtier and easier, and even the nicest of men can't help propositioning you (I was asked for a one night stand at a wedding party!). Doesn't matter how old you are, how fat or thin you are or how much of your body you cover up - they'll give you a go. Alot of Goans told me these men must have been 'outsiders', but sadly myself and other hassled British women found Goan men just as guilty. My sister said that I am probably known in Calangute as the "f*ck off" woman - probably! I was always careful, moreso after being groped on the bus, I did have some polite replies which were "have some respect, would you say that to your mother/sister", "please go away, I don't want to talk to you" and I even wore a fake engagement ring and made up an imaginary husband!