Women should call harassers out, rather merely blocking them online, says Sindhu

New Delhi, March 10

Two-time Olympic medal winner PV Sindhu and multilingual Indian actress Aditi Rao Hydari has batted for women to adopt a 'constructive' approach in calling out harassers and shutting them down, rather than merely blocking them online.

Sindhu said women should call it out, while tackling online harassment, and shouldn't merely block harassers.

"You should go and complain to the authorities. You should confront it. As women, we can do anything and everything. At the same time, you have to be aware of your surroundings. You have to be in a situation where you have to take care of yourself. You have to understand the situation and act accordingly," Sindhu told News18.

Echoing her thoughts, the Padmaavat actress said women must document more diligently, and avoid an online battle with harassers.

"A lot of them (harassers) are just bots. We have to take that into account. There is a constructive way of calling them out and shutting them down rather than starting an online battle. Sometimes it leads to a lot more noise and bullying," she said at the session, which was part of #ItsNotOk campaign by Network18 in partnership with Truecaller.

Hydari also urged women to 'go out and rise above their fear,' but advised them to be cautious. "We shouldn't let harassers win over us. But be cautious, know what to do when you are in a sticky situation, have all your numbers ready. No woman should stop herself from living her dreams just because the city makes her afraid," she said.