The depiction of women in advertisements has degraded their dignity, Gupteshwar Pandey, BMP additional director-general, said.

He was addressing a national seminar on “Violence against women (mainly focusing on eve teasing against women at public places and education centres)”, organised by National Commission for Women in association with Heal India on Friday.

“Women are seen these days in almost all types of advertisements, be it of a liquor, car, cellphone or other things. They are everywhere. We should not forget that the main purpose of capitalism is to earn profit. Since the time women have been used in the advertisements they became a commodity and their dignity has started degrading. This has proved to be a major reason why the violence against women has increased so much these days,” Pandey said.

He added that women should speak out and take action against such violence. Commenting on the system and police, Pandey said: “I have never seen policemen firing someone who is powerful or holds an important position in the society. They would always go for poor and weak people. Around 60 per cent of the prisoners are innocent, but there is no one who is willing to study their cases and speak on their behalf.”

Charu Walikhanna, member, National Commission for Women, said: “The schools should incorporate skills and values among children. Girls should know the difference between good touch and bad touch. They should learn to come forward and speak up for themselves. Any kinds of violence should not be tolerated.”

The speakers also spoke of giving harsh punishment to culprits so that they don’t dare to commit such crimes again.