Delivering multiple roles effortlessly every
single day, women are
undoubtedly the backbone of any society. Doting
daughters, caring mothers, competent colleagues and
a wide range of many other roles are played by women around us flawlessly and
with grace. Still they have been ignored in the fraction of the society in the
many parts of the world. They prove their part better than men in every field
still women is not safe to go outside at late night. For centuries now, women
have been living under bondage that restricts them from achieving professional
as well as personal heights.
Picture Courtesy: Google
In recent years, violence against women in the city
has received a great deal of attention in the media. The spotlight on epic
events of violence also tends to ignore the everyday pervasive low-grade street
violence that women are expected to chin up and tolerate. Under the guise of
concern, women are policed and either not permitted to go out at all, or not
stay late at work, certainly not allowed to go out at night for purposes of
pleasure and told to dress ‘decently’ and behave differently. Women’s access
can only come in a context where city infrastructure is designed to acknowledge
women’s right to its public spaces. For example, at the moment the number and
state of toilets for women in our public facilities make it appear as though
women are barely present or definitely shouldn’t be present in public spaces.
What we then need is enough clean and thoughtfully-designed toilets for women
across the city. We also need well-lit streets, parks and railway stations so
that every time when women access public space they are not calculating where
and when they will need to pee, where and when they will have to be alert and
walk faster in a dark patch of the city. One of the key reasons why Mumbai is a
relatively friendlier city for women is the presence of a robust public
transport network that not just connects the city extensively, but in the case
of local trains also operates into the late hours of the night. We need to not
just protect this provision but enhance it by having request stops for buses
after 10 pm and by putting in place increased support
systems such as by training conductors and bus drivers to take immediate action
on complaints of harassment and placing emergency alarms in train compartments.
What we are simply asking for is that we accept all women as equal citizens
with as much right to the city and its services as any able-bodied young
heterosexual middle-class male. What we then need to fix in public places is not
over zealous moral policing but a focus on everyday street harassment. Instead
of policing the potential victims on the streets “for their own good”, law
enforcement should work towards policing the perpetrators. Just like its
success in the curbing of drinking-and-driving, a zero-tolerance policy which
specifies that in no circumstances is sexual assault, molestation or harassment
acceptable, will make the city an eminently liveable place. However, the way to
implement this zero-tolerance policy is not by locking up our public spaces but
by opening them up to as many citizens as possible for as long as possible. It
is only when the city is accessible to all, can it be safe and friendly to
women.
Written By: Nidhi Jain
Written By: Nidhi Jain
Picture Courtesy:Google
No comments:
Post a Comment