What Will It Take For Women To Feel Safe In India?

Sharing cab ride tracking links with friends, always looking back while walking home at night, thinking twice before making plans for clubbing, wearing the backpack in front while taking the metro, hesitating while visiting any wine shop are among million measures women in Delhi are forced to take. The aim is simple--reach home unharmed. What doesn't quite help is Delhi data on crimes against women in 2021.

To be honest, the aspect of my safety does not concern me much on most days but it only takes a couple of headlines to remind me where I live. I am reminded of the horrors met by other women in Delhi and as much as we deny the common conception about the city being unsafe for women, we ought to be careful. It seems unfair how women being the subject of abuse are made to feel responsible for what happens to them. Survivors are always asked by someone or the other "what were you wearing?", "why were you out so late?", "why did you talk back to that stranger?", and the scrutiny never ends.

Delhi Data On Crimes Against Women In 2021:

Recent reports released by Delhi Police show that 2,157 women were molested in the city. The figure increased by 20.43 per cent since 2020 when there were 1,791 reported cases of the crime. The reported cases of rape also increased in 2021. While the number stood at 1,429 till October 31 last year it reached 1,725 in the same time period this year.

According to the reports, the jump in the numbers is being seen as the result of post-COVID times when people of the city were out and about after months of lockdown. One would assume that since women were out among strangers after so long they became the targets but the data report shows that 97 per cent of the survivors in such cases knew the accused. So stepping out late at night is not the issue? Why are we to stay in our homes in the name of our safety when we should be equally scared of someone we know and are familiar with?

According to reports, Rakesh Asthana, the Delhi police chief has asked the senior officials to have a zero-tolerance policy against crimes against women. The officials have been asked to directly supervise the rape case investigations especially when the survivors are minors. The police have mapped out the areas which reported the most number of such cases and the measures are being taken accordingly, an official said.

The streets have been directed to be properly lit and the offices with women who work late at night are advised to take required safety measures, as per the officials.
At the end of the day what really shows hope in terms of women walking carefree on the streets of the capital city is the possible change in mindsets. When the headlines turn scary, women are subjected to stricter rules in their homes. When a man is successful in committing crimes against a woman, he puts the lives of many women like her in jeopardy.

Views expressed by the author are their own. 

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