Why Do We Still Have Problems With Woman Traveling Alone?

As a society, we fall short of giving women any type of authority over their own lives. Here women are made to live under restrictions, incapable of making their own decisions so travelling alone is not their cup of tea. We tell our women that the world out there is a dangerous place. But the question is, who makes the world a dangerous place?

Very rarely do we find that parents allow their daughters freedom. ‘Come home before 6’ ‘Take your brother with you’ ‘Go in the morning, not this late’ and many more are just subtle examples of how we oppress our women from going out late in the day. In several Indian families merely going out after 6 pm unaccompanied is a tough task, how do we even tackle the question of equality? Why do we always restrain women, but never ask men to behave? For how long men will be men, and streets will be unsafe for women to walk alone?

Woman Traveling Alone

This invisible ick of patriarchy where we do everything to keep our "honour" intact by oppressing women’s free will has existed for too long. My grandmother had never crossed the boundaries of her village, till her last breath. Maybe she did not want to, or maybe she was restricted. Later, my mother who lived half her life in the national capital only went out by herself during daylight. as if nights are not born out of civility. After school, when I applied for colleges the rules were clear and strict: only colleges in Delhi and you will come home by 5. The question of sleepovers and going to parties during night hours was so out of the book.

We judge a woman’s character by the hour she comes back home and whether or not she followed the handbook of being good set by the deeply-rooted patriarchal society.

PC: Healthytravelblog.com

We judge a woman’s character by the hour she comes back home. Absurdity is to the rank that they send along an 11-year-old boy with an adult woman in order to protect her honour. Questions, if asked, are shut down. How could you explain that an 11-year-old child can protect a woman in a situation of danger? Or is it simply to rule out in our subconscious that a particular gender is still more fierce than others irrespective of their age? 

Suggested Reading: No Long Distance Travel Without Male Relative: New Directive By Taliban

If you still have problems with ruling out how this policing of women’s travel alone works, scale this out. A survey by UN Women in the capital city of our country, Delhi, shows that 95 percent of women and girls feel unsafe in public spaces. This fear of public spaces in women’s minds further restricts them to step outside their homes. But there isn’t any data that highlights the percentage of men who fear going out. Why? What could be the possible explanation behind this involuntary fear in women? Are the streets of this country so dangerous for women that they are even scared to step out? Or who are these people who made the streets of this country utterly dangerous for a lone woman to step outside?

But dear women, step out of your fear and cultural oppression that bind you in an invisible cage. Question people around you, and own public spaces. Ask the voice who tells you it's unsafe and who made it so? The need is to check the perpetrator, not the victim. No country in the world has been able to tackle the problem of harassment of women effectively, to find an answer we need to introspect and not curtail the freedom of one-half of the society. 

The views expressed by the author are their own.