Women’s safety is an arising issue in India, which is also a point of concern. Often, women are told to restrict themselves to stay safe from harassment. Indian families do not allow women to work late nights or even step out in the night as it is unsafe. But why is it unsafe when we teach our sons how to behave with women?
It was a different era where men were portrayed as strong and women as submissive. A woman would always be accompanied by a man for her safety, whereas a woman is strong enough to fight back the harassment she faces. It’s the society and the old-school norms that believe women are always safer under the protection of a man.
Women and Night Traveling:
And with the same ideology, women working night shifts are always on the radar. Be it in the company cab or public transport, we are the target. As per the statistics taken in 2022, 44% of women working night shifts are harassed at work, or on their way to work / home. One of the three experienced verbal abuse and unwanted behaviour abuse, while 15% reported sexual harassment, which is now rising to 28%.
As per PoSH, every company with less than 10 employees should have an ICC team designed, and sexual harassment cases should be solved within 3 months of the complaint being raised. Despite the facilities, victims don’t report incidents to their employers for fear of losing their jobs and their good name. Victims don’t invite sexual/verbal/behavioral abuse. Victim blaming is not acceptable.
Women and Sexual Harassment at Public Places:
Women are the target in the night, but we are not left alone in crowded places either. Every woman will have their story to share, about sexual harassment that took place in a crowded public space—when someone fondled and touched her private parts without consent, making it look like an accident. Women are forced to stay quiet because the society is watching. However, there are groups of women who don’t care about the patriarchal societal norms and are revenge with whatever they have.
Girl Power:
A group of college girls were commuting in an overcrowded bus. One of them was touched inappropriately and it continued for a long time. Nazia was the one who decided to fight back for her friend. She said “My friend Manjali was giving out signs about her discomfort. We asked her to move away, while the man followed her. The bus was too crowded to shift. And before the bus could reach the next stop, we girls surrounded Manjali, and pushed him away with our umbrellas, while he was grounded by the public and thrashed”. She was proud and celebrated her courage with her friends.
Many women are fond of long and sharp nails. This is an effective tool for scratching and straying hands while being touched inappropriately. Some use their stilettos to hit men back, and some kick in places to save themselves from being harassed. However, women are not safe anywhere. Be it on a deserted street or a crowded bus or train.
Harassment In A Moving Train – Mumbai.
Earlier in June, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in the ladies’ compartment of a moving Mumbai local train when she was traveling alone. She is a resident of Gurgaon in Mumbai and was heading towards Belapur in Navi Mumbai, where she was supposed to appear for an exam.
How Can Women Save Themselves?
Women are always victimised for their style of dressing, their time of travel, or based on their character. However, women cannot be blamed for every abuse happening. Men should start respecting women for their existence and remember that we are as strong as they are. And smart too.
Harassment In A Moving Train – Mumbai.
Earlier in June, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in the ladies’ compartment of a moving Mumbai local train when she was traveling alone. She is a resident of Gurgaon in Mumbai and was heading towards Belapur in Navi Mumbai, where she was supposed to appear for an exam.
How Can Women Save Themselves?
Women are always victimized for their style of dressing, their time of travel, or based on their character. However, women cannot be blamed for every abuse happening. Men should start respecting women for their existence and remember that we are as strong as they are. And smart too.
Safety Pin- A Versatile Tool:
One of the most underrated yet most effective tools is the ubiquitous safety pin. It was invented in 1849, safety pins are one such tool that is used by women across the globe to hold different bits of clothing together or to deal with a sudden wardrobe malfunction. It is also a safety tool for women to fight back against the harassers, and even draw blood.
Women around the world carry pepper spray, small foldable knives, pointed tools, and many other tools that can be used for self-defense. But an Indian woman always has a safety pin punched around her, or in her bag, or her saree, or her dupatta. And that tiny little mental pin is our weapon of choice to fight the perverts.
Some of the major activist studying situations like these came up with a theory that women feel shame and fear that emboldens molesters and make the problem so widespread.
The Saddening Truth:
However, daylight harassment is equally common as nighttime harassment. According to an online survey of 140 Indian cities in 2021, 56% of women reported being sexually harassed on public transport, but only 2% went to the police. A vast majority of the crowd said they took action themselves and some chose to ignore the situation. Some said they preferred moving away because they didn’t like to create a scene and some were skeptical about escalating the situation and the society would blame the girl for her existence. Adding up, more than 52% said they let go of their education and job opportunities because of insecurity.
While talking to a news channel, Yasim said “My parents stopped my education when I complained about the harassment on the streets and buses en route to school. They were not able to send a male member to escort me to school, and I was not allowed to fight back”.
She also added “I was asked to be strong and powerful but each time a man harassed me on the street, my mother asked me to let it go just because the society was watching us. It was perfectly fine to leave behind my education but the family name should not be affected”.
But how long are we just going to sit back and watch, while men take advantage of our bodies and mind, without consent?
Awareness is our Helpline:
Sexual harassment has been an issue since the early 1900s and to date, it is still a mystery as it is not recognised as a serious problem in India. Few cities like Delhi and Chennai have facilities for women like the panic button and helpline calling at the time of need or at night hours but the problem doesn’t lie with policing. It is about awareness. It is about stepping down and making society believe in gender equality. The more we talk about it and drill into people’s brains about acceptable behaviour and not acceptable ones, and we hope to see a change.
This generation is supporting the change by educating their sons about how to treat a woman right, and how to go about with a woman with consent. However, awareness is still a far cry in villages and small towns.
Precisely, awareness will come with time, but for now, it is important to stay safe and smart with time and technology. I’m Safe app is one such innovative app that can help women stay safe on the go. The app is flooded with features like SOS, Fake calls, track me, and many more that can be the man of your life, letting you control your safety at your fingertips.
I’m Safe app truly wishes to see a better India, a better place for women to thrive and not just survive.