MADURAI: Are our children safe when they are using different modes of public transport? Are our women free from harassment and eve-teasing at public places? How many young women are safe in their houses or while shopping? Such questions go on endlessly.
An interaction The Hindu had recently with women activists in the city brought out more prominently safety and security of women than the aspects of women empowerment and education.
The popular inference was that women were not safe as there were many drawbacks on both sides – the victims and the law enforcers.
Many women who had encountered trouble from strangers in the city and peripheries stayed indoors after 8 p.m. on any day, unless they were compelled to move out alone during emergencies, many said.
It was not a special case of Madurai. Many tier II cities in the southern districts faced similar problems, the women activists said.
Helen, a faculty member of Sri Meenakshi Government Arts College for Women and a counsellor, said while literate women hesitated to narrate their woes or share them with friends, it was not the case with those with lesser academic background. By not revealing the problems, the victims – either girls or women – emboldened the violators to commit similar crimes and go scot-free. “Only when the law enforcing agencies are told about the facts, they can initiate action and put the culprits behind bars,” she said.
A woman police officer attached to Madurai City Police (All Woman Police Station) said elopement charges were on the rise since the start of this year. Girls in the age group of 16 – 19 had so far been kidnapped at least in three incidents. Unfortunately, there was no formal complaint as the parents felt that it would bring disrepute to their families. After some kind of ‘settlement’, the victims returned home, she added.
Prof. Helen said women had a major role to play in bringing up their daughters. “When we tell them what is good and bad, and what is right and wrong, they learn them easily. We have to share certain facts with the children as they grow up, and it helps them carry themselves properly in public. Thus, the children can also face challenges in life,” she noted.
Many schoolteachers avoided explaining the biological changes girls come across during puberty. When teachers fail to explain, the students think that it is an offence or something for the “adults”. This is wrong, especially when there are many modes of communication available to share all unwanted information. Hence, the teachers and the mothers had the duty to explain the right things to the children,” Prof. Helen said.
Bimla Chandrasekar of EKTA, an NGO working for women empowerment among other things, said there was a kind of safety deficit here. Many women might appear calm, but their “outward calmness” did not mean that there was no problem at all. There were plenty of issues women faced in society, she said.
Only when womenfolk were safe, a society could feel proud of itself, Shalini, who works for a BPO in the city, said. “If police can be visible at bus stops and in shopping malls, crimes would dip substantially,” she added.
Ms. Bimla Chandrasekar said crimes such as cruelty to women and dowry harassment were not understood properly as they should have been. Likewise, sexual harassment complaints were not addressed fully. Speaking ill of a woman in public was itself a sexual harassment. How many preferred complaints or on how many complaints there was tangible action by the law enforcers, she asked.
Women police officers said by creating awareness and sharing the experiences of different people with students and working women, they were able to bring down the number of crimes against women a great extent.
The All Woman Police Station personnel conduct counselling sessions for women complainants and those who have a tendency to commit suicide due to harassment. They promise a stricter handling of offenders.
