Every time 28-year-old Sushma Sharma (name changed on request) goes out for a movie, she looks for a male friend to drop her home after the late night show. An executive with a multinational firm and otherwise an independent woman, Sushma is finicky when it comes to using public transport especially during late hours.
“Earlier, I used to hire a cab to come back home after a late night movie. But, these days, I avoid taking a cab. I don’t trust them any more,” she said.
Two recent incidents of sexual assault on women by drivers of cabs they hired through mobile-app based taxi services have shaken their trust, which, otherwise, are considered to be the safest mode of transport in Delhi especially during late hours. Another incident where a woman was dropped off mid-way late at night by a cabbie after a tiff also shows how vulnerable women are while travelling alone.
Delhi is known as one of the most unsafe cities for women in the country. The horrific rape and murder of a 21-year-old physiotherapist inside a moving bus on the chilling night of December 16 in 2014 in South Delhi, which resulted in nationwide protests, exposed the vulnerability of women travelling alone after dusk.
While crowded Delhi buses are considered unsafe even during the day time, metro ride is safe only till the passengers are inside the metro premises.
Lack of options for last mile connectivity and poorly-lit roads make things no better for men and women alike who travel by Delhi Metro.
Safety audits conducted by various organisations in the past few months show how the number of women on streets after dusk falls drastically and women are hampered by a lack of gender diversity in public spaces. Presence of fewer women on roads has a big impact on the discomfort women experience when out in public spaces in Delhi.
The Delhi Police claim they are doing all that they can to ensure safety of women. “We deploy additional PCR vans outside shopping malls and entertainment places till late in the night in order to ensure safety of women,” a senior police officer said.
But is it enough to just deploy police outside malls and cinema halls? What about checking on the roads? What about safety of women inside public transports, buses? Metros?
These questions remain to haunt the women in the city. Sure women have started speaking up and are ready to approach the police to file a complaint. But action taken on these complaints is still not enough to mitigate the fear in women.
According to the data collected by the Delhi Police, a maximum number of cases of eve-teasing and molestation happens either at the bus stops or inside buses.
Nothing substantial has however been done either by the police or Delhi Transport Corporation to stop these cases. A meagre 40 constables have been given the task of checking molesters in the 4,705 large fleet of DTC.
Combat and martial art expert Arun Sharma said women need to be more aware of their surroundings while travelling alone and after the dusk to feel safer. “Being aware of yourself and your surroundings is probably the single most important aspect of avoidance. Street attack survivors are not the best fighters, they are the people who stay alert and aware, and have a strategy to escape to safety,” Sharma said.
SAFETY NET
From emergency helplines to pub deadlines, Delhi Police has taken a range of initiatives to ensure that women can move around the city unrestricted.
Helpline No. 1091: Staff on the 10 lines attend to calls by women in distress
Himmat SOS app: This mobile safety app, available on Android phones, provides assistance to women in emergency situations
Help Desks: A dedicated telephone line has been set up at all police stations to attend to women’s complaints
Check Point: Intensive patrolling ensured on vulnerable routes to ensure safety of women returning from entertainment hubs and malls
Local police and PCR vans are deployed outside schools and colleges, especially girls’ colleges
Timeline: Pubs have been asked strictly to close by 1 a.m. Last customer should be in by 12 a.m.
Public Transport: All women employees should get a drop back home by a cab after 8 p.m. In case a woman employee is alone in the cab, a guard should accompany the woman. If there are other male colleagues, the woman should not be the last one to be dropped.
Cab Tab Cab drivers should display their identity cards and driving licence on the wind shield so that the details are visible and available to people
IN THE DARK
A security audit by the Delhi Police found that areas around 18 metro stations were poorly lit.
Patel Chowk: yellow line | Peeragarhi: green line |
Jahangirpuri: yellow line | Nangloi: green line |
Netaji Subhash Place: red line | Dwarka More: blue line |
Akshardham Mandir: blue line | Dwarka Sector-14: blue line |
Mayur Phase-I Extension: blue line | Dwarka Sector-13: blue line |
Shadipur: blue line | Dwarka Sector-12: blue line |
Pulbangash: red line | Dwarka Sector-11: blue line |
Uttam Nagar West: blue line | Dwarka Sector-10: blue line |
Uttam Nagar East: blue line | Dwarka Sector-9: blue line |
