WUNRN
INDIA-DELHI - 95% OF WOMEN FEEL
UNSAFE OUTDOORS - SURVEY
Shreya Roy Chowdhury & Jayashree Nandi, Feb 1, 2013
NEW DELHI: The figures confirm what women stepping out of home know instinctively — they are unsafe in Delhi. The majority of men (51%) surveyed in a recent study by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), admitted to committing acts of sexual violence. An even greater number (78%) said they had witnessed it, but only 15.8% said they intervened. Even women don't intervene in cases of sexual violence, the study found.
The ICRW study, done in collaboration with UN Women, Delhi government and Delhi-based NGO, Jagori, sought information from about 2,000 women and 1,000 men aged 16 to 49. It covered Malviya Nagar, Badarpur, Molarband, Zakir Nagar, Hari Nagar, Shahpur Jat and Mayur Vihar-I during October-November, 2012.
Activist Albina Shakeel says three reasons make Delhi a difficult city for women. First, it's located in northwest India, which is the most backward region in terms of sex ratio and women's rights. Second, the presence of more than 350 villages within the city. "In one part of Hauz Khas, women live in purdah. Another is one of the most cosmopolitan spots in the city," she says.
Social and financial disparities in Delhi society, Shakeel says, are the third problem. "The Delhi Human Development Report 2006 says Delhi is one of the most unequal cities in the country in terms of caste and income."
Of the women polled, 90% sexual said they violence 2 had experienced in public spaces at some point. But 60% experienced it within the last six months. More than half — 51.6% — faced comments, jokes and obscene gestures while 20.6% were touched or groped.
Women generally do not report the violence and harassment they face. Of the women who said they were "flashed" (faced indecent exposure from men), 71.2% did not react. And when they react, they confront the doers themselves. In 58% cases of groping, women confronted the perpetrator but only 0.7% complained to police. The ratio of cases reported is negligible: 0.8% for harassment by comments or jokes, and 0.6% for flashing. Stalking is reported more often, but only relatively — 7.7% women say they have complained.
The study says many women dismiss their experiences as "minor"; many stay quiet fearing retaliation from the accused. Of the women who faced comments or obscene gestures, 21% did not report in fear "of hurting family reputation".
"Many women...feel ashamed about sexual harassment they may face on a bus," explains Nandita Bhatla, senior technical specialist, ICRW, "Or that they deserve it because they dared to tip-toe outside the 'boundaries' drawn for them by men."
While women dwell in fear individually, they do not help others — 30% said they have witnessed an act of sexual violence, but less than a third intervened.
"Changing the mindset of people is a process. We should start by instituting a system which will impose an appropriate punishment for the crime," says Kavita Krishnan, secretary, All India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA), "One way of ending impunity is to stop making excuses and tolerating crime."
Krishnan also suggests making public spaces more populated. Street vendors who can serve as eyes and ears for the police can help in that respect. But women, too, have worked out survival strategies. A girl writes in a blog — "React when it's safe to, run for life when you must."
Even colony roads unsafe
It's not a city women feel safe in. The ICRW study shows only 5% of women respondents feel safe in public spaces. And the neighbourhood is not a better place either — 72% women said they faced sexual violence in their own colonies or localities.
The feeling is echoed in a Delhi woman's blog: "This is not a safe city....Stay aware. Be careful and at all times know that you are the disadvantaged gender... It doesn't matter how educated you are, how much money you have, or the places you go to... your well-being is a matter of chance."
As many as 10.3% of the women polled don't step out of home alone even in daytime; more than 20% don't after dark. Women were asked to rate public spaces for safety on a scale of five — the maximum standing for "totally safe". Only 9.4% women said they feel "totally safe" in public spaces of their colonies. Interestingly, more women feel unsafe on streets (57.3%) and in public transport (31.5%) than around liquor stores (18.8%).
While 99% women respondents agreed that sexual violence should be reported to "any authority", only 7.9% knew of the existence of a helpline; of them, 37% told the surveyor they "didn't remember the number" and another 31% said 100. Only 6% (of the 7.9%) knew the 1091 helpline number. Shockingly, 14% women feel it's up to them to end violence against women. Nandita Bhatla, technical specialist of ICRW, describes this syndrome as an "internalization of patriarchal norms".
Activist and former student leader Albina Shakeel says the attack on women in public spaces is like an automatic response of a patriarchal society to the changing roles of women. "They have been restricted to private spaces for long but their roles are changing now. They're coming out more often into the public. It is a patriarchal backlash that is trying to push them back inside," observes Shakeel. "It is also an issue of identity," she adds, "women have been seen in conventional roles of mother, daughter, sister or wife. Once they step out, they become public sexual property." The male attitude is: women out of home are fair game.