FREE TRANSPORT FOR WOMEN AND WOMEN’S                            SAFETY

INTRODUCTION

We know that today public transport has become an essential service and it provides everyone with access to work , education and other fields of life. Now-a-days news of rape , molestation or misbehave with women are quite often in the media. Everyday, we heard news about crime against women in our country.  In the country like India , women are treated as goddess of the home. We worship many goddess like Laxmi , Sarswati and many more. But inspite of all these , there are some people who misbehave with women and do not give respect to them. Today, women do not feel safe while travelling and while other works. So, its not only the concern of the government to give them security but its also the responsibility of the public .

EXPERIENCE

One day I was travelling by local train in Patna . I found that the compartment was crowded and when I turned my head , I was surprised to see that a girl whose skirt had being lifted up and someone is touching her private parts. She could not swat the hand away nor could she raise an alarm as her voice drowned in the noise of the crowd. All she could do was cringe in shame and hope she made it out of the train of  the train as fast as possible. She was only thirteen years old. The incident was really disgusting and I remembered it for a long time , whenever I tried to forget that incident , it got more sharper. I blame on myself that I had done nothing. I hate crowded spaces and hated travelling by local train in Patna for years afterward.

Many women and girls experience sexual violence  in public spaces, including public transportation, every day, everywhere. A recent national  survey on sexual harassment and assault by Stop Street Harassment indicates that one-in-four women experienced sexual harassment on the regional transit systems. A survey was conducted by Reuter in about 16 major cities , it was found that the highest rates of harassment was faced by the women in Latin America , out of 10 , about 6 of them suffered from physical harassment in public areas.

In India , the recent Safecity Railway Audit report showed it is a problem here, too. The report says that when the interviews asked some questions to women on railway station in Mumbai , many of them refused to tell their incident and told that sexual harassment is part of their life. However ,those who share their incidents , on the basis of that about 54 % had suffered from sexual harassment . They said that touching and groping is quite common . 34% told that they feel unsafe while travelling in public transport.  Nearly all women(94%) said they did not report their experience to the police, and 83% were not aware of their rights under the law.

REASONS WHY GIRLS FEEL INSECURE

The major problem of insecurity felt by girls is that they think they are weaker than boys. That’s why they don’t react on their wrong action against them. Most of the family in India thought that boys are more superior than girls , this generated a mindset of inferiority among girls. So, it’s not only the fault of girl or female who is victimized but its also the fault of the society. Daily , a large number of women and girls suffering  from harassment and rapes, especially in the afternoon and after suffering they even do not reporting to the police because they have lack of faith in the police and also they think that it will lower down her reputation. I don’t think personally that making the transport free for women will create a hope of complete security among the women or girls. It will gives them confirmation that they are really weaker than boys or males. The free transport will definitely create a hope but that is not enough. The past cases also play a major in creating insecurity along girls and their family members.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      There is a dreadful event which can never be forgotten of Nirbhaya gang-rape and it was happened in the national capital of India on 16 December 2012 in Munirka,  a neighbourhood of South Delhi. She was only just 23 -year old physiotherapy intern. She was going home after watching movie with her male friend by bus at around 8 o’clock at night. Apart from other them, there were 6 other passengers including the driver. All the other 6 raped the girl and beat her friend and thrown him outside the bus roadside. The girl was brutally raped and her private parts were damaged . She was in a critical condition , so she was sent to a hospital in Singapore after 11 days of assault. But she died there after 2 days. When this news spread over the world , people condemned this , not only from India but also all over the world. People came out on the road and started protesting against the state and the central government , thousands of protesters clashed with security forces , since government was not able to provide safety and security to the women in New Delhi . It was not only in Delhi where people were protesting. Protest took place in every big and small cities throughout the country. According to the Indian law, press does not have right to publish a rape victim’s name, so they gave a name Nirbhaya which means ‘fearless’ , and her struggle and death become a remarkable symbol of women’s resistance to rape around the globe.                                                                                         The list of rape does ends here, there is a big list of crimes against women.  Recently, there is a movie released based on the real story of acid attack incident called “Chhapaak”. There is a girl name Laxmi Agarwal is a 28-year old an acid attack survivor who belongs to India. Laxmi , a girl of age 15 suffered from an acid attack when she refused to marry a 32 year old man.

INCIDENTS

There are many examples but I am giving a few ones. A 22-year old girl was sitting in a ladies compartment and travelling from Borivalli to Mulund in a Churchgate bound train . The ladies compartment was just beside the handicap compartment . Both the compartment was separated by railings. A man in the handicap compartment started commenting and abusing her . He not only abused her but also abused the girl sitting beside her. He started trying to reach the girl by putting his hands on the railings. He did not stop there only , he flashed at both the girls and started masturbation in public . When the train stopped at Kandivali station , he got down and tried to get into the ladies compartment but he couldn’t get success because all the other women sitting inside the ladies compartment started yelling at him. When he realized that he will not be able to enter into the compartment , he gave a rape threat and fled away. When the girl called the Railway Helpline number and explained all the incidents to the authority on the helpline , the authority instead of providing some help, he laughed at her and disconnect the call. After this , the girl posted the incidents in the social media , when this news got viral , then only police started their investigation.

In the second incident, a 14 year girl child was targeted. It was a Sunday morning , after compeletion of her tuition, she took a train from CSTM to reach her home in Kalyan. When she entered the ladies compartment , she found that the compartment was empty and hence taking advantage of this situation , a man entered into the compartment just before when the train was about to leave the station.

When the man entered the compartment , the girl told him that it is a ladies compartment and you should leave but the man didn’t listen anything and started moving towards her silently. She tried to pull the chain and stop the train but when she realized that she failed to pull the chain, she jumped out of the train because she scared of being raped or molested by that man. The girl got fractures in her legs and severe head injuries when people found her on the track. After that , she was hospitalized.

There are many incidents like harassment and assault of women in buses, auto rickshaws, cabs, etc are taking place daily . And in spite of the “security measures” taken by the government, there is no significant decline in the number of cases registered by women against assault or harassment in public places. Only reservation of seats in buses and making ladies compartments in local trains or installation of CCTV cameras is not enough. There is a need of vigilance on part of the Police Department and related authorities. In the both of the above cases that I had discussed , the victims may be suffered less if the police and the related authorities will be vigilant and active to handle these anti-social elements.

ROLE OF FREE TRANSPORT IN REDUCING CRIMES AGAINST WOMENS

We know that women would be less likely to participate in the labour force when perceived threat of crime against women is high and the deterrent effect is likely to be stronger in traditional societies. In 2006, a household survey conducted in Delhi which identified that lack of safety is the major cause of non-participation of women in workforce. So, for more involvement of women in workforce , it is necessary to provide them a safe public transport and give them freedom of movement and a safe environment for movement.

Free transport is a step to provide women a safe and priceless movement so that they can also participate in the workforce. Free transport also help those women those who are poor and can’t afford private transport. Free transport are also having guard to secure their safety while travelling.

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE FOR WOMEN SAFETY IN TRANSPORT

· The government should ensure that no one use black films on public transport vehicles, as ordered by the court.

· Its necessary to verify identities of drivers and other persons working in public transport vehicles so that for any un-convenience , they can be asked .

· The police/security should be present on roads to handle any assault or misbehave with women.

· The information about the drivers and the other personnel should be displayed in the bus along with the CCTV camera and GPS system so that if the bus get deviated from its route , it can be traced.

· The government should provide regular patrolling of buses and other public transports .

 THE ROLE OF DRIVERS AND CONDUCTORS FOR WOMEN SAFETY

· The  conductor should make sure that no man is sitting on the reserved seats for women .

· The conductor should make sure that no men is standing near the researved seats.

· The conductors should not incline while collecting fare from reserved seats.

·The drivers and the conductors have the responsibility to intervene and stop any kind of misbehaviour done with the women passengers.

· The drivers and conductors should not hesitate to call the police or any related authorities if it necessary.

HOW CAN WE PREPARE GIRLS FROM CHILDHOOD TO HANDLE SUCH INCIDENTS

If we don’t want to hear such type of news, its necessary to prepare and trained  the girls from childhood only. The girls should be trained about the self-defence . Women should to trained how to tackle such type of problem. A strict rule be made to punish those crazy people who harass and assault women. There is a not to treat both boys and girls equal so that it does not create a sense inferiority and weakness among the girls.