By Kunal Basu:
Delhi is the most unsafe city for women.
Post the 2012 Nirbhaya episode, many women’s rights activist groups have called for more safety measures to be implemented for thousands of women returning home late after a long day at work. These women are a product of a generation that believe in earning a livelihood for themselves and securing financial independence. Even Nirbhaya was a salaried employee returning home the day of her rape and attempted murder.
Despite the multiple protests, it appears that the government has done little to ameliorate the problem of women’s safety in Delhi. There are large parts of the city where the streetlights don’t seem to work. Many RWAs have addressed the authorities, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Even today, large stretches such as Vasant Kunj and parts of Nehru Place (to name a few) still remain in the dark as the streetlights don’t work. This poses a severe risk to the many women who have to return home using these routes. Plus, lack of transport often forces them to use shared transport, wherein they are often subjected to harassment by the autowallah and co-passengers, especially where the fare demanded by him is unreasonable. Yet they are exploited financially in strict violation of the fare amount mentioned under the 1988 Motor Vehicles’ Act.
It is high time the authorities woke up from their deep slumber and addressed the rising concern of women’s safety in Delhi.