I Am An Indian Woman And I Am Not Happy About This Infamous Achievement

With galloping developments and reforms, we wish to top the charts as the most powerful country in the world. Also maybe, aspire to become the most versatile, multicultural or the friendliest country in the world. But is it actually happening? Are we even reaching anywhere near it? I don’t know and cannot comment on the financial or the economic front. While we have come a really long way since independence, we have unfortunately achieved the top position in being the most dangerous country in the world for women.

Recently, a Thompson Reuters survey ranked India as the most dangerous country for women. I have no doubts about this survey, looking at the recent happenings in the country which threaten women’s safety in a jiffy. I have a habit of reading newspapers and every day there is news about atrocities being inflicted on women. Reports of rape are the most common and most reported.

I love my country. I am not very patriotic but when it comes to my motherland, no one would dare to unnecessarily speak against it in front of me. But after this report, as an Indian and as a woman, I am scared and ashamed. I am scared to live in this country and I am ashamed that I am a citizen of such a dangerous nation.

I think India has always been a little vulnerable and a little unsafe. But it was after the Nirbhaya case, that the reality of women’s safety surfaced on a national level. It was after that horrific night of 16 December in 2012 that I really realized I need to be afraid every time I venture out of my house.

Whether it is in trains, or in a marketplace, in the night or in the day, the fear never leaves my subconscious mind. I always doubt whether I’d reach home safely at the end of every day. I think twice before stepping out when it’s dark, I cannot trust strangers and every person showing even a brief interest in me seems like a prospective perpetrator ready to take his chance. I am not overly paranoid but I am not carefree either.

The world has always been unsafe and unfair towards women. I have read plenty of books which give me a sense of women’s safety in Asian countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are deprived of basic rights and have to struggle for their safety in their daily lives. At these moments, I felt lucky to be part of a safe country like India. But this survey in which India outranks all these countries has startled me. Being the most dangerous country for women is not something we can be proud of.

I won’t say that nothing can be done to amend it, it is surely possible, but only if someone wants it to be amended. By someone I mean the authorities: the judiciary and the police. I feel that, any rape case unless focused by the media goes unnoticed and any woman who is not strong enough to stand for herself dies a million deaths every day after she is attacked.

If we wish to be the last on this list, we should be the first to take action against anyone who has proved to be a danger for women. India is a land where women are worshipped as goddesses, it should not be a country where young girls are afraid to be born.

We are responsible for this infamous achievement and it’s our duty to remove this dark stain from our image.