Women instinctively fear for their safety every time they step out of their homes in many parts of India, Critically examine whether they enjoy the most basic of rights of free movement, enshrined in the Constitution

Public safety has different meanings for men and women in India. Women are far more likely to
experience verbal and physical harassment, stalking, molestation, assault, sexual assault and rape
compared to men.
Sexual harassment and violence against women are so rampant that society does not even consider
stalking or groping or verbal harassment to be serious problems. The usual reaction is the thought
that thankfully it wasn’t sexual assault, or worse, rape, and then how to change one’s daily routine
to avoid the perpetrators.
What are the challenges that women face with respect to Public safety?
Public transport is a shared passenger transport service which is available for use by the general
public. Public transport modes include city buses, trolleybuses, trams (or light rail) and passenger
trains, rapid transit(metro/subways/undergrounds etc) and ferries.
In urban spaces public transport forms an important component of infrastructure and means of
public conveyance. Even as India marks the second year of the tragic rape and killing of a 23-year-old
student in Delhi, an incident that triggered extensive debate on women’s safety in public spaces and
even forced the government of the day to enact the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, widely
termed as a “bill of rights” for women, the news of the rape of another young professional in the
capital returning home at night in a ‘secure’ taxi has once again forced everyone to reassess the
state of public transportation in cities across India and issues related to women’s safety.
As the city grows and opportunities rise, more and more women are stepping out of their homes for
studies or jobs. While some make their own transportation arrangements everyone cannot afford it.
Women commuting by public transport are vulnerable to harassment and abuse by mischievous
troublemakers. There have been some cases of rape and abductions in the city where the auto
drivers were involved.
India was ranked as the fourth most dangerous place for a woman to take public transport in a poll
published recently by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. It polled second-worst on safety at night and for verbal harassment. On average 40 cases of crimes against women are registered daily by
Delhi Police, including at least four cases of rape, according to government officials.
Public transport interacts with employment issues for the poor in two main ways: indirectly by
providing access to employment opportunities and directly through employment of low-income
people in the transport sector. The relative immobility of the urban poor, especially poor women is a
central fact in their lives and severely limits their employment options.
Thus, insecure transportation not only leads to violence against and violation of basic rights of
women, but also adversely affects their ability to participate in the labor market. Therefore, it is
imperative that measures must be taken for making transportation secure and safe.
Measures for making public transport safer for women - The Policy Framework
Design of public transport infrastructure which includes access to public transport stops, the design
of the stop, vehicle design will have to become safety and security compliant. Following is a list of
policy interventions required to improve public transport safety for all:
(a) Public transport safety must be guaranteed during the whole length of the trip: on vehicles,
during the waiting time, and on the routes of access to stations and stops.
(b) Every access should be checked and improved. Old people and women are particularly sensitive
to the problems of personal safety on public transport networks. Increasingly frequent action is
required by the operators. The need of taking immediate action requires a direct connection
between staff, the operational center and the police.
(c) Lighting, good design, visibility at stops and stations are an essential component in creating
feelings of security.
(d) Instead of trend projections from the past, we have to depend on scenario building techniques–
for instance, transport planners need to have a city vision; they need to think about how the quality
of life in a city would be affected by a particular choice in transport. The choices made will go a long
way in determining people’s behaviour and lifestyles. To do this, planners will need to assess the
impact their decisions will make on safety, socio-economic benefits to different users groups and
environmental aspects.
(e) The urban development ministry has issued fresh guidelines to all states to install preventive
security apparatus in all modes of public transport -- buses, taxis and auto rickshaws -- for safe travel
of women and children.
Presently, most of the cities in India do not have reliable, comfortable, quick and affordable public
transport. However, in big cities, the public transport provided lacks in availability of frequency,
extent of coverage and adequate safety measures.
(f) Some state governments have developed and implemented model for public transport which can
be replicated by other states:
• G-Auto model of Ahmedabad: Under this model auto-rickshaws are managed through a common
control centre to offer safe and reliable service to commuters.

Pink Auto initiative of the Government of Odisha: The pink autos have drivers who have
undergone a strict psychological test, criminal background check and training. With a big question
mark on women’s safety in India, this seems like a feasible solution.
The recent Uber taxi rape incident in Delhi has definitely renewed a deep sense of fear among
women commuters across the country. Such situations can be averted if authorities take the time to
track the past record of those who are part of the transportation system and sensitize them towards
issues like violence against women. In Bhubaneswar, before launching the pink autos for women
commuters they did put the drivers through a psychological test, which is really necessary. Besides
this, we should consider holding monthly orientation meetings with the auto drivers regarding
gender sensitivity and talk to them about gender violence. Regular interaction will help them to
change their mindset towards women commuters.
The Way Forward:
(a) Both societal norms for behavior and the built environment affect a woman’s safety in public
spaces. Knowledge of women’s issues might begin to make a shift in the way women are treated and
respected in the society. While retaliation and rejecting the notion that it is okay to be
inappropriately treated in public is perhaps a beginning, the journey is much longer. A crucial step is
to generate more awareness about women’s safety issues in public spaces.
(b) The behavior and attitudes of the society cannot be transformed overnight, but the built
environment can be controlled and can be used as a medium for change. As a beginning we can start
with creating favorable urban infrastructure, like proper lighting on the public places, safe and
secure urban transportation, installing CCTV cameras at places thought to be prone to sexual
violence etc.
(c) Setting up of specially designed courts (Fast Track Courts) for trying cases of violence against
women. These courts could be mandated to finalize the case within a stipulated time frame.
(d) Setting up of all women police stations and recruiting of more policewomen. However, in the
light of instances where members of women police force were themselves harassed, raped or even
murdered, there is greater need for reforming and sensitizing the police system as such.
(e) Unlike the cases of sexual molestation registered in police stations, there is a large portion of
women in India who are subjected to rape and other forms of sexual assault on a daily basis and still
their cases go unnoticed. These women are the unfortunate wives who have to indulge in sexual
intercourse with their husbands even if they don't want to (non-consensual sex is nothing but rape).
They don't actually have a say in front of their husbands when it comes to sex, they have to comply
with the needs and demands of their husbands.
(f) Another category of such women who are bound to indulge in sexual activities against their
wishes are the hundreds of thousands of sex workers in India who are visited by numerous men
every day and even tortured by many of their clients. They are compelled to do as their clients say as
they have no other means of feeding themselves and their children other than selling their bodies to
the sex-hungry men of India.
If we take account of all these women and then collectively see the scenario of sexual crimes against
women, it can be easily seen that stringent laws alone cannot do much. What really needs to be
done is the moral overhauling of the minds of the masses by means of education and awareness.

Strong and stringent laws are definitely necessary as the existing laws have proved to be inefficient
in ensuring swift justice and appropriate punishment to the guilty. But the actual need of the hour is
a revolutionary change in the mindsets and conscience of Indian men so that they stop seeing
women as objects of sexual pleasure.
(g) Further research needs to be done while engaging various community organizations, municipal
authorities, police departments and other important stakeholders. Workshops need to be organized
and future women’s safety audits need to be designed and led by community members. This would
Help form crucial links between the community and decision-making organizations. No change can
be achieved without creating a dialogue between the users and the designers of the space.
Justice J.S.Verma panel provided a valuable blueprint for women's safety on the basis of which the
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enacted which provides not only the severest punishment
for heinous crime against women but also added new specific crimes (though less heinous) as Sexual
harassment, Stalking, Voyeurism, Disrobing of women at public places, Acid throwing, and
Trafficking to be dealt with penal provisions.
However, despite enactment of new Criminal Law, the crime against women neither mitigated nor
curbed. The introduction of new specific offences in IPC against women were made with a view, for
example; The stalking, if checked at earlier stage, may prevent stalker to become a rapists but the
sad affairs of Indian society is that the small offences against female are generally taken for granted.
How many cases have been registered of petty heinous crimes so far? Almost negligible, it is because
the Legislature has done its job but our leaders, administrative machinery, Police, media and Social
activists and organizations failed to convey the message to the people, especially to the girls and
women who earnestly require the awareness.
Moreover, the newly enacted Sexual Harassment Act,2013 also needs wide publicity to reach to the
ears of working women in an organized or unorganized sector.
The criminal attitude & gender based discrimination is directly related to the psychology of a child
which baffled dominating patriarchal environment in the house with the biased lowering treatment
to girl child vis-à-vis the preferential treatment to boy, which in turn enhance misogynistic
characteristics that may lead to commit crime against fair sex.
Conclusion:
To sum up, the mindset of People, Society, Police, Criminals and entire criminal Justice delivery
Mechanism needs to be changed, as it is very much notorious and insensitive to maintain the dignity
of women in the country. 'Enough is enough' was the thought perceived in the mind of people
against the perpetrators, including the baddy juvenile of such heinous crime aftermath of Delhi Gang
rape. The outstanding spirit of such remarkable reaction of people across the country demands in
reflection the justice from the Nation. If our social, political and judicial systems as a composite
society are able to sensitize ourselves to inflict severe deserved punishment to all culprits; Justice
can be delivered to all women by giving them the much deserved freedom of movement.