WOMEN SAFTEY
A question which comes to the mind of any woman while travelling late at night or while going out to a party is, “Will I be safe?” Very often a woman is faced with the dilemma of choosing between her right to freedom and her safety, and she always chooses the latter.
In a country like India, a female foetus is killed even before it is born. And hence, the question of women being safe arises even before her birth. Molestation, gang rape, sexual abuse and domestic violence are amongst the many atrocities that a woman faces in her everyday life. What is even sadder is the fact that women today are considered as an ‘inferior’ gender.
We live in a patriarchal society, where men dominate each and every aspect of life. A woman today is not safe even in her own home. Minor girls are raped by males in their own family and are told to not talk about this to anyone.
“I travel to college everyday through the metro, that too, all alone. It is not an easy task. Even while travelling in an auto, walking on the street, I feel as if I am being stared at,” says a college student. This is not just the plight of one student, but, that of a thousand other women, who go through this at some point or other in their life.
The Indian Government has taken various steps to curb this problem, but, this is something that will take decades even before one can expect any change. The Delhi Police has taken serious measures like- providing girls with self defence workshops, having routine checkups, and providing various help line numbers like 1091 (Women’s help line) and 100 (PCR). Though these are steps worth appreciating, a woman will not be safe until and unless we treat her as an equal and respect her. And for this there should be a change in the mentality of people.
The change has to start at home. The nation as a whole, at the smallest level included, needs to inculcate in their children, the respect for women right from the beginning. They need to be shown and taught that women are an equal gender and to be respected at all levels.
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