Women safety: Time to change the mindset
The recent Uber rape case has raised some serious questions about the safety of women while travelling in the National Capital Region. Our country has always struggled to create a safe environment for women. The recent rape case, where a 25-year-old woman was raped inside a cab booked through the popular Uber app shows the inadequacy of our archaic laws that fail to regulate the upcoming digital business models, and reinforce the fact, that post-December 2012 rape case, lessons have not been learnt.
It brought back the sordid memories of the December 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman that evoked a nationwide protest. The government then promised to create a safer environment for women, expedite rape cases in courts and institute more stringent punishment and laws for rapes. Laws were made and implemented, only to be proven a year later to be inadequate to protect our women.
As further details of the investigations emerged later, it was found that the driver was previously accused of rape and was let off by the authorities on the grounds that "inconsistencies" were observed in the statements made by victim, therefore a "lack of evidence" kept him behind the bars. The service provider, Uber, also did not verify the driver’s past criminal record, demonstrating the impassivity that pervades our institutions and systems today which has prevented women from feeling safe in public spaces. It's not just the perpetrators who are to be punished, but also hold the authorities responsible who are not doing enough to prevent such crimes from taking place.
Two years ago, the government responded to the December 2012 gang rape and murder by enacting a tougher law to deal with the issue of sexual violence. Yet, the streets of the National Capital continue to remain unsafe for women. According to the National Crime Reports Bureau (NCRB) report of 2013, rape cases in 2013 increased by 35.2 per cent from last year. In Delhi alone, the number of reported cases went up from 585 in 2012 to 1,441 in 2013. For women across the NCR, moving around the city is akin to fighting a war where a new threat to their safety and dignity is anticipated every moment.
The incident has also put India's transport industry under spotlight where the laws related to licensing, regulation are now being questioned. Delhi's urban transport system facilitates more than 3,000 DTC buses, Delhi Metro has more than 130 stations and operates on a route of length 193km and innumerable privately operated cab companies (Meru), and then there are internet services such as taxi apps which include Uber and Ola cab providers that are most often confused with other cab companies. Uber’s meteoric rise in popularity was that it eased the whole process of booking a cab on the go— a mobile app.
Segregation of women passengers, launch of women-only autos, and cab services run by women for women are some of the short-term solutions that will provide assistance to women on a daily basis. What the government did instead, it went ahead and banned all Uber operations in Delhi. Although this might look like a welcome sign, it certainly doesn't make much sense. The police in India have been accused of inaction is several instances of rapes, where even tourists have been raped on a train and in a traditional Delhi taxi this year — did the government shut down the police force, the railways, or the traditional taxi services?
Rape is an indication of a society's attitude towards its women. Until and unless a paradigm shift is brought in the mindsets, instances of violence against women will continue to ravage their bodies and souls.