How safe is Chennai for women?
Posted on: 22/Mar/2022 10:13:24 AM
Chennai is a metropolitan city with vast population is well known to us. It is common to see both men as well as women use public modes of transport to reach their destinations in Chennai. The bitter truth is that travelling in public transport is not easy for a woman when compared to men.
In 2019, a study was conducted by AWARE on women�s safety in public places in Chennai. This AWARE is a NGO that works for the safety of women. From the study it was found that 71% of respondents have agreed that women were at risk of either being groped or subjected to other types of harassment in the public transport. It must be taken into note that 60% of respondents were of the view that women were at risk of verbal harassment in public transport.
According to Sandhiyan Thilagavathy, founder of AWARE, when compared to north Indian cities Chennai and TN were considered safe for women. Many crimes against women don�t get reported and that is due to the fact that many women do not have the courage to expose those persons who indulge in cheap acts. She added that most women find it unsafe to use public mode of transport. Cabs and autos also have witnessed many cases of assaults and molestations etc against women. Therefore, it is natural that many women use their own vehicles to go to their destinations.
A women social worker expressed her thoughts about the safety of women in public transport. She explained that it was not at all possible for women passengers to come out of a crowded bus without facing molestation. A girl student spoke about how she faced a molestation issue while she travelled from Chennai to Coimbatore in a train. In 2020, 576 crimes against women were reported in Chennai but this doesn�t tell the entire story because many women have hesitated to report crimes against them.
It is shocking to mention here that more than 70% women do not report any sexual crimes like harassment in the public places etc against them. This was according to women helpline officials, NGO, police etc. It is noteworthy that dedicated helplines 1091 and 181 get many calls and in 2020-21 helpline 181 alone received as many as 5700 distress calls. There were 1540 calls regarding harassment, domestic violence, violence etc. There were as many as 1231 calls in the previous year.
