Update: We Poured Some Sense Into Hyderabad Police¡¯s 14-Point Safety Advisory For Women
Hyderabad Police issued a 14-point safety advisory for women. Women are constantly told what they should do/not do in public in order to protect themselves with many encouraging women to stay at home meaning the end of educational opportunities.
Being a woman in India is exhausting, to say the least.
For the past week, our social media timelines and news headlines are full of incidents of women being kidnapped, raped or burnt than ever before. The internet is full of patronising posts telling women to ¡°stay safe¡±.
In the wake of horrendous rape and murder of 26-year-old government veterinary doctor in Telangana, the Hyderabad Police issued a 14-point safety advisory for women; much as expected, since maintaining law and order is difficult, advising women is far easier.
So, we did a little work here and infused some sense in the advisory to make it more inclusive, meaningful, impactful and result-oriented:
VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL MEN OR BOYS
STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED BY MEN, BOYS OR ANY PERSON WHILE TRAVELLING
1) While travelling she should tell her family or close relative/friend where she is going and when she will be back.
2) Share the last location, if possible
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3) Mode of transport. If taxi or auto, share the pic of the number plate, contact details (it will be at the backside of the auto driver¡¯s seat, taxi ID card will be available)
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4) Get to know about the route if going to an unfamiliar place
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5) Always wait in crowded areas and in illuminated areas. Not in isolated areas. Never hesitate in giving a signal to police patrol cars or blue colt police motorcycles in the area for help. They are for your safety and security.
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6) If there is no person visible around, you should walk to the nearest shop, a commercial unit and stand very close to it, so moving traffic can easily observe you.
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7) Always be ready to dial 100.
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8) Download hawkeye and put the location services on at all times.
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9) In suspicious circumstances, please ask help from passengers.
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10) If there are no passengers or passers-by, act like you are talking to your relative on phone who is a police, and share all the details of place and vehicles and people around you, this will scare them.
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11) Be confident and talk loud when confronted. Shout for help if situation requires.
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12) If you are in a helpless situation, please shout and run towards crowded area.
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13) Together we work to prevent crimes. Inform local police about local bad hats.
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14) In case you want to send some pictures for verification, you can send on WhatsApp at 9490616555.
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No matter how well-intentioned, these reminders may be, such ¡°stay safe¡± messages sound patriarchal because they assume that women are incapable of taking care of themselves and are unaware of what¡¯s best for them.
These advisories put the onus on women to stay safe without addressing and changing the actual reason why being a woman in public is unsafe.
Women are constantly told what they should do/not do in public in order to protect themselves, with many encouraging women to stay at home, meaning the end of educational opportunities and career.
From a young age, women are trained to be hyper-aware of their surroundings, nearly to the point of paranoia and mistrust.
Limiting women is perceived as an accepted means to alleviate the possibility of sexual abuse and assault. It becomes even worse when women are blamed for not taking the necessary precautions if something does happen.
The bottom line is how much do women must do in order to be safe in public spaces?
There¡¯s already an overabundance of preventive measures one can take. An entire industry stands to profit from it. These are pepper sprays, guns the size of wallets and apps that notify family, friends and authorities so they swing into action. The society as a whole, it seems, is trying its best to address crimes against women as singular/personal matter ¨C a woman must protect herself and take matters in her own hands ¨C and not a systematic issue.
Response to gender-based violence results in limitation and regulation of women and their movement in public sphere. As we evolve and work towards building an equal society, this isn¡¯t a reasonable approach because it completely defeats the purpose.
The need of the society is to step up and change how we think about violence against women and address the problem that led us here.
