‘Need a change in mindset to make city safe for women’

Public safety for women is an area of serious concern, and many areas in Bengaluru have a poor record on this front. The audit report on two assembly constituencies have only reinforced this. DH speaks to a cross-section of Bengalureans, including working women, senior citizens and the man on the street to get their inputs on this critical issue.

Akshatha Hegade, an executive designer, says even though she feels safe in most areas, the local streets, especially the bus stands can be scary sometimes during the night. “I have experienced a lot of staring, inappropriate gestures and comments,” she recalls.

On addressing the issue, she elaborates: “The best way out is to educate people on how to make the city a safer place for women. There should be awareness campaigns and advertisements. Also, public counselling is also a possible solution.”

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However, she hastens to add that the change will take time. “We can’t change people’s mentality, and I feel there is a lot of resistance from people to change or understand the problem. I am not sure how much these ideas are going to work out.” The main factor that bothers women going out in the night is the poorly lit streets. Prateeksha Kibballi, an EdTech company employee notes: “Taking late night cabs / autorickshaws from work or social gatherings and also driving alone in my own vehicle, is unnerving even now. The unlit streets of the city make the experience distressing.”

“The general perception that a woman shouldn’t be out late anyway has also not changed much,” she points out. “Bengaluru needs a change in infrastructure and thinking of the populace.”

Neel Kote, who is a creative director, has this to say: “Men do not have to do anything extraordinary to make women feel safe. We just have to behave like civilised human beings which is a pretty basic thing, which most men fail to do. It can be said that Bengaluru city is relatively less unsafe for women, but even if a single woman feels unsafe, that should call for improvement.”

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Priyanka Kwatra, an advocate in the Karnataka High Court says: “Bengaluru is not far away from becoming the next Delhi in terms of women’s safety. We lack the most basic facilities in and around the city, where such crimes are more common.” Elaborating, she adds, “We lack streetlights in smaller areas. Dim lights lead to more criminal activities and hence, the government must ensure that streetlights are installed in all areas of the city. There should be more camera clusters in alleyways and street corners.”

Public transport buses too need a better system to ensure the safety of women as they are used by common people, who are more vulnerable to the exploitation. Priyanka says, “They should mandatorily install cameras in every BMTC bus. There should be a women’s helpline to address the problems faced by women from bus drivers, conductors, and sometimes even passengers.”

She says some buses are supposed to have already installed these cameras. “But they do not function most of the time. A daily record should be maintained in buses fitted with these
cameras.”

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