Public facilities fail city women

Women's safety

The distance between the Civil Lines Metro Station to Jahangirpuri Metro Station is approximately 9.2 kilometres. A new ‘safety audit’ suggests how inconvenient Delhi’s roads are for women, especially for those who are physically challenged.

“You have to see from the bottom of the pyramid. Women in general are not safe in this city and disabled women become the most vulnerable in this situation. Also, if the streets of Delhi are made safe for the disabled then the effect will be felt throughout,” says Anjlee Agarwal, the founder and executive director of Samarthyam, an NGO working towards the day-to-day challenges of disabled women for 20 years.

Samarthyam, along with other bodies like Jagori, conducted the ‘safety audit’ to come out with a  sound solution for public infrastructure for women.

Kalpana Viswanath, senior advisor at the NGO Jagori, included the community in the process by routing women on the Civil Lines to Jahangirpuri route from 7:30 pm - 11 pm, to get a first hand report on how safe Delhi’s streets are for women.

The audit was done on December 16, 2014 to commemorate the death of Nirbhaya. The data was recorded on the gaps that exist in public infrastructure, social usage of public space, public transport and policing. The data was collected using ‘Safetipin’ a mobile application for conducting ‘safety audits’.

“We were able to conduct the audit through observations and speaking to people on the streets, in public transport and waiting for public transport. The audits were conducted using various modes of public transport such as taxis, buses and metro. Each group covered their designated route using all three modes of transport and also walked parts of the route,” says Viswanath.

“Although, there are many private security guards standing on this route, but I still try to get home early. This road is very deserted. I cannot trust the private security guards,” says a girl outside the Civil Lines Metro station.

“Why this route become so important in the audit is because this is the only route where gender and disability gap is rather low. In a campus we would see people coming from all walks of life,” says Samarthyam’s Agarwal.

According to the observations of Samarthyam team of engineers, architects and social workers, the police booths in and around Chhatra Marg were empty after peak hours. “Off-peak hours, that is 11 am–1 pm, we did not find the police in their booths,” says Agarwal.

The route from Delhi School of Social Work to the VC’s office, after 7.30 pm, was dimly lit, but the VC’s office was brightly lit and had CCTV cameras and proper surveillance, a presence of auto rickshaws and two security guards. However, 100 metres beyond this area, it was again deserted and poorly lit. Essential infrastructure in and around the office was in good condition, but it was the same throughout the university, the report said.

According to the report, it was observed that solo women travellers were walking fast as compared to other women travelling in groups to reach the metro stations. Also, almost all the women jumped straight out of the autos or rickshaws to get inside the Metro station without wasting any time. Women feel safer inside than outside the metro station and would prefer waiting/ spending time/making calls inside than outside on the streets.

Speaking to Metrolife, Vrinda Grover, Supreme Court lawyer, researcher, human rights and women's rights activist says, “As a woman citizen living in the city, we should be able to assess whether the promise of safety and freedom, which is being guaranteed, can be exercised or not.”

“There is a constitutional obligation on the government to ensure that women are able to exercise their personal liberty and their freedom of movement and to work in a dignified manner. For this, it is essential to ensure that the public transport and the roads are both accessible and safe for women,” Grover adds.

Such audits are utilised by the government every now and then but as yet no response has been given on the report that was presented to them.