<p class="bodytext">In a bid to reclaim public spaces, a group of women will walk together at night on Friday. The walk will start at 9.30 pm near Vidhana Soudha and continue past midnight.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The walk is part of an initiative called Women Walk at Midnight. The Bengaluru chapter was started by Prithvi Hegde in 2019. According to Prithvi Hegde, the initiative draws inspiration from the Nirbhaya movement and the famous words of social activist Maya Krishna Rao: “In the day, at midnight, or at 3 in the morning, I (we) will walk.” It began in Delhi in 2016 as an act of “collective courage” and has since grown into a global movement.</p>.Unsafe streets, misplaced blame.<p class="bodytext">In Bengaluru, these walks have previously been held in Koramangala, Malleswaram, and M G Road. The initiative took a break in 2023 and is being revived this year, “fuelled by an overwhelming wave of interest”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They haven’t sought any “formal mechanisms for safety precautions”. “It’s just a walk, and we find safety in walking together,” Prithvi says.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">Registrations for this walk are now closed, but for future events, visit @wewalkatmidnight on Instagram or womenwalkatmidnight.com.</span></p>
<p class="bodytext">In a bid to reclaim public spaces, a group of women will walk together at night on Friday. The walk will start at 9.30 pm near Vidhana Soudha and continue past midnight.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The walk is part of an initiative called Women Walk at Midnight. The Bengaluru chapter was started by Prithvi Hegde in 2019. According to Prithvi Hegde, the initiative draws inspiration from the Nirbhaya movement and the famous words of social activist Maya Krishna Rao: “In the day, at midnight, or at 3 in the morning, I (we) will walk.” It began in Delhi in 2016 as an act of “collective courage” and has since grown into a global movement.</p>.Unsafe streets, misplaced blame.<p class="bodytext">In Bengaluru, these walks have previously been held in Koramangala, Malleswaram, and M G Road. The initiative took a break in 2023 and is being revived this year, “fuelled by an overwhelming wave of interest”.</p>.<p class="bodytext">They haven’t sought any “formal mechanisms for safety precautions”. “It’s just a walk, and we find safety in walking together,” Prithvi says.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">Registrations for this walk are now closed, but for future events, visit @wewalkatmidnight on Instagram or womenwalkatmidnight.com.</span></p>