Hyderabad, April 19: Hyderabad, named after Hyder Mahal and once dedicated to her beauty, is now one of the most dangerous cities for its own women, which was highlighted by the rape of an 18-year-old college student. The National Crime Record Bureau reports a staggering 25,569 cases of rape, molestation, dowry deaths, kidnapping, torture, sexual harassment, domestic violence in 2009. The records do not mention the cases that go unreported.
“Once a upon a time Hyderabad was a very safe place for women, but increasingly it’s becoming the most unsafe. It used to be unfriendly, but never unsafe, it is now both,” says activist Sandhya. “There has been cultural degradation, inefficient and ineffective indifferent society, towards issues concerning women. Women issues aren’t given any priority.”
“Most rapes go unreported. Women police stations are not so helpful either, in fact they are sometimes even more patriarchal in cases concerning domestic violence,” says Ms Jameela Nishat, who heads Shaheen Women’s Resource and Welfare Organisation, which undertook an Oxfam-sponsored study on the increasing rates of domestic violence in Old City. “It’s very difficult for women to come to normal life particularly since society doesn’t help. In the Old City rape is a common phenomena in most case it is done by people known to the victim,” Ms Nishat said.
Sexual assault restricts the mobility of woman and pushes them behind the four walls. “This affects their access to public spaces. In cities which are as patriarchal as Hyderabad, these incidents create more insecurity on issues of honour and security,” Ms Nishat said. “There is a lack of perspective on woman issues; we need to focus more on the way that women access public space. We still have no public discourse on the safety and rights of women. Women are portrayed in the most ridiculous manner in the media; they are objectified and commodified, denying them individuality. In a society like this, how are women to except any justice,” says Ms Sandhya.
“It is extremely difficult; I have been stalked by men on so many instances, once it was a police constable. People in the city are nice but some spaces are highly unsafe and not well-lit,” said Ms Namrata, who works with a bank. Confronted with these problems, the DCP, Mr Akun Sabharwal, “We are making efforts at improving the security situation of women. We have three police stations specifically for crimes against women; we have increased patrolling at all times during the day. We are recruiting more women home guards that people can approach. There has been an increase in eve-teasing, and we are sensitising our forces and book cases against men who are accused of it.”
Source: Flashnewstoday