Women’s Safety in India

 How much freedom is too much to ask?

“Don’t go out alone. Come home before it gets dark. Share your location. Be careful.” 

For many women in India, these are not occasional pieces of advice. They are rules they grow up hearing. But the question we need to ask is: Why is a woman constantly taught how to avoid danger, instead of society being taught not to create it?

 The protests are about more than one incident

Women’s safety has returned to the centre of public discussion in Delhi following the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park in South Delhi. Students from several Delhi University colleges have held demonstrations demanding safer public spaces, better lighting, safer transport and greater accountability. The recent demonstrations have brought renewed attention to how women experience public spaces. The protests are therefore not only about one case. Students have described fears around commuting after dark, poorly lit routes, harassment and restrictions placed on women’s movement.

                               A protest placard calling for an end to violence against women. Photo provided by the author.

Why public spaces matter 

A street should be a street. A park should be a park. A bus should be a bus. A college campus should be a place where students can learn without fear. Recent reporting on the Delhi protests has highlighted demands for functioning street lights, safer public transport and stronger security rather than simply restricting women after dark. These concerns point to a wider principle: safety cannot depend entirely on how carefully women behave.

Is telling women to “be careful” enough?

Women are constantly given safety instructions: don’t walk alone, don’t take an empty road, don’t use public transport late at night, don’t trust strangers, don’t wear this, don’t do that. Self-defence, emergency helplines and awareness are useful. But they cannot replace safe infrastructure, responsive policing, effective investigation, timely justice and a culture that respects consent. 

The scale of the problem 

NCRB-based reporting on 2024 crime data recorded 4,41,534 cases of crimes against women in India. That figure represents cases registered with authorities; it does not capture every incident, because some violence is never reported. The data also shows that in the large majority of registered rape cases in 2024, the accused was known to the survivor. This matters because the idea that danger comes only from an unknown person in a dark street does not reflect the full picture.

This is not about fear. It is about freedom. 

Women should be able to return from college, go to work, meet friends, travel alone, use public transport and occupy public spaces without constantly calculating risk. A woman’s clothes should not determine whether she deserves respect. Her decision to say no should not require an explanation. And her decision to go outside after dark should not be treated as an invitation for danger. 

What needs to change?

Area such as Public spaces can have working street lights, maintained routes, safer parks and visible emergency access , transport can be reliable public transport, safer stops and mechanisms for reporting harassment. Policing team should have accessible complaint systems, responsive patrols and professional investigation. Institutions can have Safety audits, clear reporting procedures and accountability in colleges and workplaces and in the field of education, teaching consent, respect and gender equality from an early age can be provided.

The responsibility cannot belong to women alone

 Families have a role. Schools and colleges have a role. Police and courts have a role. Governments have a role. Men have a role. And society as a whole has a role. The goal should not be to build a society where women become experts at avoiding danger. The goal should be to build one where danger is prevented, survivors are supported, offenders are held accountable and women do not have to shrink their lives to feel safe. 

Women’s safety should not be a privilege, a promise, or a protest slogan. It should be a basic condition of freedom.


~by Pari Raghuvanshi

BJMC, 1st Semester

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