I was shocked when I read what the commissioner of Delhi police had to say when confronted with the large number of rape cases in the city. Here are his exact words:
“You can’t travel alone at 2am and then say Delhi is not safe. It would be ideal if a woman takes her brother or driver along. It’s wrong to say the Capital is not safe for women”
For those wondering why I find this offensive, let me spell it out for you. As a citizen of India, I have a contract with the government and the system, viz, I pay my taxes, and follow the laws. In return, one of the benefits I get is protection from crime no matter where I am and what I’m doing. A police system that systematically fails to protect law abiding citizens in the country is a failure no matter what the circumstances. A police chief who tells people they’re not safe at certain times of the day doesn’t understand what is required of him in his job.
How would the government like it if I stopped paying my taxes just because they don’t provide me with the services I have a right to? How about we use the barometer of the government’s performance to determine what percentage of our taxes we pay?
To drive home the right of women – or any citizen for that matter – to walk out safely at night, Indian women must do what their Canadian counterparts did when their own police chief said something stupid, namely that women should not dress like “sluts” to avoid getting raped. Indian women must take out a mass rally at 2 am without any men around and show the Delhi police commissioner that they have every right to do so and that it’s his job to protect them. It’s his bloody job!
Now the commissioner might say with some justification that he doesn’t have the resources to police every single woman at night. But does this mean every single woman in the day time is safe? What’s so special about night? Moreover, he must admit to the failure of the police department if he can’t give such a guarantee. He mustn’t claim (as he did,) that the capital is safe for women. He must come out and say “We don’t have enough resources to keep most women safe at night. We need xyz funds to do this.” Either that or he must admit that he’s incompetent.
It’s not my job to fight for protection. As long as I hold up my end of the bargain, obey the laws and pay my taxes, it’s the responsibility of the police department to ensure that I can walk around in my country at any damn time I wish, and in whomsoever’s company I wish.
I see that Doc’s opinions are not favoured around this one.. but I found this extremely sensible
“By the way, what will a rally at 2am achieve? Knowing our national apathy, it’ll just be an interesting tidbit in the daily news, soon forgotten”
I agree that the statement was unwarranted from the officer.. but well.. the solution offered, how would it change my life if I have to walk around Delhi at 2am.. will the to be rapist remember the mass rally taken out by the women few months back and run off for cover??
I guess both the statement and the solution are a bit irresponsible..
In reply to sakthi
A rally at 2am surely won’t prevent any woman from being raped in the future – you’re right about that. Just like the “slutwalk” won’t prevent people from blaming the woman for her rape because of the way she was dressed.
Rallies like this aim to change a way of thinking – in this case, the way of thinking which relieves policemen of their responsibility to protect Indian citizens no matter where they are, no matter what they wear and no matter what the time is.
The commissioner is trying to abdicate his responsibility by saying that women should have bodyguards around them and that if a woman is raped at 2am it’s her own damn fault and that everything is fine with the world.
In reply to bhagwad
“Just like the “slutwalk” won’t prevent people from blaming the woman for her rape because of the way she was dressed.”
While I don’t think awareness reduces rapes, I do think socially engineering the idea that clothes do not promote rape has an effect on how a rape victim is percieved. Just a couple of years back, when a North East Indian woman was raped in Delhi, a lot of the aunties in my circle felt that it was the womens’ fault since they were apparently ‘scantily dressed at late night’. It was their plea, the comfort that such a thing can’t happen to their daughters who don’t dress like those ‘shameless chinkies’. A lot of the young women in my college used to believe the same – that they’d be safe if they dress conservatively and that women who get raped ‘asked for it’.
However, the recent spike of rape of ‘modestly dressed’ Indian women changed the whole paradigm. Now I hear the same aunties speak on how it isn’t the clothes that cause rape, but the sociopathic mentality of the rapists. Hence, the Delhi protests, slutwalks, etc. In a kind of reversal – the idea that women can ‘invite’ rape is gaining acceptance in matriarchial Meghalaya. While Delhi blew in outrage at the Jyoti Pandey rape – a similar gangrape in Shillong last January didn’t even create a spark. The newspapers attempt to generate outrage was met with apathy.
The results of slutwalk might not be immediate, but once such attempts to create social awareness gains steam – there will be a gradual paradigm shift in how the society perceives the need to respect a woman’s right to her own body. Anybody who understands the concept of social engineering understands that unlike chemical reactions in physical sciences, changes in societies are very gradual and modular.
In reply to Akhim Lyngdoh
I agree – a lot of people obtain their ideas of what is acceptable from those around them. In a way, it needs a kind of “critical mass” for a particular way of thinking to take off.
I think we should get together and admit that it isn’t safe for women to venture out alone at 2am. Let’s all admit it so that like the Delhi police commissioner cannot hide behind concern when he makes his next ridiculous sexist statement.
Dude…you’re the f**kin police! You better protect every member of the society that pays your salary. Every instance of a woman leaves her house taking someone for support and protection should a matter of shame for a feckless police system.
As far as a rally at 2am and a slut walk are concerned, they are important. They are important to convey that a woman in a free society will wear whatever damn well pleases her and go wherever and whenever she likes. It might not prevent the next rape, but it will empower women in a way that hasn’t been done yet. We need more people, and not just women, to be outraged by this comment.
In reply to liberalcynic
Agreed – the advice to women to have protection at night is a convenient excuse for him to do nothing.