“I feel unsafe while commuting to college even during the day. It’s common to be subjected to lewd comments and groping on Kolkata’s roads and in buses. Night commuting is very unsafe. I try to finish all my assignments by working intensively during the day, or carry them forward to the next day At night I only venture out in groups.”
J. Josephine Viji is a second year Master of Law student at Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai.
“Chennai is very unsafe especially at night for women students travelling by train and bus. It’s best to get home before 7 p.m after which public transport becomes overcrowded and men make lewd comments, grope and harass women commuters. Reporting such men to the police is an exercise in futility because there’s no protection for complainants. In some government colleges, women Ph D students have to endure sexual harassment from their research guides as they are dependent on them for completing their doctoral theses. Teasing and importuning by men students is also very common in the city’s colleges. Redressal forums are dysfunctional.”
Aarthi S, a law student of Bangalore University (BU) who commutes 15 km to its Jnana Bharathi campus.
“Commuting by bus every day followed by a long walk through a heavily wooded campus to our faculty is an ordeal. Shrubs and bushes have been allowed to grow unchecked across the campus and anyone could be lurking behind them. After 5 pm the lighting is pathetic and only two security personnel guard the entrance of the 1,125-acre campus. This makes it easy for outsiders to slip into the campus any time of the day or night. Police patrolling is unknown. After dark the campus is overrun by anti-social outsiders. So there’s no question of working late in the library, classrooms or attending talks. Over the years, Jnana Bharathi has transformed into one of the most unsafe campuses for women students countrywide.”
“Mumbai is a less difficult city for women. I mostly travel on public transport and rarely face sexual harassment. After the gangrape in New Delhi, police patrolling in trains and on streets has intensified. Nevertheless women have to be constantly on guard because it takes only one incident to bring our world crashing down. However now there’s greater willingness among women to stand up to male bullies and report instances of harassment to parents and police.”
