Women safety still a concern

The city had many sights to behold on Sunday with a host of activities lined up to mark International Women’s Day. With these, one would think highly of the city in regard to women’s safety. However, statistics present a different picture altogether.In recent months, it is reported that more than 1,200 cases of eve-teasing and other attacks on women were registered. This is despite the city police deploying 160 She Teams to monitor eve-teasing in the Hyderabad and Cyberabad limits.

Though a section of women opine that eve-teasing incidents have come down after the formation of She Teams, the rest state incidents of chain snatching and other kinds of attack on women that come to notice almost every other day. “The City Police must be commended for constituting the She Teams. Awareness campaigns conducted by various organisations are helping women stand up against attackers.

But cases of harassment still appear every now and then,” said R Aruna Jyothi, city central committee secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).Condemning the State government’s decision to give permission to toddy shops in the city, Aruna said, “The crowd at liquor stores are a rowdy lot and there have been many cases where young women were either teased or harassed.

With the State government legalising the sale of toddy, the safety of women is compromised. Also, the youth getting into drugs is also adding fuel to the problem.”“The police must allow representatives of women organisations to work with the She Teams. Also, the government to set up fast track courts in every district to deal with women related cases,” Aruna added.

Additional Commissioner and in-charge of She Teams, Swathi Lakra, said, “There is a sense of security among women because of the She Teams. Eve-teasers are scared of teams moving in localities where they used to camp and tease women. We have taken 135 eve-teasers into custody. Of these, 60 were remanded and the remaining were counselled as they were below 18 years.”

Meghana, an engineering student, opined that merely setting up teams to keep harassment of women in check was pointless unless there was a change in the mindset of men. “The government and other organisations must take necessary measures to create awareness among men. It is important for parents to teach their kids what is wrong and what is right,” she said.

By Raghu Paithari