Mindset Change Needed for Indian Women to be Safe in Public Spaces | Mausumi Mukherjee

Until very recently, it had been an universally-accepted mandate of the traditional patriarchal society that women, of all age groups and from all strata of society, should remain essentially confined to their private domestic spaces while the vast public domain remains perpetually open for the menfolk. It was argued that the public space was not safe for women to venture out into, as they were by nature physiologically and intellectually weaker than their male counterparts.

Breaking away from the shackles of social taboos, women, slowly but surely, came out of the socially-determined domestic boundaries to share crucial, if not equal, space in the public domain. Their presence, in increasing numbers, has been significantly noticed in schools, colleges, offices, governments, professions, churches and markets where they have successfully vied with the men to secure their positions. However, as long as they had been kept confined within the four walls of their private homes, the issue of ensuring their safety in public places had not assumed significant proportions. This