Chennai Women's Experiences: Public Places and Transport

M Shiamala Baby's notes from her presentation on Chennai women's experiences on streets and in transit, on December 7 2013.

Chennai Women's Experiences: Public Places and Transport

a. Threat to women's safety in transit

b. Challenges faced by different stakeholders in addressing them

c. What, as an individual, can one do to make Chennai city safer for women, with regard to streets and transport?

Common challenges faced by women who take buses, trains, share autos, bicycles, or go by walk:

Introduction: Life is a one-time gift from the Supreme Being. It is a natural birth right of every living creature. Human beings are also entitled to lead a safe, happy and peaceful life in their lifetime, in this world. Very often, this right is denied to the majority in different ways. This is a social injustice. 

 In the 1990s, India became part of the Globalisation process: Globalisation, Liberalisation and Privatisation. 

Now, the world has shrunk to a global village. Money rules, and not values.

Growth -- uncontrolled growth -- is an outcome of Globalisation.

> Community gives way to individualism

> Busy world/busy life

> Development is not evenly brought in our nation.

Projects and development activities should reach out into the rural areas and small towns so that people do not need to migrate.

Chennai: Chennai, known as Greater Chennai, contains approximately 8 million population (80lakh) making it the fourth largest urban area in India. 

Chennai Crime Rate: According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Crime in India - 2011 report, Chennai recorded:

> 168 homicides

> 76 rapes

> 2 major bank robberies

On the road: 

> No footpath: encroachment by parked vehicles

> Girls/women who cycles are tortured by men drivers who keep honking

> No toilets for women on road sides

> Hoardings/posters hide the walking space

> Posters pasted on milestones making the way unreadable

> Chain snatching

> Eve-teasing danger: Sarika Shaw killed

> Alcohol shops: [By] 5 or 6pm, drunk men are on the road: eve teasing

> Eve teasing with film songs that have double meaning

> Night time autos: In Tambaram, a woman was robbed of her jewels and left [stranded] on the road

> Shopping malls: cameras in trial rooms

> Sexual acts openly on the roads

> Ladies riding bikes, cycles or driving cars are harassed by male drivers. [Overtaking, honking, passing nasty and lewd comments]

> People don't follow traffic rules, drive as they like

> ATMs not safe for women [No watchman, or elderly men posted as watchmen]

> Single women are signalled by sex-work mafia

Different Stakeholders: 

> Elderly: No facilities -- [reserved seats on bus] occupied by others

> Physically challenged: No ramp system

> Children

Trains: After 10.30pm, trains are not safe

Buses: Eve teasing, touching, signalling, sexual abuse

Cab drivers are now supposed to produce their ID proof in the police station: A good move.

1. A proper policy to regulate traffic must be made

2. Decentralised employment opportunities

3. Police should be sensitised to not take bribes

4. Population explotion should be controlled

5. Women to learn self-defence methods

6. Awareness building

7. Follow the traffic rules

8. Many women should be trained as auto drivers, cab drivers with safety measures 

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M Shiamala Baby is the founder-director of Forum for Women's Right and Development. FORWORD is a secular and non-profitable Women's Organization in Tambaram, Chennai. FORWORD reaches out to oppressed women primarily through awareness and education programmes. Apart from counselling programmes and advocacy, regular seminars and workshops on domestic violence are conducted. FORWORD works with various groups, across Chennai and its suburbs and in Kancheepuram district, at different levels.

Sexual Assault: Challenges faced by Chennai Hospitals

by Divya Bhat 

In the past year, sexual violence has become a topic of wide public discussion and the roles of government institutions, especially those that prosecute sexual assault cases and work with survivors, have come under increasing scrutiny.  As a Shakti Fellow with The Prajnya Trust, I came to Chennai to learn a bit more about how sexual assault cases move through the legal system, and how doctors and other medical personnel view such cases.  The conversations I had with individuals working within the medico-legal system described inert government institutions that needed streamlining in order to provide timely care for survivors of sexual assault. 

The following blogpost is a brief compilation of some of my findings, especially in regards to the collection of forensic evidence by doctors.  These findings are specific to Tamil Nadu because of state to state variation in protocols for the collection of forensic evidence, although I believe that they reflect some of the broader issues at hand in the national response to sexual assault cases. 

Lack of training and system-wide delays

The role of the doctor within the Indian legal system is to provide the court with documentation of the assault, and to collect any forensic evidence that is on the body.  This entails recording any wounds on the body of the survivor, taking swabs and samples, and getting a detailed account of the assault in the words of the survivor. The ability to collect forensic evidence and accurately record this evidence in legal documents is crucial to prosecuting sexual assault cases; without good forensic evidence, sexual assault cases often rely on character assessments of the survivor.

After sexual assault cases are reported to the police in Chennai, survivors are taken to large government hospitals where a doctor can examine them.  Legally, any female doctor can see any female survivor of sexual assault, but these cases are often taken directly to the obstetrics and gynecology ward due to a lack of trained female forensic doctors.  Gynecologists, however, do not receive sufficient practical and training to collect forensic evidence and fill out the necessary paperwork in the proper and legally admissible way.  Without sound knowledge of forensic protocols or standardized training, doctors can rely on ad hoc and incomplete procedures that compromise the integrity of the forensic evidence.

While completing the forensic examination, the doctor is supposed to use a legal document called a pro forma(provided by the Tamil Nadu state government) in order to guide a doctor in noting down any relevant information.  However, in practice, the pro forma is rarely utilized. Doctors may only fill out only an Accident Register copy, which is a brief assessment that all patients get when coming into the casualty ward.  This document, which provides little room for description of wounds or for the survivor’s account of the attack, often becomes the basis for the medical certificate within the courtroom.

Doctors in government hospitals also face challenges while interacting with other government institutions like the police force and the judicial system.  Most medical professionals expressed frustration with systemic delays that limited the doctor’s ability to collect evidence in a timely manner; nearly every doctor I spoke with suggested that examination of a survivor within 24 hours was crucial to getting the best forensic evidence.  Outside of this time frame, the bodily evidence of assault gets degraded, wounds start to heal, and evidence is washed away. However, survivors of sexual assault must first file a first information report (FIR) with the police before being taken to a government hospital for examination.  Many doctors pointed out that filing an FIR often takes several days, after which time most of the forensic evidence is lost.  Confusion over procedural issues like getting permission from a magistrate to proceed with forensic examinations can also add to further delays.  Finally, in their capacity as government employees, government doctors must make themselves available to provide expert testimony in any medico-legal case. Courts in Chennai suffer from long wait times, delays, and backlogs of cases, so doctors may have to present their medical findings in court years after the initial examination.  

A move to a more therapeutic approach

While I have talked about some of the systemic constraints to providing sensitive care to survivors of sexual assault, doctors can move to a more therapeutic approach to care.  Doctors, particularly gynecologists, are uniquely positioned to provide care to survivors of sexual assault and to collect the necessary forensic evidence.  Nurses, and other medical personnel could also be trained to notice signs of assault and abuse, and to provide emotional support to survivors and their families.  Instead of just treating patients for their immediate wounds and collecting evidence, organizations like CEHAT advocate a more therapeutic approach to care that limits the secondary trauma of reporting a sexual assault case (see CEHAT 2012).  CEHAT suggests that a doctor seeking informed consent to do a forensic examination and discussing the reasons for the examination with the survivor could provide more emotional support and build trust.   Additionally, follow-up with survivors after the initial examination could help assess psychological trauma or further medical complications of an assault. While institutional change within the medico-legal system is certainly required, a move to more therapeutic care will allow patients to feel more comfortable while trying to find justice after an assault.

See: Establishing a Comprehensive Health Sector Response to Sexual Assault. CEHAT, 2012

Presenting to you, our first Champions of Change!

Often, women are subjected to harassment in public spaces that are a part of their everyday life – bus stops, super markets, cinemas, restaurants, etc. However, most women quietly brush it off, presuming that nothing will come out of complaining about the incident. This silence, in turn, contributes to the stigma of speaking out against harassment and calling out that a harasser is in the wrong. 

Safety in a public space is not just one individual’s concern. As responsible citizens, each one of us is bound to ensure that gender-based harassment in any public space does not go unchecked. This is especially true of privately managed spaces that are open to the public, where the management’s commitment can make a world of difference to the user’s experience.

An initiative pioneered in Baltimore, USA, the Safer Spaces campaign calls on local businesses to pledge zero tolerance towards sexual harassment in their outlets. These can then be ‘safer spaces’ – spaces, where complaints of harassment or misbehaviour will be heard and addressed. Hollaback! Chennai and its host Prajnya, have adapted this campaign as part of the 2013 Prajnya Campaign against Gender Violence.

What do retailers need to do to be part of this? Just two things:

1. Make a public, visible commitment to “Zero Tolerance towards Harassment,” through a poster or other visual.

2. Bring together their staff for a training session on ways to deal with harassment.

Our first two Champions for Change are SPI Cinemas and Sandy’s Chocolate Laboratory. At SPI Cinemas, Prajnya has conducted a training session for the employees and the organisation has set up hotlines where aggrieved parties can call for help. The number and the zero tolerance policy will be displayed on their screens at Sathyam and Escape to reach out to their audience. Sandy’s Chocolate Laboratory will display a helpline number prominently in their venues starting next week. Employees across their stores will be trained by Prajnya in coming days.

We’ve made a wonderful start and hope not to stop until every city business becomes a Champion of Change. Who will be next? You? 

"Don't be a bystander," says Vetri

Vetri joins the campaign to raise his voice against all forms of violence directed at women. With a call to all men to not be a bystander, and to do something about the issue, Vetri has said No! to violence against women. It's your turn now.

Day 1: Launching a Call for Videos

It’s the big day! Months of preparation have brought us to this point: Day 1 of the Prajnya 16 Days Campaign Against Gender Violence, 2013. Starting today, we hope to have a sustained and meaningful engagement – both offline and online – on different issues surrounding Gender Violence. (Do take a look at our Calendar!) We kickstart the 16 Days of dialogue, debate and deliberation with a Call for Videos.

Dear Men, Whip out your phone and take the oath!

Call for Videos is an extension of what we did last year with the ‘Chennai Men Say No!’ campaign. The heroes: all the men reading this, and your friends. Why are you against gender violence? What are your views on street sexual harassment? What would you say to men who indulge in different kinds of violence against the women in their lives? What would you say to a man who uses violent speech and actions in his interactions with women? What about violence in the digital world?

It’s time to raise your voice – and it’s not difficult! All you need to do is send us a video. Here’s how:

Step 1: Pick up your mobile phone and shoot a video of yourself talking about violence against women

Step 2: Take the oath: “I am <YourName> and I say NO! to violence against women”

Step 3: Remember to keep the entire thing under 60 seconds

Step 4: Send it via WeTransfer or Dropbox to vetre.prajnya@gmail.com along with the text of your message, your name and contact details

Step 5: Wait for your video to be uploaded on our YouTube channel and inspire other men to do the same. 

Any questions? Drop in to our FAQs page.

Finished shooting the video? Congratulations! You’re now one of the men who say No! to violence against women

So while you wait for it to upload, why don’t you check out the first post part of our Blog Symposium? Don’t forget to engage! You can also follow us on Twitter where we’re putting out some awesome resources today, and the rest of the campaign.

But wait! That’s not all for Day 1. Watch this space for the launch of a very interesting initiative. (Hint: Make sure you drop in at noon today!)

Call for Help: A Prajnya Listing

When faced with a person in need, most of us have no concrete idea of where to refer them. On Day 15 of the 2009 Campaign, we release a listing we have been working on of Chennai service providers who provide support to women in distress.

Some are 24 hour helplines, some shelter services and some offer other counseling.

We hope you will circulate this list widely so that it is available where there is need, at the moment of need.