Infrastructure Planning for Safety of Women
If a place is safe for women and children, it is safe for everyone. So let’s plan for them, says Dr SABINA MARTINS
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The global campaign ‘Make cities safe for women’ has put the spotlight on infrastructure planning for the safety of women. The world over, violence against women in homes and public spaces has been a subject of debate. The 3rd International Conference on Safety for Women will be held in November 2010 in New Delhi.
Any strategic intervention looks for results within a time frame. Education for behavioural and attitudinal change is a long term solution, the outcome of which is slow and therefore inadequate to deal with situations here and now. The focus, consequently, is on immediate and effective solutions. Infrastructure planning of cities for safety has been identified as a short term strategy, while policies and legislation are medium term strategies to stop rising crime against women in public spaces.
As a run up to the conference, a safety audit of public spaces was conducted by NGOs in three cities – Delhi, Trivandrum and Mumbai – supported by UNIFEM .The findings of the Delhi Safety Audit, conducted by Jagori with the Delhi government, were released last month, and got vast media coverage. These findings were discussed recently in Delhi with women’s organisations across India, who have been actively associated with the women’s movement. Several suggestions were made.
The focus was on infrastructure in the cities, which also applied to other areas like towns and villages. The emphasis was on conducting safety audits of places and through advocacy and public pressure, asking authorities for their implementation.
A safety audit of a public space involves a walk in the area, identifying specific areas which make women feel unsafe. Adequate lighting, wide enough pavements that allow walking without brushing against another, whether garbage bins on roadside are overflowing and reducing walking space, whether public toilets for women are safe and hygienic, the location of alcohol, gutkha and cigarette outlets – hangout places for men and areas where eve-teasing is maximum – all contribute to such audits. Public transport, which has a high incidence of molestation, also comes up for scrutiny. Spaces where women have to spend time – like bus stops, areas around schools, parks and gardens where women and children gather – are all surveyed. Access to police and telephones in an emergency situation is assessed. The checklist is exhaustive.
After identifying problem areas, solutions are sought from the respective department or the Municipal Council. If there is inadequate lighting, the Electricity Dept is approached; for garbage removal the collection body; for overcrowding in buses the Transport Dept; for proper signage the local bodies; for removing gambling dens, the Home Dept; for safe parks and gardens the Forest Dept. The list of authorities responsible for various works are listed and then systematically approached for intervention.
Participatory planning is a powerful process to address concerns that affect women. A safety audit walk is part of the micro-planning tool adopted for village and urban planning.
The Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA), which includes several organisations and individuals, had raised the demand for a participatory process to formulate the Regional Plan 2021. While the government did not amend the laws to make participatory planning mandatory as per the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution, GBA’s insistence and persistence ensured that draft plans of villages were sent to the village concerned for the people’s say.
Village committees were formed and Gram Sabhas held to discuss the plans. There was a massive involvement of people, which itself was an empowering process. Many village groups evolved, which took ownership to protect their villages by recommending land use and type of infrastructure required, as well as opposing unwanted developments.
In Goa, inadequate infrastructure for women’s needs has been raised at various points by different groups of women. Margao women vendors who did not have a toilet, demonstrated ‘unconventionally’ in the Municipality’s office. The sexual harassment prevention committee recommended lighting of all pathways and lanes in the Goa Medical College (GMC) to make the place safe for women relatives of patients, as well as for nurses, doctors and staff. More buses have been recommended to avoid overcrowding in buses. Display of Helpline 1091 for women in buses is a demand conceded, but falteringly implemented.
Women’s concerns can be incorporated in planning infrastructure, if the planners and authorities are properly sensitised. When Bailancho Saad made a presentation to the Task Force on RP 2021, one expert did not feel the need to sit through the presentation, as he saw no link between gender and planning. Bailancho Saad believes that all issues are women’s issues. Whatever affects society affects women; that is why we work with civil society organisations and GBA.
The media hype resulting from the involvement of international bodies is now waking urban planners. Several workshops are being conducted, and the campaign at the national level is gaining momentum. The demand of women’s groups is: ‘Release of funds for infrastructure only if the checklist includes safety for women’ – like the checklist of the Union Environment Ministry for clearance of projects.
The issue confronting Goa is not about identifying needs. GBA has brought out a booklet on how to do village planning. It includes a walk through the village, mapping resources, discussing needs and finding solutions, and framing needs into a format for budget allocation by authorities. Various organisations are already training people to make the next five-year Socio-Economic Plan, 2012, and the annual development plans more participatory.
The issue is, how does one get the people’s plans implemented? There is a great resistance from those in power, as well as those aspiring to power. GBA is under constant attack, from both pro- and anti-government forces. If any of the GBA’s positive suggestions is accepted or it succeeds in getting any demand met, the ruling dispensation takes credit. This does not go down well with anti- government forces. So the organisation becomes a target. If GBA objects to any government policy or project, it does not go down well with pro-government forces; the saga of attacks continues. The pressure to break the organisation or discredit it peak when elections are due.
This is a period of great stress, as individuals come under personal attack, to weaken collective bargaining power. The challenge before us is to stand up and use our collective bargaining power to get the best for our society. The elections for Municipalities are in October this year, and Assembly Elections in 2012. Before the municipal elections, let us do a safety audit of municipal areas and demand a commitment from candidates to implement our suggestions. Better still, let us identify persons who have proven their commitment, so that people do not have to channelise their energies into protests. Remember, if a place is safe for women and children, it is safe for everyone.
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Angels on earth
By Vanessa Lobo
All of us have heard of angels. Whenever the word is mentioned, the picture that comes to mind is of a beautiful, heavenly being with blue eyes, golden hair and long silvery wings. They are creatures who possess the sweetest nature and go about doing good, trying to make the world a better place. Angels have for a long time now, captured the imagination of Man. So much so that, artists have featured them in paintings, carvings, and there are even quite a few songs named ‘Angel’. There are stories too about how guardian, angels have many a times saved people from danger and death. Some even claim to have seen angels. It is said that when babies smile in their sleep, it is because they can see angels in their dreams!
Well, enough has been said about heavenly angels. I’d like to introduce you to a different kind of angel. Different because they aren’t as beautiful as those in heaven, and they definitely don’t have wings! But there’s no doubt that they are angels, for they possess that characteristic quality of going out of their way to make the world a better place. God in His infinite wisdom and love has given all of us angels on earth. Each one of us has at least one angel in our lives and if we‘re lucky we may have more.
It could be any one; our mother, our best friend, a teacher, or colleague or even a total stranger! These angels make mistakes too, they aren’t perfect. But they are the closest anyone could get to being perfect. They come in all shapes and sizes. The angels I’m referring to are those certain people around you, who watch out for you. They are those who lend a hand when you are down on your knees, and you have no strength to rise up. It is that person who genuinely tries to understand you, when no one else can. It is someone who bandages your broken heart when you are too hurt to do it yourself. It’s the person who helps you pick up the pieces of a shattered dream and yet encourages you to try again. It is that someone who you know will just not give up on you and moreover not let you give up on yourself. It is someone who believes in you and your dreams no matter what. It is the person who listens to what you are not saying, and sees the tears that you don’t cry. These angels care enough about you to place themselves in your shoes and see what that feels like. It is someone who knows what you are going to say before you can say it. It is that person who will do the sweetest thing to make you smile after a long, hard day. Some one who makes the happy times, even more happier. It is someone who walks into your life when everyone else walks out. It is someone who is there for you when you need them the most. It is someone who cheers you on from the sidelines when you feel like quitting the race.
Unfortunately, it seems that this world is so full of and ruled by selfish and greedy people, that it is extremely hard to find the angels that I am speaking of, anymore. But believe me, they do exist. I dedicate this article to all the angels who have shaped my life and I thank them for helping me become the person I am today. With a grateful heart I thank God for them as I could never have made it this far without them. And everyday, I in turn, try to be someone else’s angel. Whether I will succeed at that, only time will tell!
