As the State government pats itself on the back for the distinction of Goa being declared as the safest State for women in India, it is necessary to pause for a moment to check the reality in the State. On the day this news percolated into the State, there were two crimes against women registered in the two largest urban areas of the State – the State capital Panjim and the commercial capital Margao. In Panjim it was the rape of a minor girl allegedly in a beauty parlour and in Margao it was the kidnapping of a three-year-old girl from the railway station while she was sleeping with her parents on the platform, raising the question of just how safe women in Goa are.
Gathering random reactions on this ranking and report, Herald found that while many women do feel safe in the State, there are many others who would not agree entirely with the report, and prefer to have far more safety measures in place and believe that there is much that still needs to be done in the State to make it safer for women. As has been pointed out by the women Herald spoke to, the report is primarily based on secondary data that went by enrolment in schools, number of cases filed by married women and such other statistics. It did not speak to the women and hear firsthand the stories that the women have to tell.
Statistics can tell a story, but that story may not always give the clear picture, especially in a survey of this nature. Some of the areas that the women spoke of that need to be addressed are in terms of changing the mindsets and the prevailing society norms and attitudes against women and even attitudes at police stations. Does this mean that while women may feel physically safe in Goa, do they fear harassment which is not of the physical nature? That is a question the needs to be addressed by the government, taking into consideration the responses of the women in Goa.
A general response was that there being a large influx of tourists in the State, there is a perception that anything is acceptable in the State, which brings in certain tourists that are looking for the wrong kind of fun, and this threatens the safety of women in the State. Ogling, eve-teasing are some of the threats that women in Goa face regularly.
But, if the report, prepared by Plan India and released by the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development, ranked Goa first in the gender sensitivity index, the State didn’t fare quite so well in the other areas. The study aimed at identifying the status of Indian women with regard to education, health, poverty and protection. Goa was also first in protection, but came fifth in education, sixth in health and survival, and eighth in poverty, all ranks that are nothing to be proud of. So there’s work to be done in these areas, lots of it, if the State wants to be first in all areas, when the next report from the ministry comes.
One positive that can be gathered from the report is that India is paying attention to its women. The results aside, which in some States are pathetic, the fact that such a report was prepared is in itself a sign that there is concern for the women in the country. Goa can lead the way for the country in striving, as promised by the Chief Minister, to attain unmatched standards on issues of gender safety and women welfare. That would indeed by a victory for the State and its women.
