Today, the country stands still as we remember an incident that runs chills down our spine. On 16th December 2012, a medical student was brutally raped by 6 men in a running bus. The world came to know of her as ‘Nirbhaya’. 6 years after the incident, Delhi is still unsafe for women. The Delhi High Court has demanded the installation of CCTV cameras around the city to make it safer for women.
The Delhi high court on Thursday directed the police to adhere to an earlier timeline that had been given to install CCTV cameras at police stations and posts. Standing counsel Rahul Mehra told the court that cameras have been installed and were already functioning in 91 police stations. 54 more will be installed by December 15. As for the remaining 57 stations and 53 posts, the work will get completed by January 15.
But we think it’s high time we address the elephant in the room. Will installing CCTV cameras make the city safer for women? Women have been precautious while stepping out of their homes and always walk with an eye over their shoulders. Asha Devi, mother of Nirbhaya urges women never to consider themselves weak. “Culprits in a criminal case like this are still alive. It’s a failure of law and order situation. We want to tell the girls everywhere to not consider themselves weak and request parents to not deprive their girls of education.” she said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has dismissed a plea demanding immediate execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
The American educator Jackson Katz says “We talk about how many women were raped, and not how many men raped women. We talk about how many girls were harassed and not about how many boys harassed these girls.
So you can see how the use of passive voice has an effect. It shifts the focus off of men and boys on the girls and women. Even the term “violence against women” is problematic. It’s a passive construction, and there is no active agent in the sentence. It’s a bad, horrible thing that happens to women. But when you look at the term “violence against women” nobody is doing it to them. It just happens to them. Men aren’t even a part of it.”
If you see how headlines are framed, you’d understand what we’re saying. “A medical student was walking home with her friend when she was raped” “City is still unsafe for women”.
“CCTV cameras to be installed in the city to keep a watch on misbehaving men”. Fixed it.
Today, on 16 December 2018, as the country mourns, let us take into account the active agent, and support our sisters and brothers. While we believe that not all men are at fault, and there are cases of violence against men too, the end goal is to make Delhi a safer place to live in, for men, women and everyone alike.
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