Metro urges change

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has taken several steps to ensure that women feel safe while commuting. But things like reserving a coach for women and installing CCTV cameras can only go so far to ensuring a safe journey. Now DMRC has tied up with a city-based NGO, Centre for Health and Social Justice (CHSJ), to spread awareness among men for making the Delhi metro a better and safer space.

While a CCTV might stop someone from harassing another person out of fear, it cannot change the mentality of people. “That is why we have collaborated with the Ek Saath campaign,” says a DMRC representative. The Ek Saath campaign reaches out to men and boys on various levels and tries to educate them through different mediums like audio plays, reading material as well as telephonic conversations.

“The Delhi metro is largely a safe space but the idea is to make a shift on a larger level so that the incidents we keep hearing about don’t happen,” adds the DMRC representative.

Echoing his thoughts, Rimjhim Jain from CHSJ says, “The campaign is crucial at metro stations as it helps provide a wider reach. This campaign is very relevant to Delhi. With the recent horrific attack on the journalist in Delhi, many men are concerned about how public places are not safe for women in Delhi and they are keen on participating in a campaign like this. We are dealing with several social discriminations in this campaign.”

The banality of violence is such in the city that multiple measures need to be taken. “And the Delhi government is clearly not able to do enough to stop violence against women, which goes beyond the metro lines in this city. No number of cameras, help lines and police stations are helpful. There needs to be a shift in the mentality of people. I belong to Chandigarh and when I compare that to Delhi, my city is safer. Also the issue is not just related to illiteracy, as is often presumed,” shares Priti Sisodiya, who is overseeing the campaign operations.

DMRC has allotted ten stations for this campaign to be run — Rajiv Chowk, Shahdara, Vishwavidyalaya, Kashmere Gate, Anand Vihar ISBT, Uttam Nagar East, New Delhi, Chawri Bazar, Chandni Chowk and Janakpuri West — and the students of Shivaji College have taken full responsibility of this campaign. They are volunteering at the designated metro stations to further the cause.

A regular metro commuter and a student, Kajal Singh also feels that such a campaign was crucial, “There are CCTVs but I still face harassment in the metro, so clearly cameras are not the answer to safety. I have been told to use my own vehicle if I want to avoid harassment, what kind of a solution is that?”

The campaign has been designed keeping various gender issues in mind and it taps into issues like harassment, choice in marriage, menstrual norms, equal access to education and public spaces among several other issues. “One doesn’t harass a person out of the blue. There is a lot that goes into making a patriarchal mindset. So to stop violence in the metro and outside it, it becomes important to challenge various factors, which is why we are covering such diverse topics,” explains Jagdish Lal from CHSJ who developed the material for the campaign.

“A lot of commuters are also stopping by because we are mainly urging men for the change, unlike most gender campaigns that tap into the female audience. That is also grabbing many eyeballs,” he adds.

After connecting with several people during this period, the campaign will get in touch with them and raise awareness through a structured curriculum including several real stories of change and motivational audio plays. The campaign will help identify issues and how to address them for individual cases in it’s next phase.

Actor Rahul Bose has also joined the campaign and has appealed: “There can be no gender justice without the active efforts of men to recognise their male privileges and consciously turn away from them.”