Mumbai is often hailed as the safest city in the country for women. However, statistics on crimes against women paint a worrying picture.
Mumbai is often hailed as the safest city in the country for women. However, statistics on crimes against women paint a worrying picture. This is exactly why the Stayfree DNA I Can Women’s Half Marathon has taken up the cause of women’s safety.
Records reveal that the total number of registered crimes against women, including rape, murder and kidnapping, have gone up from 1344 in 2010 to 1569 in 2011. In 2011, Mumbai saw a 14% rise in rape cases and a 23% increase in the number of cases where modesty was outraged.
Last year, 219 rape cases were registered in the city as compared to 192 cases in 2010. Other crimes against women have also increased. For instance, cases registered for outraging the modesty of women were pegged at 556 in 2010 as compared to 395 in 2009.
The central government’s economic survey for 2010-11 reveals that Maharashtra ranks fifth in India when it comes to the crimes against women. Activists lament that, often, murder or robbery are not categorised as crime against women despite them being easy targets.
According to a recent survey by the NGO, We The People Foundation (WTPF), eight out of 10 women in the city face some form of sexual harassment at railway stations, bus stops, hangouts like malls or cinema halls, beaches or even residential complexes.
“We have been lulled into a false sense of security. We get outraged at rape or kidnapping, but we do not pay sufficient attention to molestation or other forms of harassment that women face every day,” says Jason Temasfieldt, founder member of WTPF.
The NGO was formed after Temasfieldt’s cousin, Keenan Santos, was stabbed to death, along with his friend Reuben Fernandes, by men who were harassing their female friends outside a restaurant in Andheri. Deputy police commissioner and spokesperson for the Mumbai Police, Nisar Tamboli attributes the rising crime rate against women in Mumbai to the increasing population. “Crime against women can be curtailed only after creating social awareness about the issue,” Tamboli feels.
(With inputs from Preety Acharya)
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