Other than outrage: On women, unsafe public spaces
This editorial highlights the persistent issue of sexual violence against women in India, noting a significant surge in reported crimes since the 2012 Nirbhaya case. It argues that current government schemes are failing due to poor implementation and a lack of preventive, outcome-based policing.
Why it matters
The piece addresses a critical social crisis in India, questioning the efficacy of state-led safety initiatives and the systemic failure to protect vulnerable populations.
There is a sickening sense of déjà vu in last month’s headlines of sexual assaults against women and children. In the national capital alone, the gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl in Astha Kunj Park by three men posing as police personnel, the gang-rape and murder of a 16-year-old in Swaroop Nagar , and the gang-rape of another 17-year-old on a sleeper bus travelling from Greater Noida to Delhi have each shocked the nation briefly before giving way to a numb outrage. Little seems to have changed in the 14 years since the candlelight marches and commissions after the Nirbhaya case unleashed a slew of new schemes, laws and funds that vowed to protect women and girls from sexual violence, especially in public spaces.
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