Increasing incidents of women’s molestation in the country have not only shaken confidence of working women and their families but others too, industry body Assocham said on Wednesday, expressing concern over the unabated cases of sexual assault against women.

The Assocham Social Development Foundation (ASDF) said here that the women’s and their families’ anxiety level goes up with sundown each working day, and is more among the guardians of those women who travel by chartered buses, cabs, autos, etc. Working women have to battle it out daily without knowing whether their drivers and crew members have been verified by the police or not.

Survey

As per an ASDF paper, women working late hours in sectors like BPOs and ITeS, travel and tourism, nursing homes and the media, among others, feel more vulnerable.

The survey in Delhi covered Delhi-NCR based 2,500 women, working, housewives and college going girls in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Pune.

“It was shocking that although there are over 20 constitutional provisions available, 88% of women are not aware of them even in the national capital”. While the cabs with major brands and equipped with GPS were once considered safe, increasing incidents have shaken the confidence.

The safety norms ASDF suggested include an effective and responsive GPS in place, self-defense training to the women staff, organizations with odd-hour working need to provide extra safety and security to their employees, especially females, provision of tiny security devices to workforce to preempt threats to them and police verification of cab drivers.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW