"A Woman is like a tea bag you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water".- Eleanor Roosevelt

Starting with the fact of safety and security of women in India, if we look at our ancient times, the security of women was never an issue in ancient India. Women were being treated with full respect and equality as men. Women's safety does not only mean their safe travels and protection, but it is also a very broad concept that includes their respect, equality, opportunities, distribution of power, employment, and other basic treatment which they deserve.

In India Sati, Sabitri, Durga, and Laxmi are worshipped by people treating them as goddesses where as there is an increasing number of violence against women. The amount of violence against women has increased by many folds due to the greater exposure of women in every field of life.
By the way of my article, I will try to explore some of the issues faced by women in our country.

History Of Women In India:

India is a country having diversities in every person living, talking about women, India has a glorious history if we consider women in India.

Let's start with women in history:

1. Rani Lakshmibai
   Image Source: Http://Www.Readersmail.Com/Did_you_know/5-Facts-About-Rani-Lakshmibai/
   
   As the queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai fought fiercely and ferociously against British rule during the Great Indian Rebellion of 1857. Having a young adopted son did not stop her in the slightest, and many accounts depict her riding into battle wielding two swords, the horse reins in her teeth, and her son on her back. Though Jhansi eventually fell to British rule, Lakshmibai was able to rally her troops and, against all odds, hold onto her land for over two weeks. Despite being forced to evacuate her city, Lakshmibai fought to the death, dying in battle after refusing to surrender. Her strength and bravery made her a legend in Indian culture. She has been honored with numerous statues, and the Indian National Army's all-female infantry was named after her during World War II.
    
2. Usha Mehta
   A freedom fighter and devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Usha Mehta and a few of her associates organized the underground radio station Secret Congress Radio during the Quit India Movement of 1942. Her efforts got her arrested and sentenced to prison for four years for conspiring against the British government. In 1998, the Indian government honored her with the Padma Vibhushan Award, one of India's highest civilian awards.
    
3. Kiran Bedi became the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972. She voluntarily retired from the force in 2007 as the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development. In May 2016, she was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, a position that she still holds today. In 1984, she launched the NGO Navjyoti India Foundation (NIF), whose mission was to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of drug addicts and has since expanded to tackle illiteracy and women's empowerment issues. She also founded the India Vision Foundation in 1994, which works to reform police forces and prisons, empower women, and develop rural areas within India.

As we have seen what Indian women are capable of. They are nowhere behind the men in any field of life and work. Still, women are considered inferior then men in different fields of work, they are generally considered weak and also are not treated and respected properly as they deserve.

Cases Fearing Women's Safety:

Many cases give very unpleasant feelings to hear as they involve very heinous behavior and cruelty to women. In our country no age girl is properly safe, a child, teen, or adult all fear going out alone.

1. The Nirbhaya Case:
   The incident occurred when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year-old physiotherapy intern, was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a private bus where she was traveling with her male friend, Awindra Pratap Pandey. There were six others on the bus, including the driver, all of whom raped the woman and beat her friend. After the Nirbhaya Rape Case, where a woman was brutally raped solely because she was out late at night and was enjoying her life and freedom our Government has taken steps to improve the condition but it has not helped the woman much still, the Nirbhaya Rape Case known to be the most horrific case of a crime against women in the history of India has a lasting impact on the Nation.
    
2. 2019 Hyderabad Rape Case
   In a horrific incident, a 26-year-old veterinary doctor from Hyderabad was brutally gang-raped, murdered, and later dumped on the side of a road. According to the Telangana Police, the victim had stopped at a toll plaza at Shamshabad, near Hyderabad with her scooter. Two lorry drivers, along with their assistants, deliberately punctured her vehicle and pretending to help her, took her to the side of a road and pushed her into the bushes. She was later brutally gang-raped by the rapists and later murdered. The rapist was killed in an encounter as per the Telangana Police.
    
3. Unnao Rape Case
   In a soul-shaking case, a 17-year-old young girl was raped in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, on 4 June 2017. The rapist was none other than a former member of the ruling party BJP, Kuldeep Singh Sengar. He was convicted in the rape case on 16 December 2019. On 20 December 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison. During the trial, he was also found guilty of the murder of the rape victim's father.

Some Responses By The Girls When I Asked Them About Their Safety:

• Safety of women matters a lot whether at home outside the home or working place. The last few crimes against women especially the rape cases were very dreadful and fearful. Because of such crimes, women's safety in India has become a doubtful topic.
   
• Our government should work on making our streets extremely safe even at late night or anything� also sex education is a big taboo in India though it is extremely important and plays an important role in right and wrong.- CHAHNA DUBEY
   
• I think women's lack of safety is directly related to the patriarchal mindset that men grow with.
   
• Men think that women are their property and that they are superior to them, so they think they are free to do whatever way they want to behave, and they denial of consent.-ALFIA NOOR
   
• I had quite a few experiences where I didn't feel safe and 99% of it was because of men, staring at you whenever you are out in public or making some weird noises when you are alone in public made me feel so uncomfortable and disgusted at the same time.

I feel like it is very hard to feel safe in India because of the amount of ignorance people have for these kinda "MEN".-TANISHA NAHATA

Today woman is unsafe while walking on streets, roaming in the market, and even in educational institutions. Facts say brutal crimes like rapes are increasing every year. Yes, there is N number of punishments for these in our country but the problem is "justice delayed is justice denied".

I feel the reason for the insecurity of women starts at home when the male dominant family asks her to wear full clothes instead of teaching their boy how to respect every citizen. Nowadays, eve-teasing is becoming a fashion. A group of boys or I must say uneducated boys could be easily found in the locality, standing in herds for passing cringe comments on the girls passing by.-RATIKA JAIN

Here Are Some Of My Views On The Safety Of Women In India:

Starting with the fact that I am a brother of two sisters older than me, I know what is to be known as the safety of girls. Whenever my sisters go out there is always some kind of fear in our hearts until they safely come home especially when they go out alone at night. Our country especially in the following years has become very unsafe for women. There are regular crimes and harassment faced by women in their daily life. In India, we worship women's gods and on the same hand, we treat the ladies with disrespect and bad behavior.

Women are the building blocks of our society, you think about a world without women, The answer is no there is no future without a woman there. Women play so many roles in our lives, she is a mother, a sister, a wife, a grandmother, and much more, they do not demand many things in return for their sacrifices, just respect and equal treatment is what they all want in return.

Still, we fail to give them what they naturally deserve and want. Women are nowhere behind men In any field of life still women's safety does not gather much focus of our government as well as our society. Almost all the girls want the laws to be strict so that in case of any misbehaving with them the person will be given a tough punishment to set an example for other offenders. I from the pages of my article want to request all the readers to treat and respect women as their sisters and never make them feel uncomfortable around anyone.

Conclusion
I do not think this issue could get a conclusion, I also kept the article short because this issue is not about more writing and facts it's about our way of thinking and the education we get. Women's safety should be given topmost priority not only in India but in the whole world. Government can play a very important role by making stricter laws for women's safety and crimes against them.

Parents should teach their children about equality and also society should treat a girl as equal to a boy in every aspect. Boys should be taught to respect every girl and to protect them in need. All of us should try to ensure that every woman in our country should feel safe and secure.

Together we can make women's safety possible and make society a safe place for them to live freely and independently. Let's take an oath to not disrespect women and provide them respect and protection and always support them in their decisions and motivate them to do all the things they wish to achieve.

"Let's Be The Voice Of All The Women And Girls"

#Wearewithyou

Written By: Aryan Trivedi, (Law student)