Facing the heat of the December 16, Delhi gang rape case in an election year, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s tirade against the “insensitive” Delhi Police, has only reiterated the findings of an indepth study by UNIFEM and Jagori, a women’s rights organization in the capital. The study found that 45% of Delhi's women believe "the police will do nothing" if approached. What was further alarming is the fact that less than 1% women had reported any incident to the police.
Apart from the heinousness of the act perpetrated on the victim in the recent Delhi gang rape case, the callousness of bystanders who were unwilling to help the victim and preferred not to get involved had shocked the public consciousness. In the survey which had been conducted across the capital, 70% of the men interviewed said they would rather not intervene and preferred to be mute spectators to what transpired in front of them.
Kalpana Vishwanath, Senior Advisor at Jagori speaking to Business Standard said, “The general apathy to responding as a bystander to incidents of sexual harassment is shocking. Not much has changed since we conducted the study in 2011 but hopefully the public outcry following the December 16 indicates a gradually changing mindset.”
The survey conducted through extensive interviews with 5000 men and women from across the city in public places such as roadsides, markets, parks, found that the highest incidence of sexual harassment was on roadsides, followed by public transport, waiting for public transport and at market places. More than half the incidents of harassment took place while women were waiting for public transport.
When questioned as to why they would not report the incident to the police, 43% of the women stated that they felt that the police would minimize and trivialize the incident. 30% felt that the police would merely record the complaint and not take further action while some even said that they were afraid the police would blame them for the incident instead.
The study recommended that apart from other steps, the administration needed to firstly undertake simple initiatives like better lighting of public spaces such as bus stops.
In the aftermath of the Delhi gang rape incident, the Delhi Police’ assurance promising assistance to women and their public appeal urging bystanders to come forward and help victims without fear of harassment from the police, may need much more than words to instill confidence in the public.