Road to change: Agonising wait

Computer engineer Rupa Rajsekhar is tense and fidgety as she waits for a bus at Vijayanagar bus stop in Velachery. It is late in the evening and men flock to the Tasmac bar near the bus stop. “Once, a bunch of drunk men came out of the bar and were fighting. Since then, I try to avoid taking a bus especially if it is past 9pm,” says Rajsekhar, who travels from Mogappair to her office in Velachery every day.For women who have to stay out late, commuting by bus is a problem in a city that sleeps early. While bus stops get deserted at night, women also feel uncomfortable in the day because of the kind of people who occupy the stops and the neighbourhood they are situated in. “Most bus stops have paanstained walls. There are always some men sleeping under a bus shelter, which makes me uncomfortable while I wait for the bus,” says Monisha Mohanraj, a student who travels on bus route number 27D from Stella Maris College from Ayanavaram. “On these routes, it is not possible to even get on the bus as the boys from Pachaiyappa’s Colle ge travel on the footboard and do not allow us to get inside. We end up waiting for a less crowded bus,” Mohanraj says.
Media professional Daisy Joseph, who travels late to work, says a lack of security in the public transport system curtails her independence. “Most bus stops are deserted at night and it is difficult to spot another woman,” she says. K Vasanthi, a student, says she makes sure that she gets home early because she doesn’t want to trouble anyone. “If I get late, the bus stop gets deserted and I have to ask someone to wait at the stop to receive me,” she says. To evaluate gender safety in public spaces in the city, students from IIT-Madras and Stella Maris College, along with NGO Transparent Chennai have undertaken a safety audit of bus stops.
The interns developed an audit which examined safety along four parameters — visibility, access, comfort and security. The study’s preliminary findings suggest that women’s safety is not a consideration in the design or the location of a bus stop.
They have profiled six stops in Palavakkam, OMR, Madhya Kailash and Gandhi Mantapam. “Our objective is to ensure gender safety and the safety of women,” says Satyarupa Shekhar, researcher with Transparent Chennai. “If a bus stop is safe for women, then chances are that it will be safe for others too. A lot of women said that they feel safer when there are a lot of bystanders and hawkers nearby,” says Shekhar.
However, women say that sexual harassment can happen at any time, not just at a lonely bus stop. “Sexual harassment can happen at a crowded bus stop. In fact, it is more dangerous as someone could grope you and get away with it,” says Anupama Srinivasan, project director of the Chennai chapter of Hollaback!, an international movement against street sexual harassment.
“At night, lighting is a problem in most bus stops, especially those in deserted areas. Either these bus stops have very little lighting or they don't work,” says Srinivasan.
Times View
Women don't feel at ease while commuting by bus in the city. Harassment can take place at bus stops or inside a bus. Though commuting by bus is the most common form of transport in the city, little has been done to address this problem. Police claim they have increased surveillance on busy routes, but women continue to be at the receiving end. This must end and can't be tackled by the police alone. An alert public will help in eradicating this social menace and also improve the law and order situation in the city.