Lewd gestures, unsafe spaces. Why night-shifts are not easy for women?: Part I

A long walk along the dark, empty corridor to the ward – a senior Medical professional still dreads her days as a junior doctor when she was on call at night. She ruefully says that years later nothing much has changed for the present generation as they also go through the same loop- walking alone the same corridor, while being on night duty, prone to danger and still having to do their duty with heart in their mouths.

The uptick in women workforce in the country exudes hope, it's a sign of economic freedom and self-reliance. The crucial question of their safety is gravely overlooked even in the face of umpteen policies and regulations for women empowerment and safety.
Onmanorama spoke to a few women professionals who work late into the night to know how safe they feel in their routine life and how they work with a perpetual fear of dangers that lurk in every corner.

Mahima, a young intern with a merchandise company in Delhi, never had any direct encounters so far and is very much confident about her workplace atmosphere. But what she fears the most are the possible threats she senses during her 2-hour journey from home to her start-up company and back. She mainly uses the Metro rail for transportation. According to her, it's a nightmare everyday escaping, stares, brushing, lewd remarks and so on. "It's the mindset of people that should change. How can a rule prevent a potential abuse when the perpetrator remains unnoticed in the crowd?" She asks.

There should be some initiatives at educational level to inculcate respect in children towards females. "Apart from teaching them about good touch and bad touch they should be made aware of all the aspects related to mental and physiological sensitivities and the need to approach women and girls with care," she says. She is of the view that this learning should begin at home. She believes that men can never be trusted. As an example she cites the instance of her friend's father who always exposes a father-like care for all girls his daughter's age.

"But when I happened to be at her place one day I was astonished to see his undignified treatment of his wife. It is this deceit and hypocrisy that should be eliminated first," she says. Are women too preoccupied with excess fear, which makes them yield to predatory forces without offering any resistance? "No," she retorts," Many say that a kick in the right place would be enough to render the enemy numb. But the truth is, women are physically weak, especially during periods which render them weaker still for weeks in a month. Maybe there are a few exceptions with women remaining indomitable during an encounter. But that's rare."

However, Joyeeta a journalist from Kolkata, has a somewhat different opinion about the situation. She says there is nothing unsafe in her city. Citing her own experience, she says that she has never encountered any difficulties while travelling at night. "Tragic abusive incidents happen wherever ill-natured people are present. It's borne out of mental illness. It cannot be corrected through campaigns or educating criminal-minded adults. The change can be brought about by teaching young boys at home about the value of morality and the need for respecting women." She says that women, when faced with bitter experiences should instantly seek the help of police and use the toll-free helpline numbers without fear.

Women live in an environment where warding off unpleasant incidents is not easy, feels Dr A K Jayasree, HOD of Community Medicine, Department of a Medical College in Kozhikode. According to her, apart from trial and punishment, documentation is the most important action in response to a crime against women. "It's not just the matter of working women's safety during night duty but it's the question of harassment against women anywhere, anytime," she says, "But what makes the situation worse is victims' silence on her distressful experience out of fear or shame. And that is not without a reason either. Our society, which does not pay heed and rather than supporting such women, tends to point finger at them for coming out in the open, should be blamed for that "

Jayasree cites this callous approach as a reason for the reticence of women employees in the hospital. She narrates an experience when her friend with a survey agency, conducted a study on women's bad experiences at workplaces. "They spoke about everything from the need for leaves, wage-hikes to work pressure. But none uttered a word about sexual abuse about which many had hinted before," she says.

This sets a wrong example, she opines and according to her, women should be more assertive. "If a workplace is hostile, reeks of unfavourable conditions or falls short of providing enough safety measures women should never be ready to work there until the shortfalls are resolved," she says. Once she called back from assignment two of her medical students from a hospital in the periphery of the town because the room they were supposed to stay could not be bolted from inside. She says that there is a duty room in any hospital and that lady doctors can use it while on night duty, if anything is lacking, or any untoward incident happens it should be reported immediately. No doctor should adopt a careless approach towards addressing drawbacks in safety and other facilities.

Will making punishment more severe offer a solution? No, Jayasree says. On the contrary, making punishment less harsh and more reformative may be fructifying. "See, when severe non-bailable charges are in place, in most cases the victims or their kin relent on legal proceedings, considering the offender's family and so on. But if the punitive measures are less harsh, the punishments can be imposed in actuality and thereby prove to be effective deterrent,” she says.

Meanwhile, she reiterates that gender equality begins at home. "Especially, when women are working men should share household chores equally. Not by giving a helping hand but shouldering responsibilities equally," She says and emphasises that suppressing their needs and problems by themselves out of inhibition or leniency will only treble the turmoil.