Is your safety just your concern? 
Aruti Nayar

By putting the onus of their safety on women alone, is the state not abdicating its responsibility? It is a classic case of making the victims feel like culprits. The recent rape case in Gurgaon stirred a hornet's nest but very soon everything will settle down and all the heated arguments on 24x7 television and edits in newspapers forgotten and buried before something similar happens again. We have created edifices of visible modernity, the swanky malls, state-of-the-art offices and plush multiplexes but the mindset is not very 21st century.

The mental attitude towards women is feudal, almost medieval and to show respect towards them either as co-workers or even as fellow human beings is neither a part of socio-cultural conditioning nor acquired social skills. The constant refrain might be "Women should take care," Why doesn't anyone ask men to learn to take care of themselves and be more sensitive towards women? Sensitising men might be a more effective way to ensure compliance of socially acceptable ways of behaviour towards women, rather than put the entire burden on women to be safe rather than sorry.It is also a wake-up call to remodel child-rearing practices and teach even boys to take responsibility for their actions.

We have been through the entire rigmarole of attributing blame to either the attire, or daring to venture into "risky"public places that are potentially explosive. Mind you even the pubs and malls are public places and their security should be vested in the law-enforcing agencies. They are not anyone's home or private property where you enter only at your own risk!

CRIME TRAIL

n March 12, 2012: Gurgaon pub staffer abducted, gangraped.
n January 27, 2012: Misbehaviour with woman executive of a BPO company. She is physically assaulted at n Gurgaon pub. Pub manager, bouncers also involved
n December 31, 2011: Woman employee of a BPO company molested by a mob in front of a popular mall.
n December 13, 2011: Dancer at a pub in a Gurgaon mall raped by a cab driver

HOME