There Is A Crucial Need To Address Women’s Experiences Of Harassment In Public Transportation

Trigger warning: Gender based harassment

When Aria passed her 10th standard, she was excited about her new ventures but what she was most excited about was her first-ever solo experience of traveling in a local bus. Aria had decided that she would be the big girl now and get her admission done on her own. On the day of this expedition, when she reached the bus stop she found a semi-crowded bus. It broke her heart a little but she didn’t let her excitement die down. Aria was the only one standing initially. The gaze of a middle-aged man sitting on a women-reserved seat made her uncomfortable but she didn’t give it much thought as the man was sitting far from where Aria was standing. After a few minutes, two women boarded the bus and this middle-aged man gave his seat to one of the women and went to stand beside Aria. A lump started to form at the back of Aria’s throat. 

‘I had never imagined that the day I had been dreaming about would turn into the most horrifying one.‘

Aria

‘I had never imagined that the day I had been dreaming about would turn into the most horrifying one. A day that began with a smile on my face ended with a shivering feverish body.’

The man went closer and closer to Aria, started touching her back, and ran his hand over to her neck. ‘No one said anything. They were there as mute spectators, like corpses.’

In a patriarchal set-up, women have always been considered second class citizens and like most of the issues that concern women are normalised and accepted, harassment in public transport is also institutionalised.  

‘On that day I realised the weight of being a secondary gender in the sub-continent. I also came to know how easy it is for people to get away with the crime,’ said Aria. 

This traumatic instance has forever cast a shadow on Aria’s mind and soul. ‘It was my first experience and it is difficult to forget the firsts.’

Aria’s story is not an isolated one; rather hundreds of thousands of girls are out there dying to tell the world their untold stories of sufferings. Girls of all ages are subjected to harassment at the hands of strangers who are usually middle-aged men. 

‘The irony is that these men are supposed to be at the peak of maturity and should stand as the protectors of the young souls but they are indulged in such shameful acts’, said Saba, a high school student.  

While the traumatic incident that Aria encountered made her promise herself to walk miles daily to reach college, Sofia had no other option than to board a bus to reach on time and fall prey to different molesters.

‘He was constantly rubbing himself against my arm but I couldn’t understand what he was doing till he got down and it was then that I realised my entire arm was wet.’

Sofia, 23.

‘I was on my way to Parraypora for my tuition in a crowded local bus when a middle-aged man boarded the bus. He stared at me for a very long time. While I tried to ignore him, I could feel his gaze. As people started getting down at their respective stops, he kept coming closer to where I was sitting, and eventually, he got so close that his crotch was touching my shoulder. I kept moving towards the window but he kept pushing himself towards me. He was constantly rubbing himself against my arm but I couldn’t understand what he was doing till he got down and it was then that I realised my entire arm was wet,’ remembered Sofia, a 23-year-old graduate.

Despite laws, harassment crimes go unnoticed

Along with other kinds of violence directed at women, harassment in public transportation is now properly understood to be a violation of law. Even though there are laws at national and international levels, their proper implementation on the ground is far from achieved because these crimes often go unreported. 

Recent survey data from urban India confirms these patterns, as well as apprehension over women’s travel safety. In 2021, for example, an online poll conducted across urban areas revealed that about 56 percent of women who used public transportation reported being sexually harassed.

Back in 2016, Mehbooba Mufti, the Chief Minister of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, launched the bus service for women in Srinagar. With few buses running around the city women felt somehow safe and relieved, however, this refuge was not a permanent one for them as the service didn’t last for long. 

‘I felt safe  boarding these gender-specific  buses while going to school but the closure of this service has left me completely disappointed and perplexed as now I would have to use general buses and there would be a sense of fear always lurking around me’, said Mariya a high school student  

Wajahat Hussain Durrani, law officer JKSRTC says that women were not using the ladies-special buses as much throughout the day because women would usually travel with their male family members and they would prefer to commute in normal transport. 

‘Working and University-going women would commute at office timings. Therefore, the policy didn’t yield much results. However, we make sure to have seats reserved, according to law, for women in the buses.’

He also said that because of the less usage of these buses, the government had to face monetary losses, and it also became problematic for them to generate the salaries of the employees.  

Expert opinion

Dr. Shazia Malik, Assistant Professor, Gender Studies, University of Kashmir, stated that women traveling with male relatives in any way feel safer than the ones traveling alone. The bus services were meant for women who travel alone, to somehow make them feel safe. Dr Shazia questions the incompetence of the government in implementing the project that led to its termination.

She further suggests that only proper government intervention and willingness to put forth gender components in every policy can lead to a shift of narrative around gender equality and only then a true gender-just society can be achieved.

Along with the government interventions the responsibility for changing the narrative also falls on parents and teachers. Children are not taught to differentiate between good touch and bad touch which leads to them being unaware of harassment while growing up.

‘I didn’t know about harassment because Kashmiri parents don’t prioritise awareness about these issues while growing up,’ says Tabish, an undergraduate student.

‘Men must not objectify women; rather they have to see them as equals and this basic concept of respecting women should be inculcated early on in them by their parents’, she further added.

One of the many reasons for women not speaking up against harassment is that they are told to keep these incidents to themselves because such things bring shame to the family. And even if someone tries to support the victims, sometimes women themselves back off, the reason being the fear of getting slut-shamed by the mute spectators. However, this silence of the victim becomes a two-sided dagger that not only encourages the oppressor but also muffles the odd brave voice raised against the oppressor.

‘My friend was once traveling by an overcrowded local bus. Right next to where he was seated a girl about 25 years old was standing, and a guy probably of the same age group was standing behind her. He saw that girl being touched inappropriately by the guy standing behind her which was making her uncomfortable. My friend wanted to stand up for her but was scared whether the girl would support him or not. After multiple attempts, my friend finally decided to raise his voice for the victim. But what happened next is what he feared. The girl didn’t support him. Instead, she asked my friend to keep quiet. And he silently sat back on his seat like a defeated warrior,’ said Dar Mudasir. ‘This is how the molester won and my friend lost. The victim remained a victim’.

The names of the characters have been changed.