‘At the policy level, the government can change the public space plan and design and make changes’. Photo Credit: AFP
India is often considered one of the most unsafe countries for women, a reality that demands immediate and intentional change. India was ranked 128 in the 177 countries rated in women, peace and security index 2023. While deep patriarchal norms that are transported to violence cannot be abolished overnight, meaningful progresses can be made by challenging women facing everyday obstacles. Today, on International Women’s Day, it is important to reflect on a fundamental but often-a frequent issue-access to public places for women.
While this subject has been deeply studied and researched in the academic world, very rarely changed. For example, how many women do we see on the streets at any time compared to men? What are the places where they appear more? And which are the areas that they completely survive? How independently can women walk on the streets? Or do women consciously regulate their body language to suit male gaze?
Gender spatial control
It is important to understand them because public places serve as aranas where socio-economic life is concluded and develops through mutual interactions and collective experiences, shaping community identity and social dynamics. This is the place where people cultivate political identity, create livelihood, and actively engage in community life. By participating enthusiastically in everyday nuances of public places, individuals become more integrated into social processes. In addition, a major indicator of the safety of a place is the presence of women to relax independently and to enjoy themselves.
What is the effect on women’s dynamics? Studies indicate that public places are both gender and political where most women are mostly limited to private and domestic fields. This penis spatial control occurs in many ways. According to the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) Data (2015-16), 54% of Indian women had the freedom to visit markets alone, while 50% could use health care facilities independently, and 48% were allowed to travel outside their village or community.
In addition, the periodic labor force survey (PLFs) for 2023–24 indicates that the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for women is 35.6%. Even though it has increased considerably over the years, unfortunately, it highlights that more than half of the female population remains outside the workforce. Therefore, while most women are limited to private places, there are increasing number of women that are using public places.
However, for working women, public places mainly serve as transitional areas, which facilitates their movement between the house and the workplace. These places are rarely used for holiday or entertainment. As a result, women’s engagement with public places is aimed at and periodically, which strengthens spatial restrictions that limit their appearance to functional needs rather than unrestricted social participation.
One place is really safe and inclusive when women can navigate it independently and without any hesitation. As ‘why Loiter?’ (Fadke, Ranade, Khan, 2011), Receiving public places is not only about the need, but also about holiday and uninhabited appearance. When women can proceed without any purpose, without urgency, male without corresponding to gaze, they claim their rights to convert public places into justified environment. Simply put, women must be able to be present only in public places.
Safety issue
During such examples, the issue of women’s safety becomes a matter of concern. However, it is important to accept that violence against women is not limited to public places because there are many facial dangers inside their homes which are considered comparatively safe places. In open places, many strangers are at greater risk of gender violence. This has strengthened the belief that women need protection, eventually restricting their autonomy. As a result, women are found to be largely found in curated locations such as malls, theaters and cafes, where the possibility of violence is considered less. But what about women on footpaths, bus stations, or women on narrow roads – a group of girls sitting around and having fun?
Street entertainment where women are participants are not a common vision. Every day public place – those who navigate freely – live inadvertently for women. The fact is that women may not be present in these places only without discomfort or fear, raising an important question. What is fundamentally flawless in public places design that prevents women from fully claiming and navigating them in their form? It is here that community and government can be great promoters. As a society, we should accept the fact and accept that public places provide a sense of freedom. Nevertheless, this very freedom often translates the loss of control to families on women’s dynamics. The risk is unavoidable but not avoiding public places. Men are subject to road violence, even if the nature of their vulnerability is different from women. Women need to rectify these places as men easily as men, promoting autonomy rather than restrictions. For this, women should have more conversations about this problem, go around and ‘walk out’ and have time to have fun in public places. Normalizing the use of a woman of a public place for holidays can contribute to this change.
Policy change
At the policy level, the government can make changes by re -adding public space plan and design. This includes improving street lighting, ensuring safe and accessible public toilets, installing street furniture such as benches and creating more entertaining space for women. Another important area requiring government intervention is strengthening public safety through strict laws and their effective enforcement to address crimes against women in public places. How many men are actually punished for gender-based violence in public places? How safe bail, only to repeat your crimes? The low sentence rate is a great issue that should be addressed. Even today, women are often convicted of staying in “wrong places at the wrong time”, which focuses on the victim from the victim. The society puts the burden of security on women along with excuses or demolishing the actions of criminals. It not only promotes the culture of impurity, but also reinforces a gender fear that serves as a tool for patriarchal control.
Therefore, by re -shaping public places consciously, we can create environment where women are safe and really welcome. While centuries of patriarchy cannot be disintegrated overnight, meaningful changes begin with small, everyday functions. From the created environment of the public place to the social outlook, every shift, no matter how gradual, brings us closer to an inclusive society, where women can navigate public places independently without any fear or ban.
Aswathi Chandragiri Bits Pilani is a research scholar in Rajasthan
Published – March 08, 2025 12:16 AM IST