Post News Network
Usha Pattnaik | student, ITER college
Bhubaneswar, March 8: As the women’s advocacy groups exult in celebration of the International Women’s Day, Sunday and deliberate on ways and means to give women more empowerment and opportunities in the society, Orissa Post goes around the city to find out how safe the women in the city feel while they step out of their homes.
Sabita Pradhan, a 45-year-old housewife, who stays near KIIT Square, said, “While with family, I feel safe, but I don’t think I can be as careless as I used to be some 20 years ago, while strolling alone on the streets. When I think of the college-going girls who have to go to their college and then come back home, I get uneasy feelings as several crimes are being reported in the paper on a regular basis. I believe there is a lot more to be done for the safety of women.”
Saloni Padhi, a medical student, said, “Cell phones and other gadgets have given way to intrusion into our personal lives. I often receive indecent messages and pictures on my phone apps from unknown numbers. I don’t know where to report such cases. Our city still has no separate wing to deal with IT offences.”
Bhabani Kumari Swain, a 42-year-old owner of a girl’s hostel, said, “Girls are regularly harassed mentally, whether at streets or on roads, by men who pass comments and misbehave. They have to forego even a small freedom like walking hand-free and often have to keep books close to their chest to avoid the eyes of lecherous men.”
