Chennai: Women advised to raise voice against abusers

Chennai: Two DC reporters were recently subject to men stalking them — one even went to the extent of following a girl back home and nearly breaking into her apartment.

Despite filing a written complaint with the police, no action was taken. Worse, neighbours and family began shaming the girls for no apparent fault of theirs.
Similarly, a report by the National Family Health Survey stated that of the nearly 30 per cent of women in the country who are victims of sexual harassment, only one per cent actually file First Information Reports (FIR) in a police station, out of fear of being ridiculed.

In order to tackle this, Amnesty International, a Bengaluru-based organisation, recently launched a campaign whereby they educate women to be bold and complain against their harasser, in a safe environment. The campaign was also launched in Chennai — a group of volunteers were at the Guindy bus depot on Tuesday, spreading awareness about the cause.

“We are trying to tell women to come forward and file a complaint f they are sexually abused, in a safe place like a police station,” says Amnesty International’s F2F executive, Vishnu Adithya. “We have created a website that explains step by step about what an FIR is, how one should file it, what action will be taken and how women need not fear any consequences,” he adds.

They have also tied up with the police departments of various cities, to ensure that these victims feel safe inside the police station. “There are very few all-women police stations in the country, so we’re aiming at one female officer at least being present to handle such complaints,” he says.

They started off by collaborating with 10 stations in Bengaluru, and now are even in talks with officials in Chennai. The railway police too have been brought on board, to ensure safety of women commuters. Studies said that Chennai is one of the safest cities to live in, but very few women actually come forth to report cases of sexual abuse. “Delhi on the other hand, came to be known as the rape capital, because of the number of complaints being filed by female victims – they are more open to voicing their issues, since they are backed by the media,” explains Vishnu.

It is exactly this issue that the campaign wishes to create awareness about — ‘Log kya kahenge’, should be the last thing on your mind. So ladies, do not be afraid to complain about your harasser and get him the punishment he/she deserves. To view the website, log on to http://readytoreport.in/.