Women still unsafe: Protesters

Promises made by the authorities to improve safety of women, in the aftermath of last year's gangrape of the 23-year-old girl here, are yet to show any change on the ground, according to many women protesters, who converged today to pay their tribute to the victim.
Last year's brutal assault of the girl, who lost her life, was a reminder for many other women about their experiences with patriarchy and sexual assault.
Women still suffer from a sense of insecurity starting at home, workplace, buses, trains and to be precise almost everywhere.
And their anger was quite palpable at the protests held at the Jantar Mantar today marking one year of the horrific incident.

"Rapes were happening before December 16, 2012 and they continue to take place. In fact, since the incident, there have been many cases of rapes, gangrapes, molestation and sexual harassment of women at workplaces. Even after the nation-wide protests and awareness campaigns, women safety remains an unattended issue," All India Democratic Women's Association's (AIDWA's) Delhi secretary Sehba Farooqui said.
"Action should be taken against former Supreme Court judge AK Ganguly to instill confidence among women," she added.

National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) general secretary Annie Raja too expressed her disgust at the non-utilisation of the fund created for helping victims of sexual violence.

"If the Finance Minister does not know how to utilise the fund, then the women's organisations are willing to advise the Government on effective planning and execution of it. The non- utilisation of this fund is nothing but an insult to women of the nation," she said.
Raja also spoke of the recent high profile cases of sexual harassment at workplace and said that the honour of the Constitutional positions must be maintained by providing justice to the women concerned.
All India Progressive Women's Association secretary Kavita Krishnan, who was at the forefront of the protests opined there has been an atmosphere of insecurity among the women at workplace.

"The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 along with the Vishakha guidelines must be implemented properly at workplaces," she said insisting that the clause of false complaint should be removed from the Act.