Delhi women still feel unsafe, blame Uber: survey

Exactly two years after the December 16, 2012, gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, an overwhelming majority of women still feel unsafe in the Capital, an HT survey has found.

Exactly two years after the December 16, 2012, gang rape of a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, an overwhelming majority of women still feel unsafe in the Capital, an HT survey has found.

Of the 2,257 women surveyed between 13 and 55 years of age, 91% said the city hadn’t become any safer for them since 2012 with an astounding 97% saying they have faced some form of sexual harassment.

The HT-C fore survey conducted between December 3 and 11 also found that women said cab-booking service Uber was mainly to blame for the alleged rape of a 25-year-old financial analyst on December 5, followed by the Delhi Police and the transport department.

Both incidents highlighted the lack of safe public transport for women in the city. Delhi Metro topped the list of safe modes of transport with a score of 3.1 out of 10 - 1 being the safest - while radio cabs got 5.7 and buses a lowly 7.6. In fact, as many as 67% women said they were harassed in buses but only two percent had a similar experience in a radio taxi.

Public areas in the city also continue to be unsafe with 68% women reporting harassment in markets and 60% on roadsides.

"Public transport should be a city’s lifeline but in Delhi it actually deters women from accessing public spaces. Some of my students say waiting for public transport is equally risky," said Yuki Azad, assistant professor at the Institute of Home Economics.