Police to use ad campaign, posters to civilise Delhi men

After disciplining the way you drive with mazes of yellow barricades on the capital’s streets and seeking to impart a sense of security through incessantly blaring sirens through the night, the Delhi Police will now try to appeal to your heart. Jatin Anand and Karn Pratap Singh reports.

After disciplining the way you drive with mazes of yellow barricades on the capital’s streets and seeking to impart a sense of security through incessantly blaring sirens through the night, the Delhi Police will now try to appeal to your heart.

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On directions from Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna on January 21, the police will now put in place measures aimed at making the average Delhiite more intolerable to crime perpetrated against women in public places through a slew of ‘soft, out-of-the-box ideas.’

The prime initiative among these will be an advertising campaign aimed at encouraging men to step-up and at least try to counter instances of harassment to women at markets, on public transport and their neighbourhood.

“The fact of the matter is that crime against women is a sociological phenomenon -- it is perpetrated both in public and private spaces by men who believe that their gender alone puts them above, and their victims below, the law,” said an officer.

So, the Delhi Police will now come out with numerous public-interest posters depicting real-life situations in which onlookers, predominantly men, look on as women are molested or harassed in public spaces.

These will be displayed prominently at public areas in addition to being printed across newspapers.

Another attempt in the direction, sources said, would be deploying volunteers from women’s organisations as ‘welfare officers’ to keep an eye on ‘roving Romeos’.

“Once on board, these volunteers will augment the strength of our local crime against women (CAW) cells which carry out routine operations on the lines of ‘Operation Majnu’,” the officer said.

“Apart from these, we have also been asked to ensure that our patrolling vehicles blare sirens the loudest around academic institutions which cater predominantly to women --- once when the said institution opens and once when it closes,” said the officer.