I have been writing a lot on women’s rights and gender dynamics and other things. Recently, I came across an interesting project online to create easily distributed information in the form of a booklet for women to make better choices and arrangements for their personal safety. They are leading initiatives around making public areas safer. Here is their information note. I am happy to know them.
Please Mend The Gap (PMTG) is a citizen led initiative to demand safer public spaces for all (especially women) and they are starting with the Delhi Metro, since it is India’ showcase transport project. The initiative was sparked off by the molestation of a young girl in Delhi Metro in may 2011 and a Facebook note about it that went viral. A bunch of people (twelve to be precise) came together to form a group to do something about public safety in Delhi.
So far they have organized three flash mobs to attract public attention on how unsafe Delhi Metro is for women, got almost 1000 members on their FB page and managed coverage in Delhi times & HT City. The have also done public consultations and will be sending a list of suggestions with DMRC to make Delhi Metro safer for all. Now the PMTG is printing a small booklet for Delhi women called ‘Surviving the Metro’ that will be a how to guide on surviving in the public spaces in Delhi. This booklet will be crowd sourced and money will be raised from public fundraisers. We hope to print 10,000 copies and distribute them for free across Delhi. But this is just the beginning.
There is a petition making the rounds. They want your help in making this heard. Please sign
They need funds for their initiatives. That is their immediate and urgent need. If you are able to contribute toward the creation of these resources, it will help a lot of women. Please comment if you want to donate, and I’ll get someone to contact you.
Thanks.