Women's Day: Audits conducted to make six areas safer for women in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Safety audits that were being done for college and working women are now being introduced even in slums to create safer neighbourhoods for women.
NGOs have begun helping women identify unsafe places and follow-up with the authorities to help make some public spaces safe. Safety audits were recently conducted in slum clusters of Mumbai, where most of the Muslim and Dalit communities reside.
The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) and Akshara, both women's advocacy groups, along with local girls and women did the audit of clusters at Bharatnagar and Behrampada (Bandra), Kunchi Kurve Nagar (Kalina), Gaondevi (Vakola), Ketakipada (Dahisar) and Ramabai Colony (Ghatkopar).
"Shacks are inadequately equipped for daily needs, forcing girls and women to make early morning/late night treks to collect water or use a public toilet. These seemingly innocuous events become sources of great risk and anxiety for urban poor women who fear for their safety inside and outside home,'' said BMMA member Neetu Singh.
To avoid the risk of rape, girls are married off early in most slum communities, as it is seen as a means of physical security, said BMMA member Noorjehan Safia Niaz.
Akshara convenor Nandita Gandhi said the audit was a community tool to help empower women. "Often, women themselves do not identify public spaces as being fraught with danger. It is when safety audits are done that they understand risks they face,'' she said.
The audit brought out several concerns of women. In Behrampada, lanes are dark, the skywalk is unsafe after 7pm, toilets are not clean and there is a dumping ground nearby. In Ramabai colony, there is only a hand pump and no streetlights, while boys stand at corners and harass girls and women. Since the cluster is illegal there are no civic amenities or a police beat chowky.
The Ketakipada cluster is also illegal, so there are no streetlights or wall to separate the locality from the forests and the water tap is far away. In Vakola, the garden functions as a dumping ground and it has a toilet which women cannot use. Though there is a beat office, it is always closed and the roads are badly lit.
The outcome of the audit has been that women have been able to organize themselves and demand safety features. "In Gaondevi, women now sit daily at the street corner and hold community meetings. This has drastically reduced incidents of eve-teasing. The chowkie now has police presence. In Behrampada, the civic body clears garbage and cleans toilets more often. But in other places the struggle continues.
Findings of safety audit in six clusters
Kunchi Kurve Nagar (Kalina)
Population | approx 7,000. Known as Makadwala community (monkey-keepers). Most women are home-based workers, vendors or domestic servants. Girls are married off at very young age.
Problems | Garden is used as dumping ground by passersby. A local den for alcoholics and gamblers, and women are harassed. Women are also harassed near Sattar garage and bus-stop. Though there is a beat chowkie, it is closed. No police patrolling. Public toilets have no doors or latches are missing
Recommendations | Restore garden, police patrolling, regular garbage clearance, clean toilets, streetlights
Bharat Nagar (Bandra)
Population | Approx 3 lakh slum-dwellers (64 chawls, besides slums). Most belong to Qureishi and Ansari communities. Many children out of school
Problems | Toilets do not have doors, or latches missing. School playground and park are dumping grounds. Beat chowkie functions irregularly. No streetlights. Boys and men stand at street corners, particularly Road No 3, and pass lewd remarks when girls pass. Bridge connecting Gyaneshwar Nagar dark and unsafe. Women do not use bridge at all. Though communally sensitive there are no mohalla committees. Many incidents of rape at Pattar Nagar; many go unreported
Recommendations | Restore school playground and park. Street lights, police patrolling at night, particularly at Gyaneshwar Nagar bridge, clean toilets, with doors/latches, mohalla committees
Ketakipada, Dahisar
Problems | Unclean toilets without doors or with latches missing. Single light for entire block of public toilets. Water supply after 9pm and common tap away from slum cluster. Unsafe for women to fill water. Liquor shops along main road, unsafe for women to walk. No police patrolling. Only garden frequented by men
Recommendations | Clean/safe toilets, street lights, police presence
Ramabai colony (Ghatkopar)
Population | approx 1 lakh. Surrounded by creeks on three sides. Has large Dalit population
Problems | Only three wide roads. Women do not use toilets at night as there are no lights. Most street lights are non-functional. Police beats far from community. Criminals with political patronage roam around freely. Creek areas used for anti-social activities. Several incidents of rape and murder. Under-construction buildings are dens for alcoholics, gamblers and drug addicts. Garden used for illegal activities
Recommendations | Police presence, functional streetlights, toilet lights, restore garden
Gaondevi (Vakola)
Problems | Unclean, unsafe toilets. Inadequate lighting, no security on skywalk. Road leading to Gaondevi unsafe at night. Gambling, eve-teasing at street corners. Autorickshaws refuse to ply at night
Recommendations | Police patrolling, streetlights, lights, security on skywalk, safe transport
Behrampada
Problems | Unclean public toilets, toilets without doors/latches, no lights in toilets. No streetlights, no security on skywalk.
Recommendations | Police presence, functional streetlights, safe/clean toilets and security guards on skywalk