Reading about violence against women has become quite routine. Yet the recent Uber incident (yes, there’s been another one) shocked us! The cab service is in the news again as one of its drivers has been accused of molestation. A young woman, who is a professional dancer, was molested by her cab driver Vinod in Delhi on Sunday night.
He first tried to make small talk with the 21-year old and when they finally reached the destination, he got off the cab to help the girl but ended up forcefully kissing her. While the girl refrained from making an official police complaint, she did go ahead and bring it to the notice of Uber authorities.
Uber who was in the news, less than six months ago for a similar incident with one of its drivers now has a zero tolerance policy towards such conduct and promises appropriate justice.
While we read this report, it becomes clear that women using private cab services are not safe either. Moreover, lodging complaints of harassment don’t always end up well. Even in this case, the brother of the victim had to finally resort to making an online complaint after repeatedly trying to get in touch with Uber authorities who did not take any action for a while. Uber has now delisted the driver and is investigating the case, but is that enough? And will that stop others from crimes like molestation and rape?
For women, it is now necessary to take safety very, very seriously. So if you do travel alone, here are five things to keep in mind:
1. Be vigilant. If you think there’s something amiss, go by your gut feeling and make a noise about it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve raised a false alarm because your safety and security is way more important.
2. Always carry a safety weapon. In case of such emergencies, it is important to have something like a pepper spray or a sharp instrument handy to stall the perpetrator.
3. Have emergency numbers on speed dial like the police station, your parents, husband or friends.
4. If you don’t feel safe in a cab, make sure you send the details of the driver and your location to a friend, just in case.
5. And lastly, avoid travelling to lonely places alone.
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