Despite ‘safe’ tag, over 20% of women in Chennai face sexual harassment on public transport, at public spaces: study

Chennai's Gender and Policy Lab study reveals 53% of women rate city as safe, yet 12-22% experienced sexual harassment in public spaces/transport. Many incidents go unreported due to lack of awareness/fear of attention. Education plays a part, with more college-educated women reporting harassment. To create a safer, more inclusive Chennai, collaborative efforts between govt. & citizens needed, incl. awareness of intervention when witnessing harassment & better accessibility.

While 53% of women rated Chennai as safe, over 20% (including transpersons) said they had experienced sexual harassment in public spaces and on public transport, revealed a a study conducted by the Gender and Policy Lab of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).

The study was presented at a meeting, ‘Building a gender inclusive Chennai: Learnings and way forward’, held at at the Ripon Building premises on Thursday, November 9, 2023.

This first-of-its-kind study, part of the Chennai City Partnership Project between the Tamil Nadu government and the World Bank, was carried out between November 2022 and March 2023, and was aimed at understanding women’s perception of safety in public spaces and on public transport, as well as factors restricting the reporting of harassment. It covered a diverse sample of 3,000 individuals in Chennai, including 1,402 women, 565 men, and 100 transgender individuals. Participants were interviewed at the household level and in public places, including bus stops, autorickshaw stands, metro stations, and suburban railways.

While 53% of women rated Chennai as safe, 12-22% of women and transgender persons reported experiencing sexual harassment in public spaces and on transport. . What was of even more concern however, was that many incidents of harassment went unreported due to a lack of awareness about reporting mechanisms and fear of drawing attention. Bystander intervention was limited, with only 45% of cases seeing police intervention.

The study also revealed that men in the city had more awareness and understanding of the alert systems such as helplines and panic buttons on government buses than women.

About 43% of men in the survey had witnessed sexual harassment of women in public spaces in the last three months. Of them, 18% reportedly did not intervene even when the victim was known to them, while 14% said the victims were strangers to them.

Education seems to play a part, pointed out a consultant at the Lab: more women with college degrees reported their experiences of sexual harassment. However, many women continue to be afraid of approaching the authorities, as they are apprehensive about victim blaming.