Are Women Responsible For Their Safety ?

A Question I was Asked on Quora....

Some questions must not be answered directly. They very easily get tagged as opinion. So I will define a few points here and turn the question back to you.

Your Question - ‘Are women responsible’ - ‘For their OWN’ - ‘SAFETY’ ?

SAFETY - Imagine a metal box with an opening on one side. Most of you will imagine a SAFE. A box where you store valuables. You call it safe because you believe that no one can gain access into that box without the key/password that can otherwise open it. But yet we know of many cases where this safe has turned out to be unsafe. And it has happened so because those who broke the safe did so where the SAFE was unguarded by a security personnel. Which implies that - That which is required to be SAFE must also be SECURED.

FOR THEIR OWN - In India, corruption has got into every nook and corner of the system. And it has made things worse by corrupting the security structure. We could not stop an attack on one of our most secured structure ‘Parliament’ that happens to be the epitome of our democracy. We could not stop a 26/11. And in recent times, a few Pakistanis were found living illegally in bangalore with valid aadhar cards.

But for a minute, let's assume each and every law enforcement officers is as honest as Harishchandra. They will still fail to provide security to our nation. Because they are 0.1 % of our entire population. There is only 1 cop for every 840 citizens. And according to some criminal stats I read long back - 10% of any population consists of criminal minds. So that makes it 1 cop vs 84 criminals. And the cops are definitely human beings. Which means they cannot be omnipresent for a billion people.

ARE WOMEN RESPONSIBLE - Are men completely safe from being victims of crime ? I definitely don't believe so. So the question should be - Are WE responsible for OUR OWN SECURITY?

Looking at what I've shared above, I believe you know what the answer is. What I've stated are facts. So I'd like YOU, the intelligent reader of this piece, to answer this intelligent question all by yourself for yourself.

Stay Safe !

How Safe Are Women In India ?

Introduction - I've been asked to answer this question on #Quora many times. Hence thought of putting this up on my blog. Understanding my perspective requires you to park your emotions for a while. As I believe one needs to be emotionally neutral to be able to understand the challenge accurately & arrive at a foolproof solution. I sincerely hope this small piece will put the most widely discussed issue in the right perspective. So please read on & share this if you agree or your views if you don't.

If you have to withdraw 100,000 cash from the bank, you'd take precautions that even cops might not take with VIPs. That's because you ACCEPT that this is your hard earned money and whether or not the police is there or not, if you lose this money - it will be your loss and your responsibility.

You also know that it is your fundamental right to safety and freedom to walk around with valuables. However you'd be a fool to try and exercise your rights, being completely aware of the criminals and their intentions. And not to forget the fact that we are a billion + population and the police cannot be omnipresent for all.

Now women, replace this 100,000 with your life. What precaution do you take everyday to keep yourself secured. Or are you screaming about your fundamental rights to walk worry free at night and expect those with malicious intent to educate themselves on the fundamental rights ? Or are you stuck in a vicious circle of the media blame game between cops, court and the government?

UNDERSTAND THIS - ANY place on this planet is safe for you, if you take responsibility to train yourself against the prevalent malicious people. And No Place is safe if you choose to blame everyone else for what happens to you.

We have a law and order problem and a massive corruption problem. Your fundamental rights are as good as nonexistent unless these issues are addressed first. So till such time that we can educate our population, destroy corrupt practices and strengthen our law and order mechanism,

STOP BLAMING and take your Personal Security - Personally and Seriously. You are the CAPTAIN of your Life and MASTER of your Fate.

Stay SAFE !

Chakradhari Rowe
Consultant and Instructor
www.armoredspirit.com