The authorities in the Indian capital Delhi has taken a positive initiative of training all the taxi and auto drivers to respect women passengers while travelling in a ‘gender sensitization’ campaign. This move was taken after witnessing a series of high-profile attacks on women in the capital of the country.
Gender sensitization is a two hour program training organized by the authorities of Delhi and they have made it mandatory for all the cab and auto drivers to attend these classes . In this two hour session the trainers start with teaching the basic ethics and moral values to the drivers, and then they educate them on issues like how to respect a woman and that disrespecting women comes under crime that is punishable.
The sexual assault rate in India is increasing rapidly and it ranks fourth in the world’s most dangerous countries for women. According to National Crime Records Bureau one rape is reported in every 16 minutes in India.
This initiative on women safety was taken after the world pressure on the recent rape incident in Delhi. Where a 26-year-old working woman had booked an Uber cab that is a US-based online cab service provider, to travel to home on the night of 5th December. The woman was taken to a secluded area by the cab driver and was raped. The cab service was banned after this terrible incident and the assailant got arrested.
This campaign was started in January and the campaigners have said that they have trained and certified some 45000 drivers so far. The drivers who have been trained from this campaign have been asked to display a sticker on their vehicle’s back that states “this responsible rickshaw respects and protects women”.
This is surely a commendable step taken by the authorities in order to decrease the rate of sexual assault cases on women. It is a prime responsibility of every country to provide protection and security to their women.
