Photo: Collected
Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon has spoken about the everyday insecurity and fear of girls on the occasion of Daughters’ Day. In a post on social media, she set out the experience of the precautions girls have to follow while moving about outside.
According to Kriti, a society is needed where girls will be able to move about freely without fear or apprehension.
Setting out various situations in the daily lives of girls in the post, she said that just imagining a scene in which a girl, on her way home, realises that several men are following her makes it clear how much anxiety girls have to live with over safety.
She mentioned that looking back again and again while returning home alone at night, or the worry of the phone running out of charge, is also a familiar experience for many girls.
Kriti also set out the measures girls take for safety. She said precautions such as sharing live location with a family member or friend, taking a cab instead of walking, or staying on the phone with someone on the way home have become part of the daily lives of many girls.
In her view, instead of accepting these things as a normal part of a woman’s life, importance needs to be given to building a safe environment. The situation in which a woman has to think about possible risks every moment after going out needs to change.
She has expressed the hope for a day when a girl will be able to return home alone at night, sit in a park after dusk or go out wearing clothes of her own choice. She also spoke of the need to create an environment in which there is no need to be in fear over safety while using public transport either.
The actress has expressed the hope for a society in which women do not have to stay extra alert and think about their own safety even in crowded places.
In the post Kriti also set out a familiar habit of girls’ communication with their families. After going somewhere alone or staying out at night, many girls call their family to say, ‘I have reached.’ Such a call or message is usually given to reassure family members by letting them know that they have reached their destination safely.
Kriti hopes a time will come when no girl will have to call her family to report on her own safety after going somewhere alone, because by then there will no longer be any fear or uncertainty about moving about outside.
