What kind of a world are we living in? One where on the one hand people talk about women empowerment and on the other hand rape any woman they lay their eyes on? One where the pragmatic concerns about women’s safety only seem to rest on paper? One where simply no place is excused as ‘safe’? One where the entire world is a ‘hot spot’?
The rape of a 25-year old MNC executive by a well-reputed cab service provider’s driver, Uber, marked the entry of cabs to the ‘unsafe’ areas for women. And the subsequent ban of all app-based cab services is of course not a solution. It is, indeed, just another way of limiting women’s new found freedom. Given that schools, colleges, offices, homes, buses and metro are all ‘unsafe’, with this rape, cab joins the club too. Now, this incident is shocking at so many levels like the false verification certificate issued by the local police, the fact that Uber did not conduct any background check on the driver and the fact that the cab did not a GPS system which is mandatory for all taxis.
But the most salient feature is the snatching away of women’s freedom by the ban imposed. After the Nirbhaya gang-rape, cabs were seen as a relief for all women whose working hours extended till late or who merely had to travel late at night due to whatsoever reasons. Uber came across as a reliable source and hence a major site of trust. But Shiv Kumar Yadav 
drowned all these accolades to a pit of shame. A man who has previously served jail term for rape, who has to his name a list of criminal offences, whose family was threatened with boycott if he did not leave the village, with whose fear the girls of his village were asked not to venture out, such a man was employed by Uber. What could have we expected other than what happened?
What does this incident tell us? Is this yet another display of male chauvinism or is there a deeper reason? Can men simply not tolerate the sight of a woman at night? Or are they unable to control their urges? If they are, why should women pay the price? Isn’t this just another way of telling women what could happen if they are out at night and hence they should be placed under lock and eye for all times? But what I want to know is that is it the women’s fault that she is out at a time when even men are? Is it her fault that she chooses to rely on a safe cab service to drop her home? Is it her fault that she is born a woman? Is it her fault that she is living in a giant hot spot?
There is one thing we must not take from this rape and that is that there is nothing wrong with women roaming around the streets at night simply because men cannot comprehend and digest the fact that women too can 
enjoy the same freedom they do! It all boils down to the system of patriarchy, the most acceptable form of inequality and injustice.
The question raised here is that what is safe? If women should be domesticated then the home should be a refuge. But is it? Most rapes are carried out by family members, relatives and acquaintances of the victim. The mother’s womb isn’t safe too. So, there is no point in confining women to their homes. If a rape has to happen, it can happen anywhere. This rape definitely bursts the bubble of the ‘trustworthy cab’ and women find themselves yet again back to square one.
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Tags: Uber Uber rape
