In Egypt, females are turning everyday bike riding into a social movement to raise awareness for gender equality in their country. This act of women of Egypt sends a powerful message of them “reclaiming public spaces” and by extension, their right to participate in everyday activities, like riding their bikes to work or for pleasure, equally with men. But what are ‘public spaces’ and what makes them an instrument for gender equality?
Public spaces and their importance:
In the “Indian Journal of Political Science,” Rinkoo Wadhera defines space as not only a geographical location but also a living environment that interacts with its inhabitants. In certain spaces, people may feel comfortable and in others, they might feel uncomfortable. Positive or bad relationships can be formed between a space and the person using it.
Public space, though, lacks a clear definition. However, it is to be noted that human rights would be severely limited or unattainable without a right to access public space. A few Examples of these human rights include the right to freedom of movement within the borders of each state, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in public, and the enjoyment of and involvement in the local community’s cultural life. Like this, the right to public space might not exist on its own but is implied through the other identified rights.
Equal access to public spaces is vital because it is through these spaces that we can access our cultural rights in a myriad of ways. Gender equality in public spaces will mean women having access to their cultural rights on an equal basis with men. It could look like getting more work opportunities and getting to play outside the home. It also means more political participation by women.
Male encroachment on feminine spaces:
Rinkoo Wadhera defines ‘feminine space’ as a space that interacts positively with the female sex. Women are not only comfortable in feminine spaces but more importantly, they draw power from those spaces. So what happens to women when their place of comfort, a space they draw power from is encroached upon?
On their second day of cultural fest, Shruti, a few hundred men created a stampede and climbed the walls to enter the Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi. Female students in the fest complained of sexual harassment and being groped. This not only led to physical trauma for many of the female students but also a long-lasting psychological trauma imprinted in the minds of the students. The feeling of being unsafe everywhere got embedded in the minds of these women. This incident led them to take to the streets in protest, a fight they fought for their space. Yet, their demand for justice wasn’t met.
Unsafe workplace environment:
On Tuesday, The Guardian reported that according to a survey nearly one in three female NHS surgeons have been sexually assaulted in the past five years. Surgeons who were part of the study reported 11 instances of rape. The findings of the survey read that female surgeons were sexually assaulted 30% of the time, had unwelcome physical approaches made to them 29% of the time, received comments about their bodies more than 40% of the time, and engaged in sexual “banter” 38% of the time.
“Sexual misconduct occurs frequently and appears to go unchecked in the surgical environment owing to a combination of a highly hierarchical structure and a gender and power imbalance,” the report’s conclusion reads. As a result, the area is unsafe for patients as well as for workers.
According to information provided to the BBC, the most typical scenario had a junior female trainee being abused by a senior male perpetrator, who was frequently their supervisor.
Unsafe public places:
In a recent interview with The Quint, a woman told how she was groped in the recent AR Rahman concert in Tamil Nadu. The concert was a disaster as the organizers led more people in than the capacity of the stadium which led to a stampede and overcrowding. The woman said that she asked a man addressing him as Anna (meaning brother in Tamil language), the way to exist as she had a panic attack. The man looked her in the eye and before she knew it, his hands were on her breasts and she was groped. She said, “I froze. I couldn’t move an inch. A horrific, traumatizing experience I can never get over.”
Across the sea and continent, a female reporter on the ground, Isa Balado, in Spain was reporting a robbery in Madrid when a man walked up and touched her bottom. When she confronted him, he denied her. She tried to continue but was interrupted by the host of the program who asked her if she was groped. When she answered in positive, he asked her to put the ‘idiot’ on the camera. The man was still standing with her, smiling and laughing. The man denied touching her, and as he walked away, he attempted to tickle her head. The man was later arrested by the police for allegedly assaulting a reporter.
Isa’s reaction of continuing with her work and not reporting the assault reminds us of the words, of Taylor Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift in the court that she didn’t go to the police when her daughter was groped in 2017 because “I didn’t want this event to define her life.”
“I didn’t want her to have to endure the never-ending memes and gifs that online trolls and tabloid media decided to create by manipulating the images… and forcing her to repeatedly experience this terrible moment,” she claimed.
However, by not reporting to authorities, the pop star was responding in the same way that thousands of American women do every year to sexual assault. Taylor Swift later came out in the open that she was assaulted and filed and won a countersuit against David Mueller.
The Hindustan Times reported a South Korean woman was sexually harassed on her trip to Hong Kong by an Indian woman. The incident was captured live on camera as the woman was broadcasting her day on Twitch. The video bears testimony to the fact that while the idea of solo trips sounds wonderful, it is still a dream for many women because their ground reality is something very horrifying and horrendous.
The United Nations Organisation says correctly that the world is failing women and girls. In a snapshot report produced by the organization on Thursday, the agency reported that an additional $360bn (£290bn) a year is needed to achieve gender equality by 2030. UN Women blames limited progress globally for women on the “lackluster commitment.”
“Deeply ingrained biases against women, manifesting in unequal access to sexual and reproductive health, unequal political representation, economic disparities, and a lack of legal protection,” it stated, are preventing concrete change.
The prevailing news underscores women’s pervasive lack of safety, transcending continents, racial backgrounds, and socioeconomic classes. Whether in public spaces, workplaces, or even feminine spaces, women frequently find themselves confronted with the daunting choice of enduring sexual harassment, assault, or catcalling, or summoning the courage to resist it. In light of this disheartening reality, the dream of reclaiming public spaces and thoroughly enjoying their cultural rights appears to be distant.
