Women in Delhi are gathering for late-night walks to use the city’s streets more freely and draw attention to safety. The Women Walk at Midnight initiative brings together participants from different generations.
One participant is 21-year-old Delhi University student Disha Barwal. She told The Hindu that it was her first such walk in Vasant Kunj. Though she felt afraid, she said she wanted women walking at night to become an ordinary sight.
Participants coordinate their trips home through WhatsApp groups, and some carpool. Women in their 20s and 30s walk alongside their mothers. Shama Shah, who had come from Saharanpur to visit her daughter, said she felt a sense of freedom and planned to organize a similar walk in her hometown.
The walks come amid public anger over the reported gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at Delhi’s Astha Kunj park. Another initiative, WhyLoiter, has organized night walks in Greater Kailash and Chittaranjan Park.
Organizers expected about 100 people at one Delhi walk, but at least 200 attended, The Hindu reported. The story also describes similar initiatives in Goa, Kolkata and Jaipur. The Indian Express separately reported that 60 women joined a walk in Vasant Kunj on Oct. 1.