Since the Delhi gang-rape case, India has been taking molest cases quite seriously but even today women hesitate from working at nights. Till today women feel unsafe while traveling from their workplace to homes. Even in this 21st century, families of the women working at night live with an uncertainty and insecurity. What is the reason behind this fear?

Working at nights has been a trend lately in India for both for men and women. But recently a lot of cases have been occurring that are posing a great threat to the security of women. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports, out of 15,556 cases, the women molested were between the age group of 18 and 30 years in 2013. It has been found that women working during nights are no way safe; neither on roads, neither in public transports that are provided to them at their respective workplaces. Even in workplaces, women always pose a threat of facing sexual harassments. For example, the nurses working in night shifts are always on the risky side of getting molested and still, nothing much is done to relieve them from their plight. A decline of 10 percent in the women labor force was observed in the year 2005. In the year 2014, the participation of women in the labor force was hardly 27 percent which is indeed a matter of regret for the nation. Almost 53% of women working at nights live in fear of their safety.

Keeping these problems in mind, a study on the “effects of shift problems on nurses, Udaipur Rajasthan ” was conducted to dig a bit deeper into this problem. Major facts of this study were that night shifts took a major toll on their health and family life as well which was a trauma for them. It has been noted in a survey that 82% of women start increasing their working pace and prefer leaving their office post sunset.

However, keeping in mind the recent happenings, the government has framed certain norms and measures to protect women who work at late nights. The ‘Karnataka shops and establishments act’ has laid down few conditions for the protection of women. There are few cases where women themselves have taken action against these criminals who tried to outrage their modesty and the Indian law has supported them.  Apart from that lot of NGOs are working and conducting social events for creating awareness among women and enlightening them about their rights. They are few laws that every woman needs to know for her safety and protection. Apart from all these laws and norms, women can also use few precautions like keeping safety sprays with them and knowing few basic self-defense techniques. Although crimes against women still continue to exist in the Indian society, through repeatedly combined efforts of the government and citizens – we all might hope for building a better and safe future for women working in night shifts.

Source: safecity.in (by Sonia Rathore)