Opinion: LSR, Astha Kunj And The Unfinished Fight For Women's Right To Public Spaces

Updated: Sep 24, 2026 15:23 pm IST Published On Sep 24, 2026 15:22 pm IST Last Updated On Sep 24, 2026 15:23 pm IST

Published On Sep 24, 2026 15:22 pm IST

Last Updated On Sep 24, 2026 15:23 pm IST

Last year, five young women from the Cities for Youth Programme in Ajmer decided to set up Apno Thiyo, pop-up chai stops, not just to serve tea, but to create a safe, open, and public space for women to gather and chat.

"It was a case of making women visible over something as simple and basic as hanging out over a cup of tea, an image we usually associate with men,'' says Kalpana Viswanath, co-founder of Safetipin, a social organisation set up in 2013 to work with a wide range of urban stakeholders, including governments, to make public spaces more inclusive for women.

Initiatives like this remain few and far between. As the gang-rape of a 17-year-old at the Astha Kunj Park in Delhi shows the first instinct whenever there is sexual violence against women is to deny them the freedom to use public spaces. In what can only be described as a knee-jerk reaction, the Lady Shri Ram College near the park was shut for a day and classes taken online to safeguard student safety. No one thought the poor lighting and inadequate security around the 142-acre Astha Kunj Park, where the 17-year-old had gone with a male friend, was to blame.

That was until the students brought it to light themselves, underlining repeated requests to ensure safety in and around the college, which is studded with paying guest accommodations but also men who hang out with the purpose of stalking and harassing the young women. It is a persistent threat that was brought home when one of the accused rapists was shot and injured by the police 50 metres from the back gate of the college.

Instead of ensuring better........

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