Democratization Of Public Space For Women
By Ranjita Mohanty
16 January, 2013
Countercurrents.org
“The public sphere of civil society stood or fell with the principle of universal access. A Pubic sphere from which specific groups would be eo ispo excluded was less than merely incomplete; it was not public sphere at all”. Jurgen Habermas
Delhi gang rape has alarmed us to criminalization and shrinking of public space for women. Countrywide protests have raised our consciousness about women’s safety when they are outside home, and that a safe public space is woman’s right as a citizen in a democratic set up. An inclusive public space is indeed the hallmark of democracy as the most popular exponent of public space Habarmas reminds us. However, public space is not independent of private space women inhabit. Sure, we need better governance, law and order, policing, transport. Yet, public space will remain an extension of private space and will reflect what goes inside the four walls of home and the social unit called family.
In debating and advocating for public space, it is important not to loose sight of the connection between private and public. It is thus time for a two way reflection.1.What it is in the private space that is now visible in the public space? 2. How to create a safe and respectful public space that is accommodative and inclusive of women, and can bring changes in the private space.
The occurrences in private space influence public space in at least three significant ways:
1. It is in the private space of family that the superiority of male over female is established, becomes a part of socialization process and then carried over to the public space. Two aspects warrant attention. One, the core principle around which girls and boys are raised- that girls are to be sent off, that they belong to another family; that boys are to stay, that the home and family belong to them. Do not confuse this with how much you care for your daughter and that you do not discriminate between your son and daughter. Many parents do care and wish the daughters the best, but the core principle is unavoidable if you consider family as an institution. Second, and this revolves around the core principle – the issues of property, the transfer of it (as dowry in most cases) to daughters and the ownership retained for sons. In a society where resources are scarce, sons get preference over daughters when it comes to matters of private property. Even though the dominant emotions in family are love and compassion, the superiority of male over female actually begins in that space.
2. In examining violence against women in public space, we need to scrutinize the private space as well. For example -is it female foeticide, elimination of girl child in the family, manifesting as violation of female body through rape and murder?; is it domestic violence in the private space that is carried over to the public space as violence against women? And public space is not only about actual physical spaces like roads, parks, malls; public space also includes public institutions. If the public institutions such as police and judiciary as also political parties treat women in a derogatory manner, isn’t it obvious where this is coming from? If there is resistance to reform the law of sexual harassment and rape, doesn’t that tell us why there is so much resistance to change?
3. Private space can restrict women to support women’s cause in public. There are women who empathize but do not support overtly because they anticipate retaliation from men in the family- physical violence including violence against their own children, withdrawal of financial support and emotional threats leading to divorce and disintegration of family. This fear of retaliation and rejection cuts across classes. My conversation with women from both low and high income group reveals that this fear is so real that it keeps women silent both inside the house and outside. The private space by generating fear in the minds of women restricts them from asserting their rights and freedom in the public space. Women fear that family members will think they are ‘independent’; women fear that male employers will think they are ‘dissidents’; women fear that people on roads, in parks and other open places will make them objects of ‘ridicule’.
Private space, rooted in the deep patriarchal culture, is resistance to change. It will take a while for the private space to adapt the new thinking and new sentiments of equality, rights and freedom that the protests in the aftermath of Delhi gang rape have generated. The need of the hour is to democratize the public space for women. And the protests are for that. They are pressing for stronger laws, effective police, swift justice through fast track courts, improved public infrastructure and safe public transport etc. Once women are visible in the public space, claim it as their own and exercise their right to free movement, the boundaries of private space will begin to break.
A la Bob Dylan- the times they are changing. The old equanimity is gone and there are new stirrings. Let this echo first in our public dealings; it will at some point echo in our private relations.
Ranjita Mohanty holds a doctorate in Sociology and combines research with activism. She divides her time between India and South Africa working as a research consultant and university researcher. Dr.Mohanty is a Fulbright Fellow and editor of two books, ‘Does civil society matter? Governance in contemporary India’ and, ‘Participatory citizenship: Issues of Identity, Exclusion, Inclusion. Contact - [email protected]
Comments are moderated
