We teach girls to stay safe. Who teaches society to keep them safe?

The useful part

For the past few months, I have been imagining my life at Lady Shri Ram College. The slightly terrifying, exciting thought of leaving Indore and building a life somewhere completely new. I am 17, in Class 12, and next year I want to leave home to study psychology.

How it works

• Now, I was reading about students who already study there having to think about how they would get back to their accommodation safely.
• Recently, my conversations about Delhi have started sounding very different.
• I know that being a young girl in an unfamiliar city comes with risks that my parents cannot simply pretend do not exist.
• Then I read about the recent alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park, close to LSR.

What to take from it

Because suddenly, my college decision is no longer only about what I want to study or what kind of life I want to build. According to reports, the teenager was with a friend when three men allegedly approached them while posing as police officers. Students at LSR have spoken about concerns around the area, including dark stretches of road, inadequate patrolling, a non-functional police booth and gaps in CCTV surveillance.

Example or evidence

• For the first time, the city I had been imagining as my future became a city I had to imagine being afraid in.

Details worth keeping

"Delhi is not safe." And I understand why my parents say it. The incident has since raised questions far beyond the crime itself. I had been imagining LSR as a place where my independence would begin.