&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "'Don't go for late-night parties, you'll get raped': Sexist 'safety' posters in Gujarat spark backlash")
In India’s Gujarat, safety posters on the streets have sparked controversy for being sexist. The posters urged women to stay home and "don't go to late-night parties", or they will get raped and gang-raped. Images of such posters circulated on social media and sparked backlash. The posters also mentioned that they were sponsored by the Ahmedabad traffic police.
The posters had written: "do not attend late night parties, you could be raped or gangraped," and “do not go with your friend to dark, isolated areas, what if she is raped or gangraped?”
The Deputy Police Commissioner, Traffic Branch, Safin Hasan, said that a vigilance group had taken permission from the Ahmedabad Traffic Police before putting up the posters to spread traffic awareness.
“However, going outside the purview of traffic awareness, they had posted these posters," the officer told ANI. He said that a report has been filed against the installation of these banners, "including details such as whether permission from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was obtained, the purpose of installation, and the individuals responsible".
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Gujarat posted a video of the posters and slammed the state government, led by the BJP.
"The chief minister and BJP leaders talk about women's safety, but today in a big city like Ahmedabad, these posters express the reality of Gujarat. Our question to the CM is whether the women of Gujarat should go out of the house at night or not?" the AAP statement said.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic West), Neeta Desai, told the news agency PTI that the posters were put up by an NGO named Satarkata Group.
"The NGO had approached us and said they wanted to organise traffic awareness programmes in schools and colleges and wanted our staff to accompany them. We were shown posters related to traffic awareness. But such controversial posters were not shown to us and were plastered without our consent," she said.
