A Woman Has the Right to Exist Without Fear

A woman has the right to exist without fear.

To walk home.

To work late.

To travel alone.

To trust someone.

To fall in love.

To say yes.

To say no.

To change her mind.

To leave.

To simply live.

Yet, somewhere along the way, we began teaching women how to survive the world instead of asking the world why women are unsafe in it.

We tell her to be careful.

Be careful about whom you meet.

Be careful about whom you trust.

Be careful about going out alone.

Be careful about the time.

Be careful about the place.

Be careful about your clothes.

Be careful about your words.

So much caution.

So little accountability.

Yes, awareness matters. Situational awareness can save lives. Recognising manipulation, controlling behaviour, threats and other warning signs can help a woman protect herself.

But awareness should never become blame.

I will never ask a woman why she trusted.

I will ask:

Why did someone choose to betray that trust and why did the circumstances allow it to happen?

There is a difference between teaching a woman to recognise danger and teaching her that she is responsible for someone else’s violence.

The responsibility for violence belongs to the person who chooses to commit it.

And perhaps we need to look beyond the individual incident too.

Was there someone who noticed but remained silent?

Was there an institution that ignored warning signs?

Was there a friend who sensed something was wrong but didn’t know what to do?

Was there a system that could have intervened earlier?

Women should not have to become experts in danger merely to live ordinary lives.

I want a world where a woman can leave work late without calculating the risks of every shadow.

Where she can trust without being punished for trusting.

Where saying “no” is enough.

Where leaving is respected.

Where vulnerability is met with protection, not exploitation.

Let us teach women awareness without teaching them fear.

Let us teach society accountability.

Let us teach our boys that consent is not negotiable, that love is not possession, that rejection is not humiliation, and that another person’s vulnerability is never an invitation to harm.

Because a woman does not need permission to live freely.

She needs the assurance that she will be safe while doing so.

"And that assurance is not a favour."

"It is her right."

Dr. Kalpana Kandaswamy.