Hundreds of students of Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) took to the streets in Delhi in solidarity with women protesting against sexual violence and patriarchal restrictions following the gangrape of a 17-year-old girl at Aastha Kunj Park. The protests have brought students from several Delhi University colleges together in a growing assertion that women must have the freedom to study, work, travel and use public spaces without fear.
The LSR students organised a women-only solidarity march through areas around the college and Aastha Kunj Park, followed by a sit-in. The protest sought to reclaim public spaces and reject attempts to impose restrictions on women’s movement in the name of safety. Students raised slogans against rape culture, moral policing and patriarchy, including: “From Miranda to LSR, from Unnao to Delhi, Smash Patriarchy!”
The protests continued with students from Miranda House and other Delhi University colleges on September 28 marching under the banner “Hum Auratein Azaad Hain” (We Women Are Free). Students demanded structural measures to make public spaces safer, including adequate street lighting, better public transport and improved access to public toilets. They rejected hostel curfews and restrictions on women’s movement as a response to sexual violence, asserting that women cannot be made to pay for the crimes committed against them.
The participation of students from across Delhi University, along with left and progressive student activists, reflected a growing resistance to the normalisation of violence against women. AISA also extended solidarity with the mobilisation.
The BJP governments at the Centre and in Delhi have completely failed to curb the escalating violence against women. Repeated incidents of rape, sexual harassment and other forms of violence reported from Delhi and across the country in recent months expose the failure of the BJP governments to ensure women’s safety and hold perpetrators accountable. Instead of confronting the structures and social conditions that enable violence, the response continues to place restrictions on women and regulate their mobility and freedom.
The responsibility for women’s safety cannot be shifted onto women themselves. Curfews, restrictions on hostel timings and warnings against using public spaces at night do nothing to challenge rape culture or patriarchal power. What is required is accountability of perpetrators, effective policing and public infrastructure that enables women to move freely.
The student protests are therefore not merely demands for safer campuses. They are a challenge to a system that seeks to control women’s freedom while failing to protect them from violence. From Miranda House to LSR, students are raising a clear call: Hum Auratein Azaad Hain. Smash Patriarchy!
