“It’s a man you don’t want to run into”: Delhi women band together to walk the city’s forests safely

L2Who’s affected

The group included a scientist who stopped birding after moving to Delhi, a psychiatrist who can't find a safe place to run, and a conservation student, Alankrita Narayan, who was told during an internship: "Oh, don't worry about the leopard. It's a man you don't want to run into." Sinha: "No woman in the city is fully free." The women agree their safety measures may not work for less privileged women.

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED Women's safety in India makes international news mostly after violent crimes, not the daily limits on ordinary life.

L4Deeper impact

The after-sunset park ban hurts women who need to work outdoors at night. Women pick each other up, wait at the gate until all arrive and stick together; walks start at 7am because not everyone can leave home in the dark. "Men can pee on the road and we can't even carry a camera," one woman said.

L5Full context

Sinha, author of My Wild City, describes Delhi's fireflies, flying foxes, jackals, leopards, hyenas, civets, owls and 350-year-old trees, and thousands of fruit bats in central New Delhi. She calls walking and observing nature "very political acts" and has promised the group she will try to arrange a night walk.

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