Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer Chandan Mitra on Friday advocated the important role of civil society and media in creating awareness on crime against women.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by Delhi-based NGO Sampurna in association with United Nations-Habitat.

Giving examples of the Nirbhaya gangrape case and the Jessica Lal murder case where media and civil society played a major role, Mitra said that the national Capital should set an example for the country by taking a stand and creating awareness in crimes against women.

“In most cases, rapes are committed by people known to the victims such as relatives, neighbours and employers. Most of the incidents can be averted if we ourselves are alert,” he said.

Mitra also suggested that there should be an emergency button in mobile phones so that seeking assistance in case of an emergency is easier which, he claimed, would be a big step in ensuring security of women.

The programme was inaugurated with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Shobha Vijender, founder and president of Sampurna. Vijender stressed on the need to come together as a community and put in the required effort on possible solutions and recommendations in order to achieve the desired objective.

Hitesh Vaidya, the country manager-in-India for UN-Habitat appreciated the efforts of the NGO for starting a campaign which sought to mobilise and build the capacity of a diverse set of stakeholders on the use of various approaches and tools for women’s safety. UN-Habitat believes that “a safe city is a just city”; having said this, it is welcoming to note that Delhi has decided to revise its master plan, wherein, safety and security of women will now be included.

Various stakeholders, including Government officials, civil society organisations, academicians and public representatives, deliberated over a range of issues related to women’s safety in public spaces. The deliberations concluded to secure and further build on commitments to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible public spaces, in particular for women and children, older people and people with disabilities. The session was chaired by New Delhi Municipal Council Chairman Naresh Kumar, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, president of Paytm, Ashok Kumar of the school of planning and architecture, Bharat Bhushan, town planner of South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Kavita Sharma, and Omkareshwar Pande of ANI.