Privatization of public services hurts women’s access to public spaces

Privatization of public services hurts women’s access to public spaces, so protests against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s privatization plans are growing. “Research conducted by the Gender and Space project, of which I [Shilpa Phadke] was a part, between 2003 and 2006 on women’s access to public spaces in Mumbai, published in the book Why Loiter?, demonstrated unequivocally that public transport—the city’s network of BEST buses, suburban trains and the links between the two—made Mumbai the friendliest, most accessible city in the country for women. A decade later, we are seeing the gradual erosion of BEST services and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s articulation of its intent to hand over operations to private agencies and sell bus depots to real estate developers. In short, to unravel a system that works, and works brilliantly.”