Nearly 500 women and young people marched through Raipur on Sunday, demanding safer public spaces, stronger policing, faster trials in sexual violence cases and greater accountability from institutions responsible for women’s safety.
The protest, organised under the banners of Raipur Women Protest and Shakti Abhiyan, began near Mahila Thana Chowk and continued until about 3 pm. It was scheduled to start at 10 am but began around noon. Police stopped the march near Moti Bagh Chowk, where demonstrators raised slogans against gender-based insecurity and patriarchy.
Organiser Puneshwar Lahare said the gathering grew from around 100 people at the start to nearly 500 by the time it ended. School and college students, working women and participants from different age groups joined the march, with women forming the majority. Lahare described it as a non-political movement focused on women’s inclusion, empowerment and safety.
“This is a non-political movement for women’s inclusion and empowerment. The objective is to ensure that women’s concerns are heard and their demands taken seriously,” Lahare said.
The march linked women’s safety to the everyday use of the city. Slogans included a demand for the right to occupy public spaces at night without fear. Participants also used humour and anger to express their concerns, while some supporters questioned attempts to soften slogans that directly referred to men and gendered experiences of insecurity.
Participant Anushka Thakur said the protest created a public space for women who had discussed their experiences individually for years. She said the gathering demonstrated solidarity, while also highlighting discomfort among some men over how women expressed their anger. According to Thakur, some participants attempted to replace references to “men” with “rapists” in slogans to avoid causing offence, but women later returned to their original wording.
Priyanka Upadhyay, a professional anchor and another organiser, pointed to poorly lit streets as a specific safety concern for women returning home after late-night events. She also questioned the implementation of public safety measures. Pink toilets, she said, could be useful, but sanitary pad dispensers were often empty. She added that the Pink Van emergency service needed to be more accessible because women in immediate danger might not have time to dial a 10-digit number.
The protesters submitted a 15-point memorandum to the state government. Their demands include free sanitary pads in schools and colleges, increased police patrolling near educational institutions, CCTV cameras, active safety committees, paid menstrual leave, stronger action against sexual harassment and cybercrime, faster trials in sexual violence cases and improved support for survivors.
The memorandum places street-level conditions, emergency response and the functioning of public institutions alongside broader demands for equal rights. The protest ended after the demands were submitted, with organisers calling for women to be able to live, work and move through the city without fear or the need to seek permission.
