Waging a WARR

How many times have you been eve-teased, subjected to lewd name calling or been groped in trains or railway stations? How many times have you just stood there helpless and ashamed? WARR (War Against Railway Rowdies), a crowd-sourced initiative in Mumbai, is now coming to the rescue of distressed female commuters.

Who is WARR

A small group of about six young people from Mumbai initiated a crowd sourced movement and called it ‘War Against Railway Rowdies’. Dipesh Tank, a young media professional and one of the WARR founders, says that this is a movement by common people.

The WARR is on

Operating with hidden cameras and co-ordinating with Railway Police authorities, WARR volunteers are bringing ‘Railway Romeos’ in Mumbai back on the ‘decent’ track by catching them red-handed and detaining them.

Tank echoes our concerns: “Every time we catch a sexual offender, we’re catching a potential rapist.”

WARR capture the culprits yet avoid public shaming. They sent letters to senior railway officials about the gangs they encountered. Fortunately, Andheri railway police reassured them that an alert had been issued against rowdies.

Survey shows Sleaze in Mumbai Rails

In the very week the Shakti Mills gangrape of a photojournalist rocked Mumbai, WARR volunteers held a survey amongst 481 women at Malad, a busy railway station in the western suburbs. The results were shocking to say the least.

The "lifeline of Mumbai", ferrying over 72 lakh commuters to and fro daily - the Mumbai railways are a nightmare for women, going by the survey results. Over 84% women have admitted to encountering eve-teasing/sexual harassment at Malad railway station every single day. Consequently, over 82% women fear harassment at railway platforms.

WARR Speaks Out

“The worry isn’t that there are sexual offenders in the trains. The worry is when the rest of us choose to keep quiet. The journey of WARR hasn’t been easy. We have borrowed laptops, cameras etc. to help the Railway Police gather evidence in nabbing the culprits. We want to unite people who feel helpless but want to change the situation,” says Tank.

A small group of young people in Mumbai are keeping a strict check on sexual misbehaviour in the railway stations. If such a small group can make waves in the lifeline of Mumbai, imagine what the Power of 49 can achieve. Get together. Get aware. Make an informed choice.

Push the Pin on Unsafe Public Transport

WARR is planning to extend their drives to other railway stations in Mumbai. Help WARR identify unsafe spots in Mumbai. Push the Pin on unsafe public transport here

WARR is currently in need of volunteers. Help them make public transport in Mumbai safer. Connect with them on https://www.facebook.com/waragainstrailwayrowdies

You can share your opinions and help create a better movement. Fill up their survey here: http://bit.ly/1faP6Sy

Lesson Learnt in Time

A WARR volunteer along with a railway commuter caught this young man harassing railway commuters, specifically women from Malad to Bandra. At Bandra, he was confronted and then handed over to Dadar GRP police. Even you can catch train hooligans by calling GRP on 98-33-331111