CHENNAI: A few weeks ago, Chennai was ranked as the second most women-friendly city in India. This has sparked conversations beyond statistics, into classrooms, campuses, and the everyday lives of young women shaping the city’s future.
On paper, the city scores high on access to education, inclusion, and opportunity. But empowerment is not measured by enrolment numbers alone; it is reflected in choice, confidence, and the freedom to imagine an independent future.
While institutions have expanded, questions remain about whether learning spaces truly nurture leadership, critical thinking, and autonomy, especially for first-generation learners and those from marginalised communities.
As Chennai positions itself as a progressive urban centre for women, this moment calls for a closer look at the reality and what needs to be changed for the betterment of the city.
Chennai is indeed safer than other cities. But there is a wide gap when it comes to accessibility for women with disabilities. The ongoing infrastructural development projects are already causing hassle to residents.
For example, the foot- path on the Madhya Kailash stretch has become quite small, making it impossible for disabled people to use. A once-friendly road cannot be used at all now. Similarly, the plank on Elliot’s Beach for people with wheelchairs to access the beach is misused for all other reasons. Over all, maintenance of accessible spaces and projects is an issue.
We are provided with a great shelter and gym, exclusively for women with disabilities. The government introduced low-floor buses. But it is not available on all the routes. I would say it is a mixed bag. We feel left out in the process of modernisation.
Most of the election booths are not disability-friendly, without proper wheelchair access, even in the washrooms. If this is not proper, what inclusivity can we aspire to? Basics need to be addressed. Coming to the safety concerns, women with disabilities are four times more vulnerable to assault from family members or strangers, and nine times more vulnerable to sexual violence.
We need a holistic approach to create a safe space. Yes, there is a commitment given to us. As the process is quite complex, the actions are delayed. On a positive note, we have started being a part of the policy-making process. — DR AISHWARYA Rao, disability rights activist
There is a sharp, unsettling dis- connect when a ranking says safe while my instincts still scream caution. While institutional progress is a start, we must ask: friendly for whom? If this safety is a luxury reserved for the elite and doesn’t reach the student or the low- wage daily worker at a bus stop at midnight, it isn’t progress. It’s a bubble.
For me, a city is truly friendly only when it stops demanding my constant vigilance. While many sectors are evolv- ing toward gender equality, the visual arts remain a bastion of stubborn patriarchy, still saturated with the male gaze that confuses objectification for appreciation.
We are finally beginning to clear the shelves of these old, objectifying tropes, making room for art that prioritises the internal psyche over the external shell.
The most urgent change is the democratisation of grants and exhibition spaces. We need merit-based, decentralised funding that actively seeks out all-cadre women—especially those balancing academic careers, mother- hood, and daily struggles. —SOWMYA, artist
Breaking the cultural barriers that are often present in rural places, widowed and destitute women have the privilege of freedom in Chennai. Over the past decade, the taboo surrounding single mothers and widows has also been reduced, and they are happy to openly admit single parenting status.
Chennai is a big hope for these women and provides space for them to be culturally progressive and plenty of job opportunities. Many governmental schemes focus on the betterment of women.
That includes the Pink Auto initiative, which prioritises widows and destitute women. However, the awareness about such schemes is low. The government is trying to bridge this gap. It is only possible through collective and integrated effort.
To bring in more awareness about the available schemes, policies and initiatives, mass media can be used like how we create awareness about tobacco use. — KALYANANTHY SATCHITHANANTHAM, member, Widows and Destitute Women Welfare Board
Chennai’s high ranking as a women-friendly city is encouraging, and it reflects important gains in access, safety, and participation. True educational freedom is not just about whether a young woman can enter a classroom; it is about whether she feels free to choose, free to question, and free to imagine a future beyond prescribed roles.
Many young women in Chennai still make educational and career choices that are safe, socially approved, or family directed rather than deeply aligned with their own strengths and aspirations.
If Chennai is to move from being highly ranked to truly transformative, we need a shift from an informa- tion-heavy model of education to a whole-brain and whole-being approach. When our systems do this consistently, Chennai will not just be a women-friendly city—it will be a woman-enabling city, shaping confident learners, courageous leaders, and future nation-builders. — RANJINI MANIAN, entrepreneur-founder chair, ChampionWoman
Comparatively, Chennai and Tamil Nadu have always been safe spaces for women. Those who object to this will realise the reality of other places only when they cross the border. The civil society here is gender-sensitive.
Surveillance is high, and patrols are deployed late at night to ensure safety. That said, in terms of envi- ronmental impacts, women are the most affected when a dis- aster occurs. Even during the Tsunami, more women died. When the floods affected the city in 2005, the major issue women faced was a lack of washrooms in the shelter and no access to sanitary napkins.
Those is- sues were immediately addressed and taken care of during other emergencies. However, women are still vulnerable to many things. Most invariably, marginalised communities reside in ecologically sensitive regions.
Not intentionally, but they are always pushed to that. That needs to be addressed. Moreover, the available green space in public areas should be designed for women from the informal sectors, especially domestic workers.
For example, many domestic workers in the neighbourhood gather and eat together at the Nageswara Rao Park in T Nagar during the daytime. When enquired, one of them said that this is a place where they feel safe to bring their children, and this catch-up session among us is what mo- tivates them to travel 40 km every day for work. So, I believe that there should be common places for women to congregate without fear. — DR JAYSHREE VENCATESAN, ecologist