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Pune, Aug 22 (PTI): Students interacting with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday highlighted how sexual harassment, concerns over personal safety, lack of safe public transport and financial constraints continue to affect women's access to education and economic independence.

Speaking at the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' programme, Suchitra Pagi, an economics student from Palghar's Vasai, recounted incidents of harassment she faced as a 13-year-old while walking home from school and later while travelling on public transport.

She said the experiences instilled a fear of men in her, but stressed that not all men are the same and urged people to intervene when they witness a woman being harassed.

Pagi also appealed to women and men to support victims instead of remaining silent spectators.

Another student, Maitri, a psychology student studying in Pune, said safety concerns can become a barrier to education, particularly for girls from rural areas.

She said parents in villages often hesitate to send their daughters outside for higher education because of safety concerns, and may instead prefer to educate their sons.

Maitri attributed this mindset partly to social norms that assume sons will support their parents financially while daughters will marry and leave the family.

Pradnya Gavande, a second-year BSc student of Cyber and Digital Science, highlighted the financial barriers to pursuing specialised courses such as cyber security.

She mentioned that reputed colleges charge around Rs 3 lakh for such courses, which is difficult for students from financially weaker families to afford.

Gavande, who also works part-time, sought greater availability of cyber security courses in government colleges and scholarships for students.

She also spoke about the growing misuse of artificial intelligence to create obscene images of women and extort money from them, stressing the need for stronger cyber security awareness and skills.

Additionally, the students raised concerns over women's safety in public transport, saying they often feel unsafe both in crowded buses, where there is a fear of harassment or inappropriate touching, and in empty buses, where they fear being alone with men.

They noted that ensuring safe mobility, affordable education and freedom from harassment was essential if women were to have equal opportunities. PTI MR MPL MPL

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)