New Delhi: Marking National Girl Child Day and National Tourism Day, Indian actor, producer, and UN Goodwill Ambassador Dia Mirza issued a strong call for gender-responsive action, highlighting the urgent link between girls’ safety and their freedom of movement.
In a powerful statement, Mirza stressed that true progress in tourism and urban development cannot be celebrated unless girls and women can move freely without fear in public spaces.
“A girl who feels safe enough to travel independently today becomes the woman who will move through the world with confidence tomorrow. And yet, for far too many of our girls, public spaces come with a ‘safety tax’, a price paid in fear, in lost time, in constantly calculating routes, clothes, hours, and in dreams that quietly shrink before they even take flight,” she said.
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She further added, “As I mark National Girl Child Day and National Tourism Day, I feel this truth deeply: we cannot celebrate movement, exploration, and freedom while so many girls are still navigating the gap between mobility and fear.”
Mirza drew a sharp contrast between the ideals of exploration and the lived reality of millions of girls and women, noting that mobility remains deeply unequal. Citing national and global data, she pointed out that nearly 40 percent of women in urban India still feel unsafe in their own cities, while incidents of harassment among girls and young women under 24 continue to rise.
Globally, UN Women estimates that up to 70 percent of women experience harassment in public spaces, figures Mirza described as a “trust deficit” that limits a girl’s world before it has fully opened.
Beyond social injustice, Mirza framed women’s safety as a critical economic issue. With tourism contributing nearly 10 percent to global GDP, she emphasized that fear-driven exclusion restricts access to education, employment, and opportunity, ultimately slowing sustainable growth.
Calling for visible and measurable action from better lighting and safer public transport to zero tolerance for harassment, Mirza concluded that designing safer cities for girls creates safer, more inclusive spaces for everyone.
