As a young woman living in India, the realities are far more grim than most of us would like to acknowledge. With the number of sexual assault cases being reported at an all time high, constant vigilance is what the urban female working population swears by.

There are scores of working professionals in the metropolitan cities across the country who avail of private taxi services to ferry them across to the safe spaces of their homes. Yes, the likes of Ola, Uber, Taxi for Sure are our trusted rides to everywhere, especially on those nights when we’re out late. But there’s no denying that gnawing insecurity of trusting a complete stranger with the responsibility of taking you to the safety of your home. And frequent cases of assaults being reported during these commutes don’t help our case. We live in a constant state of discomfiture and alarm.

This is the exact sentiment the commercial for ‘Mission Hazaar’ is based on. ‘Mission Hazaar’ is a campaign spearheaded by Breakthrough to facilitate a movement against gender based sex selection.Watch it here:

This video aims to put across the message that the world would be a safer place if women looked out for women, and stood by each other.

While the primary thought behind the video is to encourage bringing more girl children into the world, it sends out a skewed message that we can’t trust men with our safety.

In this day and age when we’re constantly striving towards equality, is that the kind of message we would want sent out?