Women Find New Peace on Trains
Since the Economic Reforms in 1990, women have slowly and steadily become an integral part of the urban working population. Over the last 15 years, the number of working women has doubled. However at the same time violence against women has also increased. Between 2003 and 2007, rape cases rose by more than 30 percent, kidnapping or abduction cases rose by more than 50 percent, while torture and molestation also jumped sharply.
According to Mala Bhandari, who runs an organization focused on women and children, the influx of women into the workplace has eroded the traditional separation between public space (the workplace) and private space (the home). “Now that women have started occupying public spaces, issues will always arise,” she said. “And the first issue is security.”
Hence in spite of women being extremely successful in the outside world and holding top positions in almost all sectors, they cannot be oblivious of the fact that they are still living in a man’s world, where patriarchal values and ideas still dominates most families in India. For instance, last week a woman’s husband in Noida was brought in by the police and accused for beating his wife as she had cut her hair in western style. On the other hand, four colleges in Kanpur tried to ban its students from wearing jeans.
Women for many years have been traveling in trains sitting and standing alongside men. Physical and verbal abuse has been an integral part of their everyday lives. However with complaints rising from female passengers, Mamta Banerjee the railway minister has introduced eight new Ladies Special trains in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
However unbelievably, even these trains are not absolutely free of eve teasers. Men sometimes hop on to these trains to harass women!
The need of the hour for our country is to have more trains like the Ladies Special. Currently, due to the present scenario even working women are not quite happy about their daughters taking up jobs that require them to come home late. Violence by men is still a concern for women across India, irrespective of caste and creed.
Source: New York Times, September 15, 2009
Share this:
remyaNovember 25, 2009 at 10:40 am
This might be a convenient arrangement but having ‘women only’ anything is not a solution to the problem. Segregating women into compartments like this is ignoring the actual problem – which stems from men. Changing men, their attitudes and their behaviors will take a long long time – if ever. But till then it is unfortunate that women have bear the brunt of the way men are.
I am not saying this is not a good idea. on a day to day basis, this is the kind of practical solutions that we need. but when we are looking at the bigger picture, ignoring the problem would only make men think further that it is their birth right to have their way with women.