LADIES SPECIAL

THE FEELING OF WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND BEING LOOKED AT WITH UNDRESSING EYES, MAKING YOU FEEL TOUCHED ALTHOUGH NO HAND HAS BEEN LAID ON YOU... THOSE SEXUAL REMARKS NOT EVEN THE OLDER MEN REFRAIN FROM STATING... BEING LOOKED AS AN ITEM AND NOT A HUMAN BEING... BELIEVED TO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO STATE YOUR OPINION... NOT ABLE TO TAKE ACTION IN WHAT YOU BELIEVE... LOOKED AND USED AS A FORM OF PLEASURE AND PLEASURE ONLY... YOUR BODY IS A TEMPLE, NOT A BAR...
IMAGINE NOW LIVING IN A COUNTRY WHERE YOU REALLY HAVE NO SAY... WHAT DO YOU DO? INDIA IS COUNTRY IN WHICH WOMEN SUFFRAGE IS STILL TAKING PLACE. ALTHOUGH MILLIONS OF WOMEN HAVE POURED INTO THE WORK FORCE, THEY HAVE MET WITH DIFFERENT OBSTACLES IN A TRADITION- BOUND, PATRIARCHAL CULTURE. PATRIARCHAL: WHERE THE SUPREMACY OF A MAN; WHETHER IT MAY BE THE FATHER, HUSBAND, OR SON HAS THE POWER TO CONTROL. HAVING THE ABILITY TO GO TO WORK FOR WOMEN IN INDIA IS ONE THING, BUT GETTING TO WORK AND DEALING WITH THE OBSTACLES FACED THERE IS ANOTHER.

THE PROBLEMS OF TAUNTING AND HARASSMENT HAVE BEEN SO PERSISTENT THAT IN RECENT MONTHS THE GOVERNMENT DECIDED TO REMOVE MEN ALTOGETHER FROM CERTAIN TRAINS.

IN A PILOT PROGRAM IN INDIA'S FOUR LARGEST CITIES, EIGHT NEW COMMUTER TRAINS MADE EXCLUSIVE FOR FEMALE PASSENGERS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED; KNOWN AS LADIES SPECIALS. THE COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL POLITICIAN, SONIA GANDHI, IS A WOMAN AND SO IS THE PRESIDENT.

WOMEN HAVE ENTERED THE URBAN WORK FORCE SINCE THE EARLY 1990S, INITIALLY AS GOVERNMENT OFFICE WORKERS BUT NOW INCREASINGLY AS EMPLOYEES IN PROFESSIONAL JOBS. THE NUMBER OF WORKING WOMEN HAS DOUBLED IN 15 YEARS.

JUST AS THE NUMBER OF WORKING WOMEN HAS INCREASED, SO HAS THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. BETWEEN 2003 AND 2007, RAPE CASES ROSE BY MORE THAN 30 PERCENT AND KIDNAPPING OR ABDUCTION CASES ROSE BY MORE THAN 50 PERCENT, WHILE TORTURE AND MOLESTATION ALSO JUMPED SHARPLY.

FOR MANY YEARS, WOMEN TRAVELING BY TRAIN SAT WITH MEN, UNTIL CROWDING AND SECURITY CONCERNS PROMPTED THE RAILROAD TO RESERVE TWO COMPARTMENTS PER TRAIN FOR WOMEN. WITH COMPLAINTS RISING FROM FEMALE PASSENGERS, MAMATA BANERJEE, THE NEW FEMALE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, ANNOUNCED THE EIGHT NEW LADIES SPECIALS TRAINS.