Lauren Auton, 9/17/09, 7:55PM
More and more women in India, as of lately, have been entering into the business and professional sectors of the work force there. Along with the increase in the amount of women in the work force, there is also an increase in the amount of violence against women. Rape, abduction and kidnapping, and torture and molestation have all sharply increased just over the four year span between 2003 and 2007. Eve teasing, the taunting and harassment of women, is common in India, especially on the trains that people use to commute. To help solve some of the problems that Indian women are having, two women-only trains were introduced in 1992 in one of India's largest cities. Now the two trains in one city have now increased to include eight new trains in four of India's largest cities.
I thought the women-only trains, which are called ladies' specials, were a real breakthrough for not just women in India, but women in general. India has really been having a strong influence on women's rights recently and on the way women are viewed. For example, the Indian President of the Congress Party, Sonia Ghandi, is a woman, and so are the foreign minister, the new minister of railways, and the president of one of India's most populous states. So I view the addition of these new trains as a real step forward for women there. However, even with all of the positions held by women and the new women-only trains, some men in India still have problems with the growing independence of women there and are trying to stop the women-only trains from running at all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/world/asia/16ladies.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=women&st=cse
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