Image: detail from "Beware ...!" Courtesy: Rajanish Kakade, AP.
Current Events
Stay Away From India:
World Governments Warn Off Women Travellers
NAYANTARA NARAYANAN
India is fast climbing the list of undesirable places for international women travellers.
This month, Japan reiterated its warnings to female citizens travelling to India, after two rape allegations by Japanese nationals. On February 8, 2015, a tourist in Jaipur said a man claiming to be a tour guide raped her while dropping her off to her guesthouse.
In November 2014, six men from Calcutta allegedly kidnapped, robbed and raped a Japanese woman in Bodh Gaya, Bihar -- where Buddha attained enlightenment.
After newspapers reported the Bodh Gaya incident, government-backed travel agencies in Japan and China advised women against all non-essential travel to India. One agent said: “If you are female, even as a group, we advise you not to travel to India unless absolutely necessary.”
After the Jaipur rape came to light, the Japanese consulate in Calcutta reiterated the warning, advising tourists in India to “be careful and behave cautiously.”
SPATE OF ASSAULTS
Before the December 2012 Delhi gangrape case, most reports about women’s safety in India focused on the plight of Indian women. But since then, a spate of sexual assaults against visitors to the country have been reported as well: A Swiss cyclist in Madhya Pradesh, an Irish charity worker in Calcutta, a German teenager on a Mangalore-Madras train, and a Danish woman in Delhi.
It is little wonder then that the US, the UK, Canada and Australia have issued travel advisories to their citizens alerting them to what has come to be known as the “rape epidemic” in the country.
The United Kingdom government’s latest security update on India is an alert about an autorickshaw driver assaulting a Russian woman in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. Its advice to women travellers is as follows:
“Avoid travelling alone on public transport, or in taxis or auto-rickshaws, especially at night. If you have to use a taxi get them from hotel taxi ranks and use pre-paid taxis at airports. Try to avoid hailing taxis on the street. If you’re being collected at the airport by a hotel driver make sure they have properly identified themselves before you set off.”
The United States more detailed about the travails that Americans, especially of African descent, face in India -- lewd comments or groping in market places, train stations, buses, and public streets. The advisory tells women to dress conservatively and respect local customs.
“Women should observe stringent security precautions, including avoiding use of public transport after dark without the company of known and trustworthy companions, restricting evening entertainment to well-known venues, and avoiding isolated areas when alone at any time of day. Keep your hotel room number confidential and make sure hotel room doors have chains, deadlocks, and peep holes. When possible, travel around the area with groups of friends rather than alone.”
Canada flags the recent increased reporting of assault, rape and sexual aggression.
“Women should avoid travelling alone, particularly at night, on public transportation, taxis and auto-rickshaws, as well as in less populous and unlit areas, including city streets, village lanes and beaches. Dress conservatively and respect local customs.”
The Australian government recommends that travellers to India exercise a high degree of caution, especially foreign women who get unwanted attention. Successful prosecutions for sexual harassment and assault are rare, it warns.
“Exercise vigilance at all times of the day, avoid walking in less populous and unlit areas, including city streets, village lanes and beaches, and take care when travelling in taxis and rickshaws. Avoid travelling alone on public transportation, autos and taxis, particularly at night.”
Many countries of the European Union advise tourists to “exercise extreme caution” and describe a security situation precarious enough to scare away most women planning to visit India for the first time.
[Courtesy: Scroll. Edited for sikhchic.com]
February 20, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Kiran Kaur (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), February 20, 2015, 6:26 AM.
This was inevitable ... only a matter of time. And necessary.
2: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), February 20, 2015, 8:41 AM.
Unbelievable that in a country where a billion Hindus worship make-believe female deities and stone penises (lingam), the male of the species habitually attack sexually, assault, rape and murder their own females!
3: RP SIngh (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), February 20, 2015, 10:24 AM.
We need to give a greater voice to the Sikh women in Punjab and India and around the world, who are victims of this very system ...
4: Harsaran Singh (Indonesia), February 21, 2015, 5:28 AM.
As we discuss these shameful and horrific acts, yet one more such incident has surfaced: this time against a Nigerian woman in New Delhi. India has become a dreaded place for women, be it the workplace or even public places in broad daylight. Despite repeated assurances from the government, nothing has changed on the ground under the BJP government. In fact, it may even have got worse. Corrupt police, lax judiciary and indifferent politicians, all add to the country's woes.
5: Jagdeep Singh (Singapore), February 21, 2015, 10:47 AM.
I travel there often. India is a cesspit of corruption. The biggest problem is the law and enforcement -- the lack, that is. The police are the worst. Pay them off and one can get away with murder. Why? Because they are underpaid and easily corrupted. India needs to sort out this basic problem and then things may have a chance of falling into place. It stuns me how this can keep on happening and ... it keeps on happening, on and on ... Incredible India, indeed!
6: Kaala Singh (Punjab), February 22, 2015, 1:45 PM.
Here is a country where thousands of people are put to death in periodic killing sprees and nothing happens. Sexual violence is considered very "minor" in their sensibilities.