Indeks
New Delhi is infamously known by many as India’s “rape capital”, with one woman being raped every 20 minutes.
After the brutal gang-rape of a young woman in December last year, the Supreme Court said that it is not a safe city for woman.
Most women say they routinely face harassment, especially on public transport.
21-year old Chandni stands out in her blue uniform. At a car parking lot in New Delhi, she’s getting her taxi ready to pick up her first customer.
“People always say that men and women are meant to do different work,” says Chandni, one of just a handful of female taxi drivers.
“There are certain things like cooking, stitching and embroidery that only a woman is supposed to do, while jobs like driving and plumbing are considered to be a male domain. This is actually an artificial division. I want to break down the barriers and today I’m so happy that I have achieved what was always thought to be impossible for women. As commercial drivers we have crossed all these social barriers and destroying many myths.”
On her white car, is a sign which reads: “Cabs for Women by Women” - it’s a premium taxi service run by a non-profit NGO ‘Sakha Consulting Wings’, and supported by the Azad Foundation.
Women’s safety is a hot topic in India, and the service was launched to empower women and ensure their safety on the roads.
“We firmly believe that we are empowering women across society,” says Naintara Janardhan, Sakha’s chief operating officer.
“So at one end of the spectrum we are empowering the resource-poor women from the slums by providing them training which is to do with skill and empowerment through providing them a livelihood. At the other end of the spectrum we are actually empowering middle class women who are actually using our services. The other thing is the increased reportage of crimes against women in the public spaces and we just thought this is one way to help women reclaim public spaces for themselves.”
There has been an alarming increase in the number of sexual crimes against women in recent months. New Delhi is now infamously known by many as India’s “rape capital”, with one woman being raped every 20 minutes.
The brutal gang rape of a young woman in December last year provoked national outrage and a widespread demand to ensure women’s safety.
Naintara Janardhan says the incident has created a greater demand for their taxi service.
“I would say about 40 percent more calls per day. So many people actually called us to verify if this service exists. What was very interesting to note that there were a huge number of calls from across the world of people calling up and asking how we can help to grow the service.”
Drivers like Chandni feel a great sense of pride being a female taxi driver... but also face many challenges... The biggest of which is the way they are treated by their male counterparts.
“The moment they notice a taxi with a woman driver they immediately start honking and overtaking. And if we’re taking a rest in a parking lot sitting in our taxis, they’ll gather around the car and stare at us, as if we were aliens. We can’t even rest for a moment. This happens almost every day.”
Another female driver Rita, says she’s got used to it. But Rita is concerned about how male driver’s behaviour towards them could be a danger to other road users....
“It happened only this morning. I was on my way to pick up a passenger and was in a bit hurry so I overtook a male driver. He initially offered me space but soon he brought his vehicle parallel to mine and kept staring at me and smiling. I reminded him that he was driving and must look ahead but he didn’t listen and bumped into another vehicle at the traffic lights. It caused a long traffic jam and he got a good beating.”
All 10 of the current female drivers at Sakha cab service are put through a rigorous training course... and there are more trainees signing up.
It’s more than just a driving lesson – because it also touches on gender issues, women’s rights, communication skills and self-defense techniques.
Rita gained a lot more confidence after joining the taxi service as a trainee. When she was 13, she was married off to a neighbour.... but she challenged the marriage and she’s now independent.
She doesn’t want to think about getting married again.
“What does one know of marriage at 13? I was never asked about it, but even if I had been asked what does one know of such things at such a young age. And why should a person give anyone authority to decide another’s fate. It’s much better to be your own master and live life on your own terms.”
The whole training is a life-changing experience.. including for the trainers.
“I came here with a traditional mindset and with the firm belief that women were not fit for male jobs,” says trainer Rakesh Kumar.
“So I was very uncomfortable for the first few weeks because I had a feeling that I was wasting my time... that they didn’t have the ability and wouldn’t learn however hard I tried. But after some time I began to realize that it was just male prejudice that was making me feel all this. And then slowly I began to view the matter more objectively and things started changing.”
Sakha is planning to expand its services and is holding consultations with the government to create opportunities for women in all types of public transport in Delhi.
Sakha argues that this will make the city safer for women.
Drivers like Chandni are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to work as bus drivers... and turn Delhi into a ‘safe capital’ for women.
“Not everyone can afford a taxi, so if we get to drive local transport, we can make Delhi safer. It’s also necessary, because we know on the basis of our experience, that women face harassment and sexual violence on buses. And whenever it happens the bus driver, who is a man, does not stop the bus because he doesn’t care what happens to the woman. If we have female drivers we won’t have this happening and we will soon see a marked improvement in the overall situation.”
Source : http://www.portalkbr.com/
After the brutal gang-rape of a young woman in December last year, the Supreme Court said that it is not a safe city for woman.
Most women say they routinely face harassment, especially on public transport.
21-year old Chandni stands out in her blue uniform. At a car parking lot in New Delhi, she’s getting her taxi ready to pick up her first customer.
“People always say that men and women are meant to do different work,” says Chandni, one of just a handful of female taxi drivers.
“There are certain things like cooking, stitching and embroidery that only a woman is supposed to do, while jobs like driving and plumbing are considered to be a male domain. This is actually an artificial division. I want to break down the barriers and today I’m so happy that I have achieved what was always thought to be impossible for women. As commercial drivers we have crossed all these social barriers and destroying many myths.”
On her white car, is a sign which reads: “Cabs for Women by Women” - it’s a premium taxi service run by a non-profit NGO ‘Sakha Consulting Wings’, and supported by the Azad Foundation.
Women’s safety is a hot topic in India, and the service was launched to empower women and ensure their safety on the roads.
“We firmly believe that we are empowering women across society,” says Naintara Janardhan, Sakha’s chief operating officer.
“So at one end of the spectrum we are empowering the resource-poor women from the slums by providing them training which is to do with skill and empowerment through providing them a livelihood. At the other end of the spectrum we are actually empowering middle class women who are actually using our services. The other thing is the increased reportage of crimes against women in the public spaces and we just thought this is one way to help women reclaim public spaces for themselves.”
There has been an alarming increase in the number of sexual crimes against women in recent months. New Delhi is now infamously known by many as India’s “rape capital”, with one woman being raped every 20 minutes.
The brutal gang rape of a young woman in December last year provoked national outrage and a widespread demand to ensure women’s safety.
Naintara Janardhan says the incident has created a greater demand for their taxi service.
“I would say about 40 percent more calls per day. So many people actually called us to verify if this service exists. What was very interesting to note that there were a huge number of calls from across the world of people calling up and asking how we can help to grow the service.”
Drivers like Chandni feel a great sense of pride being a female taxi driver... but also face many challenges... The biggest of which is the way they are treated by their male counterparts.
“The moment they notice a taxi with a woman driver they immediately start honking and overtaking. And if we’re taking a rest in a parking lot sitting in our taxis, they’ll gather around the car and stare at us, as if we were aliens. We can’t even rest for a moment. This happens almost every day.”
Another female driver Rita, says she’s got used to it. But Rita is concerned about how male driver’s behaviour towards them could be a danger to other road users....
“It happened only this morning. I was on my way to pick up a passenger and was in a bit hurry so I overtook a male driver. He initially offered me space but soon he brought his vehicle parallel to mine and kept staring at me and smiling. I reminded him that he was driving and must look ahead but he didn’t listen and bumped into another vehicle at the traffic lights. It caused a long traffic jam and he got a good beating.”
All 10 of the current female drivers at Sakha cab service are put through a rigorous training course... and there are more trainees signing up.
It’s more than just a driving lesson – because it also touches on gender issues, women’s rights, communication skills and self-defense techniques.
Rita gained a lot more confidence after joining the taxi service as a trainee. When she was 13, she was married off to a neighbour.... but she challenged the marriage and she’s now independent.
She doesn’t want to think about getting married again.
“What does one know of marriage at 13? I was never asked about it, but even if I had been asked what does one know of such things at such a young age. And why should a person give anyone authority to decide another’s fate. It’s much better to be your own master and live life on your own terms.”
The whole training is a life-changing experience.. including for the trainers.
“I came here with a traditional mindset and with the firm belief that women were not fit for male jobs,” says trainer Rakesh Kumar.
“So I was very uncomfortable for the first few weeks because I had a feeling that I was wasting my time... that they didn’t have the ability and wouldn’t learn however hard I tried. But after some time I began to realize that it was just male prejudice that was making me feel all this. And then slowly I began to view the matter more objectively and things started changing.”
Sakha is planning to expand its services and is holding consultations with the government to create opportunities for women in all types of public transport in Delhi.
Sakha argues that this will make the city safer for women.
Drivers like Chandni are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to work as bus drivers... and turn Delhi into a ‘safe capital’ for women.
“Not everyone can afford a taxi, so if we get to drive local transport, we can make Delhi safer. It’s also necessary, because we know on the basis of our experience, that women face harassment and sexual violence on buses. And whenever it happens the bus driver, who is a man, does not stop the bus because he doesn’t care what happens to the woman. If we have female drivers we won’t have this happening and we will soon see a marked improvement in the overall situation.”
Source : http://www.portalkbr.com/
