'Ladies Special' Trains Roll Indian Women Into the 21st Century

Indian women escape harassment on the trainWomen are riding the rails in India — without men. Mamata Banerjee, the new minister of railways, announced the eight new Ladies Specials trains. The New York Times reports that in a pilot program, eight new commuter trains “women only” commuter trains — known as Ladies Specials — have been introduced in India’s four largest cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta.

Like so many countries, India is living with the challenges brought on by women entering the workforce, ending an official separation of women occupying public spaces. The result is a serious concern for women’s security.

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.

If you have any interest in the lives of international women, this NY Times article is a must read: On India’s Railways, Women Find New Peace in Commute.

Note from Anne: This is a bit bizarre, but I wrote in my Journal yesterday about this collision of male contempt for women and their entry into the modern world. I inserted a YouTube video of my favorite childhood story, one that has stayed with me in my adult life: The Little Engine That Could.

Read: Lubna Hussein, Chansa Kabwela, 20 Women Stripped to Their Underwear in Uganda: Are the World’s Male Morality Squads Coming Unhinged? Anne’s Journal