India forum

Yes. 23,582 reported rape cases in India in 2011. I could probably extend my concerns beyond individual female travellers and consider the issue in a wider perspective.

I spent three months in India in 1993, and the first week or so I travelled with three blond German girls who had already been there for some time already. I'll never forget the day we pulled into a train station and after a couple of minutes the girls started cracking up and taking pics. I looked over to see a guy standing on the platform, in front of their window, looking at them and masturbating.

Seriously.

To be fair I was a pretty green traveller at the time, but I.will.never.forget.it. The girls said it happened regularly and by the stage I met up with them they said they had a whole collection of pics of "Indian willies" as they called them (luckily this was before digi cameras, so I wasn't shown the pics) -- not that I needed to as there was a guy beating off right in front of me.

Nobody interfered with the guy. There were plenty of men (and women) standing on the platform who could have intervened. Nobody did. The guy wasn't (at least obviously) deranged, though you gotta wonder.

The girls were quite ambivalent about it, but when that kinda of behaviour is seen as either acceptable or at least warrants a blind eye, it's not a stretch to see tragedies like the above unfolding.

Female travellers I met in India routinely complained about groping on buses and so on and I imagine it easily escalates depending on the situation.

Despite this India remains a very popular place for solo women travellers -- something I find it difficult to reconcile really.

The SMH has another piece on this topic today, stating "Why India isn't safe for women travellers"

The author finishes with:

"Amid all the politics, it is important to think of the women not only in India but around the world who instantly thought: "What if that were me?" I reasoned that, at any time in India, it very easily could have been."

As has already been pointed out, this isn't a new development in India, but I think that final paragraph will resonate with many.

I dont know the exact number, but I guess the number of rapes per 100.000 people in India is below that of most countries.
I visited India last year with my sister, and we felt safe all the time. Maybe we were just lucky, but I rather think not.

After reading this article I'll better find some male-friend for my journey...

A few years ago I was in Delhi I was 60 years of age. Two youngish American girls approached me in the hotel where I was staying. They asked if I would go out and see the sights with them and later do dinner. I thought it was because of my boyish good looks and charming demeanour. I was so wrong, they had been harassed by men and needed a male companion to deflect the unwanted attention.

While in Agra Fort an Indian male was staring at the Western females and masturbating openly through his trousers. I pointed this out to a security person, he responded by saying he is harmless and does it all the time.

I love India but they have to change the attitudes towards women.