The danger of India for Western women, but not why you think

by Tara Duncan (Australia)

Making a local connection India

In 2018, India was labelled as the world’s most dangerous country for women in an International survey undertaken by Reuters. In the metropolis of New Delhi, you’d be easily fooled by the sea of washed denim jeans rather than a rainbow of sari’s that women’s rights and independence are rapidly developing. The deeper that you delve however, the more it becomes apparent. There is an incredibly dangerous trap that a Western woman can fall into when visiting India, and it’s got nothing to do with safety. “You are very beautiful”, said the woman as she clenched onto my fidgety wrist so to keep it still as she drew Henna on my arm. “So are you”! I exclaimed back with a gushing sense of excitement. Her chin drew a little closer to her chest as she dropped her face, expressing disagreement as she responded, “No, not like you". The sad thing is, this is not an exclusive interaction. It happens frequently over here, and to an uninformed mind, this can be a dangerous scenario. It'd be so easy to accept it and not question why women here are so adamant that they are less than a woman with lighter coloured skin. And this would do an injustice to the progression of equality both within India, and across the rest of the world. The narrative of India’s history is a melting pot of religion, culture, colonial domination, trade, more colonial domination, economic, scientific and technological advancements, a little bit more colonial domination and sadly, a caste system that they would like to advertise as no longer existent. Rather, it’s much like the air pollution here – it’s definitely there, but it’s easier to just ignore it. The caste system was born at least 1000 Before Christ through the words inscribed in the Manusmriti, believed to be the most important book of Hindu law. It dictates that Hindu’s were to be split into 4 categories, becoming the base for the order of society. Essentially, the lowest of the classes would be labourers, whilst the highest was to be priests and teachers. Labourers would spend their days in the sun, meaning that their skin appeared darker than those who were in doors. The lighter the skin, the more privileged and respected the person. The system was banned in 1950. But, as we all know with history, shifting an entire culture based upon image and discrimination is going to take more than banning a few television advertisements and introducing job quotas. Accompanied by startling statistics regarding gender equality, poverty and education, removing the stigma of the caste system needs to become more of a global, rather than a domestic effort. For a young, Western woman, India can seem quite daunting. No doubt, you’ll reach celebrity status. Not to mention that you’ll skip the queue at a lot of places. The line will stretch around the corner and off into the distance, and your mind questions whether that UNESCO world heritage site is reeeaaallly worth it, but THEN a nice security man will direct you to the ‘foreigners line’ that’s only got 10 people in it and your heart skips a beat! It’s totally worth it! You feel the eyes of the locals on you because the line tells them that you’re different. As a young Western woman, it’s important to have an understanding about why the women will look at you with eyes of envy, and probably invite you to their third cousins’ friends’ sisters’ wedding, it’s a telling sign of social status. It’s also important for us to not take advantage of this by accepting it without reciprocity. Give them something back, like a compliment, a story, and an insight into equality even. I did this by asking if I could take photos with them as well, making sure they knew that I was just as excited to meet them, as they were to meet me. The art of selfie’ing is universal and never impeded by language barriers. So ladies (and gents), go to India. Rather than allowing for a sense of entitlement to cloud your judgment in certain situations, be the change to the narrative that this country so desperately needs us to be.