What is it like in India for women?

That should have said females not women...^

And of course many women in India don't make it far past birth....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-50668883

I had reason once to visit a major city and hang out with pretty well off young professionals. We went out to dinner and the cinema and even night clubs like here but the young women would normally call for their parents driver to get them home, some drove themselves but only to big hotels with valet parking and normally in mixed sex groups not alone. There was no question at all that any of them would walk anywhere after dark (even to a parked car) or catch a bus. No chance at all.

I visited India about 12 years ago with my now husband. I didn't know about the massive rape/violence issues at the time, well not the scale of it, or I wouldn't have gone.
I've never been hassled so much in my life. I wore long loose clothing and many layers and still was followed around, had men taking photos of my chest area. We were in the south and travelled to five different regions, it was such an odd experience. When I wasnt hassled, males would talk to my husband and not me and ask him questions about me. It is so so different culturally but that's no excuse for the out of hand cruelty and violence.
In my opinion this can only be resolved through education and will take decades to truly filter through.
The more modern thinking younger generation are starting to live differently with women having more freedom but the majority don't understand this.
From my experience it was a very scary place and if my daughters ever wanted to go I'd be terrified- as things stand.
I was pretty keen to leave by the end of our month there and I feel so sorry for many of the women and children born there as for most of them there is little opportunity for freedom/education/basic rights and safety.
From another point of view it's such a shame it's dangerous because India is fascinating in its cultural diversity, history and scenery. The food was amazing, the best I have ever tasted.

Thank you SimonJT I was aware of the caste system but I suppose had assumed that this had dies out somewhat in recent years?

Depressingly I saw that this rape victim has died:

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7766389/Indian-woman-alleged-gang-rape-dies-burn-attack.html

@Uncompromisingwoman It depends entirely on the state, it also depends on the caste of the woman. Sadly people from lower castes are barely seen as human by some people from high castes.

It’s a bit like the prince andrew effect, just as he can do as he pleased as he’s wealthy and of high social standing, it’s the same for higher castes. And just like prince andrew, official bodies, police etc will allow higher castes to do as they please.

I’m from the Chuhra caste (in pakistan and india) we’re so low simply touching us would render a higher person dirty. Our caste isn’t even allowed in holy buildings, we’re not even clean enough to be slaves for the wealthy. Chura is a fairly common indian/pakistani insult. It’s akin to some Brits calling certain people chavs etc.

Until money and family power isn’t what makes a person important those who are vulnerable will never be protected.

India is a big place.

It is entirely likely that the shot suspects were innocent and the police were paid off by associates of the real offenders. Wild support for this shows the populist road Modhi is taking to join Duterte.

Another big thing in 21st century India is sex selection abortion. Totally illegal, but not that that stops anything in India. Already signs of a bride shortage and a trade in Nepali imports.

In India violence against women is very common. My mother in law grew up there and she still says it’s not a safe place for girls and women.
Police are very corrupt as well, you could be raped and go to report it and the same thing could happen to you in there by those who are supposed to help you.
A rise in viewing porn has also fuelled sexual violence in India.
The dowry for marriage is still a huge problem. MILS family still partake in that if someone is getting married, a girl that married into their family was treated awfully because she didn’t give “enough” of a dowry. MIL thankfully is more enlightened than them.

DH used to spend a lot if time in India for work and still has a lot of friends there.
From what they say the situation is bad for women, it’s not generally safe to walk around on your own even during the day. Life is a bit easier for women of higher castes but even they have to live life within certain boundaries if they wish to be safe.
Women are seen as general lay quite worthless part from as a commodity to earn money or tie 2 families together for financial/influence reasons.
One person explained it to me that if you have a daughter you invest time and money in her and then she will marry and become an asset to another family so you get no return on your investment. A boy will marry and bring a wife into the family so you will gain an extra asset with no investment. This person didn’t agree with that view but he said a lot if people did.

Has violence against women and girls has always been this bad in India? I know that women have been actively protesting for many years but is it suddenly getting worse or is it just that it's more publicised?

I’ve read that it’s got a lot worse since internet porn became readily available.

I can’t quite get my head around it. On the one hand this is a country which has the highest percentage of female pilots in the world, and has had a prime minister (albeit nepotism) well before many Western countries did. And yet the violence towards women is off the scale, and often involves unimaginable depravity.

Has violence against women and girls has always been this bad in India? I know that women have been actively protesting for many years but is it suddenly getting worse or is it just that it's more publicised? An Indian film maker even suggested that rape without violence could be legalised :

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7756857/Indian-film-maker-sparks-fury-suggestion-rape-without-violence-legalised.html

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/apr/01/outsourcing-pregnancy-india-surrogacy-clinics-julie-bindel

The situation with women and surrogacy in India is horrific.

I’m fucking disgusted basically !

I’m glad someone has started a thread on this. Apparently a woman is raped in India every 20 minutes. I also read about some guy tweeting that rape is no big deal but murder is so rape should be legalised and women should comply to avoid being murdered over it. This attitude seems to be horribly prevalent if you look into statements men have made (lawyers for defendants in rape cases etc).
I believe i also read that it’s the most dangerous place to be a woman.