Yet again! This time in Dharamsala

Old Sep 17th, 2015, 04:24 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Yet again! This time in Dharamsala

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...erican-tourist
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Sep 17th, 2015, 05:31 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,767
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
This sickens me. Almost makes me regret my upcoming trip. It is not safe for woman to travel alone in India.
dgunbug is offline  
Old Sep 17th, 2015, 06:55 AM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
In Dharamsala, no less! As fascinating as India is, these incidents make me want to boycott travel to India.
Kathie is offline  
Old Sep 21st, 2015, 09:42 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I disagree travel in India for woman as safe as other countries. I'm from India and I love solo traveling and I never faced any kind of problem in travelling alone in India.
Anyways Dharamsala is really a beautiful place to visit and also you can visit Palampur (a small and beautiful place to visit).
Pihu is offline  
Old Sep 21st, 2015, 10:41 PM
  #5  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Oh, how very very very sad! Thanks for giving us this terrible info, thursdaysd.
kja is offline  
Old Sep 21st, 2015, 11:00 PM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
@Pihu - are you seriously suggesting that travel in India for solo females is as safe as anywhere else? Because if so I strongly disagree, based on the reports we have been seeing on gang rape. I think the danger applies to Indian women as well. (And I have traveled extensively in Inida as a solo female, I currently have serious doubts about doing so again.)
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 05:30 AM
  #7  
hsd
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I hail from India and come from western part, where even today things are fairly safe as long as you stick to doing routine stuff, not trust people to take you anywhere, stay in decent localities and hotels and travel in proper transport-either decent rail class or tourist buses.
NE India has not been easy to travel for girls alone, and definately late nights etc in small places.You are better off in group tours locally, so you are not taken for a ride anyhwere.
Otherwise it is as safe as any other places in the world-have to be careful nowadays no matter which country you go to.
hsd is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 06:16 AM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 10,559
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I searched for actual statistics on rape by country and its nearly impossible to find any consensus. One study had India #1 for 2014 but its so hard to really figure as many of these crimes are under reported and ignored by the police. However see the link and you may be surprised.
http://www.wonderslist.com/top-10-co...m-rape-crimes/

It is certainly prevalent in India but India seems to get more press about it.
jacketwatch is online now  
Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 06:37 AM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,251
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I can understand the hesitation women would have traveling alone. And, I do believe it is due to the way many males in India are acculturated to dis-regard women.

I am in my 60s and travel with my husband, but I do not know if I would do it alone. I had one very brief incident where I was alone and felt extremely uncomfortable. This was a small village in Rajasthan and we were staying at the local Thakur's historic place. We'd been invited to a celebration, and the men were celebrating separately from the women. My husband was enjoying his time talking and drinking with the men and wanted to stay longer.

This was perhaps 9:00 at night, and I decided I was done and proceeded to walk back the 50 to 100 yards to our adjacent lodging. A group of males (teens to perhaps young 20s) made comments, somewhat approached me, and made me very nervous and a bit threatened. I was so happy to enter the gates of the guesthouse.

Honestly, I do not know if I would go it alone. And, I am definitely not in the young and sexy and attractive demographic.
julies is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 06:42 AM
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Several points:

-- Rape is notoriously underreported, especially in countries like India where the victim is likely to be blamed and shamed.

-- Different countries have different definitions of rape, so the statistics cannot usefully be compared

-- A lot of rapes in the west are acquaintance rapes, which are not an issue for travelers (well, not if they are careful!)

-- India has a thoroughly misogynistic culture, and so-called "Eve teasing" has been a big problem that now seems to be morphing into something worse.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2015, 11:30 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Women are treated differently in India than in western countries. And the travelers who have reported being raped have not been young women, but mature women in their 40s and above. None were doing any of the things that would be considered dangerous elsewhere. One of the reported rapes was a woman drugged and raped by her guide.

I understand that those of you who reside in India would rather not believe that western women are less safe in India than elsewhere, but all available data indicates this.

I've been to India and loved my time there (but not how I was treated by Indian men) but I don't know if I would go back.
Kathie is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2015, 10:58 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,875
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm with Kathie on this. I can't think of another country with similar statistics.
When we were there, I chose to walk from our Delhi guest house to Humayun's tomb, about a mile away through a bustling residential area, at around 3pm. The proprietor of the guest house had one of her employees to secretly follow me on a bicycle because she was concerned about my safety.

It's a horrific tragedy that residents are routinely gang raped. Add to that the risk of being drugged and assaulted while sightseeing. Enough (sadly) to make me want to cross India off my list.
crosscheck is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2015, 12:04 PM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,767
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I am concerned to hear that these rapes are occurring even in daylight hours in tourist areas. My husband has a bad knee and I believe there will be times he cannot climb stairs to temples that I may wish to explore while he waits in the car. Do you think it is unsafe for me to go exploring in daylight hours on my own? We did feel uncomfortable at times in the evenings when on our first trip to India, as we realized at there were rarely women on the streets after dark. We limited our night time strolls for that reason, as well as the fact that we were exhausted from the long days in the heat.
dgunbug is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2015, 12:43 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 2,875
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I feel your concern. I am not a hot babe, but because I'm in coverup mode w/ hat and sunglasses while traveling, I'm often mistaken for younger. I'm a NYC native and intuitively pickpocket/mugger conscious, but random gang rape is a whole new level of something to worry about.

At this point, I also think I might feel uncomfortable in such an overtly misogynistic destination (although I must say we were fairly sheltered from that during our trip - lots of interaction with enlightened males).
crosscheck is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 08:05 AM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,251
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
dgunbug--I think you would be just fine exploring a temple on your own while your husband waits in the car. We did find southern India to be a more "gentle" experience than northern. And, we did see lots of female tourists out and about on their own.

While I agree that even one rape and attack is one too many, I also think there is a point where paranoia can paralyze people. Statistically the chances that you would be targeted are minute.
julies is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 08:16 AM
  #16  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 27,609
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Unfortunately, I don't think age in any defense. I'm in my sixties, but I was the target of attempted sexual harassment by a young boy in Syria a few years back.

I have traveled extensively in India on my own, ten weeks almost exclusively by train in 2001, and six weeks by train and car and driver in 2010. I was annoyed by my drivers and very annoyed by persistent vendors and guides, but I did not feel unsafe. With the recent increase in overt violence against women, I have doubts about traveling solo again.
thursdaysd is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 09:43 AM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
I agree with Julies regarding the statistical chances, and we all know how to reduce those rates further by being conservative in our movements. I've spent a total of about 6 months in India, 4 on my own and don't recall feeling unsafe, ever. I also understand reaching a point when one does not wish to support a place with one's presence when feeling strongly about an issue. I'll likely not return to India, not from fear, but because I may no longer at 70 have the energy for it. I think to go or not to go is a personal decision based less on statistics and more on comfort with many aspects of a culture. I'd go back on those grounds.
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 10:00 AM
  #18  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Age is no defense. Nor is feeling "safe." Nor is "being conservative in our movements." Women tend to think we must have done something that caused the attack. Believing that helps us feel safer because if we just avoid doing whatever caused the attack, then we are safe. But the fact is, is it not what the victim did that caused the rape, but what the perpetrator did.

I'm not sure I want to return to India, not because I fear I'd be raped, but because I don't like being treated badly by Indian men. The poor treatment of women in India is such a cultural norm that people who observe it don't intervene... they may not even notice it.
Kathie is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 02:35 PM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
I should have known better.
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2015, 06:16 PM
  #20  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What Kathie said.
kja is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -