Proud to be a woman!

Before coming to India I was aware of the fact that women are not treated equally in India, and even though I prepared for pretty much everything else that I could face here, you can not prepare for something which is so unfamiliar to you. The most recent Global Gender Gap report ranks countries based on the level of equality or inequality in 142 countries. The Top 5 is Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and the ranking of India very low on 114th.

Streets of Chennai.

It did not take very long to notice this gap in gender equality between Finland and India in practice. I have never been more aware of the fact that I am a woman. Coming from such an equal country as Finland is, I have always seen myself firstly as a human being, a person. The fact that I am a woman is just of secondary importance, to me and my environment. I could always do everything I wanted to do and never had to question my existence. But here I am constantly receiving messages and signals from my surroundings that I am a woman and therefore different, in a negative way.

It starts with limitations to my freedom in my everyday life - where I can go, with whom, when and how should I dress. It is not only in Ahmedabad and on the campus but I also saw and felt this when I was traveling with guys across India. When trying to ask a man for a price or about an item on the menu, he would just blindly ignore us woman. Rickshaw drivers preferred negotiating with the guys around me instead of talking to me. In these kind of situations I so often felt unimportant and as if I didn't exist at all.

Streets of Pondicherry.

This is not any different for Indian women, it is probably even worse. I have the advantage that I can pack my bags and go home to feel equal, human and empowered by the system. Life remains a constant struggle for many women regardless of the caste they are coming from. And that is only because of being born a girl and the opportunities available are limited. During the day we see more men than women on the street and especially after it is dark there are mainly men outside. Where are all the Indian women? I can only wish they would all be empowered, working or studying, meeting their friends when and where they want and that they are feeling respected by their husbands, fathers and brothers.

I have to say though, most of the time there is nothing particularly wrong about what the Indian men are doing. This is the culture, it is how they have been told to act with women and they do it out of deep respect for us. They are most of the time very careful with for instance touching even by accident, I have not felt unsafe very often and both men and women are very helpful. The contrast we western women are faced with is very huge and feels unfair.