arnisador
09-07-2008, 10:05 PM
Urban Indian women experience backlash (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-india-women_slider_0825sep07,0,191197.story)
Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through a labyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, she carries an Indian version of Mace—a bag of chili powder and a pouch of safety pins —to fend off the often-boorish men who loiter in the narrow passageways.
"We learned that women have to be brave," said Chaudhry, a loquacious, ponytailed girl who wants to be a lawyer. She has started attending increasingly popular neighborhood classes on self-defense for women.
Chaudhry is one of the brightest students in her working-class district. But since several local men started following her to class, she sometimes stays home. She has friends who have been raped or are constant victims of "Eve teasing," when men on the street spew lewd comments or aggressively paw women's bodies.
Every morning, Gitanjali Chaudhry, 17, walks to her high school through a labyrinth of temples and vegetable markets. Along with her books, she carries an Indian version of Mace—a bag of chili powder and a pouch of safety pins —to fend off the often-boorish men who loiter in the narrow passageways.
"We learned that women have to be brave," said Chaudhry, a loquacious, ponytailed girl who wants to be a lawyer. She has started attending increasingly popular neighborhood classes on self-defense for women.
Chaudhry is one of the brightest students in her working-class district. But since several local men started following her to class, she sometimes stays home. She has friends who have been raped or are constant victims of "Eve teasing," when men on the street spew lewd comments or aggressively paw women's bodies.