We often talk about empowering women and how taking up travel is something which helps with that goal. What we don't take into consideration sometimes is how any decision requiring women to step out of their houses hinges on safety. Solo travelling, with its rising popularity among Indians, is a fast-catching trend, with more women going out of their comfort zones to take trips by themselves.
"In India, travel has long been limited to visiting relatives or religious sites, primarily as a family activity," explains Dr Asheesh Kumar, Assistant Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems in JNU. "The perception of women's bodies and lives being bound by patriarchal norms has been deeply ingrained in society. However, our society is evolving, becoming more accepting of empowered and independent women who can make their own life choices."
What women want is a multifaceted question when it comes to travelling. While a lot of people are using solo travel as a means to fuel their journeys of self-discovery and reinvention, safety is the leash that still holds them back sometimes. Outlook Traveller and Toluna's 'What Women Want' survey, decoding the travelling patterns of women in India and what they look for to make their experiences great, throws up some interesting insights.
Travelling solo anywhere in India is a task fraught with substantial peril for most women. If you ask women how comfortable they feel going places on their own, you may get mostly negative answers. In the survey, almost 59 per cent of respondents stated they had faced gender-based harassment while travelling in the country.
"I don't feel India is safe for a woman to travel alone, and I say this with a heavy heart, said Indian actress and travel vlogger Shenaz Treasurywala. "I've had numerous experiences where I have been followed and harassed." Despite this, nearly 80 per cent of respondents in the survey stated India is largely women-friendly for travel.
Among region-specific travel, South India emerged as the safest destination, as answered by 37 per cent of respondents, while over 40 per cent believe North India to be the least safe.
"When we were on the train, we saw a big difference between the attitudes of people as we moved southwards," said Preeta, who travelled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on a train. The nearly 70-hour-long journey had its own set of challenges, but according to her and her travelling companion on the trip, Sehba Imam, the obvious malice in the stares was felt less in the southern region. "People still stared, but it was more curious than lecherous," said Imam.
While their experiences expressed one side of the story and corroborated the survey results, many others differed in their opinions.
"I personally didn't feel any safer in the south. In fact, I would say it was worse for me," said Prakriti Kumar, a corporate employee based in Delhi and an avid traveller. "I felt more uncomfortable because I could not understand the language, and people stared continuously, which is pretty awful."
While many say that places in south India are relatively safer than the north, it depends largely on personal experiences and the particular place you travel to. Travelling anywhere in India as a solo woman comes with its own set of challenges. "Not just in India but anywhere in the world," said Nivi Shrivastava, independent journalist and travel blogger, "if you are travelling solo, there are certain things to always keep in mind, like being in touch with someone back home and updating them about your location and well-being whenever possible."
