International Women’s Day, which is celebrated each year on the 8th of march acknowledges the social, economic, and political achievements of women throughout the world. It also aims at propagating the idea of gender parity and equal opportunities.
Organizations and people across the world take this day to commemorate the contributions made by women and honor them.
Ahead of International Women’s Day 2020, here are few women sharing their traveling experiences and troubles faced if any.
A group of young teenagers headed for their Friday night out, expressed their grievances. They also felt that they are stereotyped by men, for the wrong reasons, if they are wearing revealing clothes.
“Getting catcalled is one of the worst things, people stare at you lot especially in the metro, when it’s very busy and it’s late at night”.
“We have to be pre-plan our trips if it’s at night, as no place is safe”, added the high school kids who had recently been to London for a short trip.
Unfortunately, Women’s Day is slowly taking the form of commercialization as the marketing industry showers exclusive discounts and services. Issues like the ones quoted in the video above get gaslit by such marketing gimmicks. This is commonly practiced in the hospitality, entertainment, and retail industry.
However, travel companies dedicated to women-only customers have hugely increased by 230% over the past few years.
(Source: https://www.condorferries.co.uk/female-travel-statistics)
Initiatives like these help women achieve their travel goals, as stated by this Forbes article.
Out of the number of women I spoke to, ninety percent of them had similar grievances when it comes to traveling freely. Culture, race, and age doesn’t matter to these women, as taking precautions while on a trip has become a lifestyle for them.
Generally, it’s the women who have to take several precautions while on a trip, like the ones who shared their experiences.
On that note, here’s wishing everyone a happy International Women’s Day. May we respect every woman in our life and jointly contribute to making traveling for women safe. Ensuring that no women should think about safety when it comes to traveling to different cities.
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