Last Update: 28 October 2021
The shortage of women in India, say activists, makes the country more dangerous for women. In an effort to raise awareness of the selective abortion of female fetuses (female feticide), 100 motorcyclists rode fifty miles from New Delhi to Rohtak. This motorcycle rally India hosted about 75 men and 25 women. And that imbalance, while more extreme than in the country overall, was the reason they were riding together.
India outlawed sex-selective abortions in 1994 but enforcement efforts are still struggling to stamp out the practice. “Fewer girls in society means fewer girls in public spaces,” says a statement on the website of BreakthroughIndia, an organization working to eradicate gender based sex selection that organized the rally. “This makes them appear more unsafe, which further reduced the mobility of girls and women.”
Organizers decided to start in New Delhi because the capital of India has been dubbed the “rape capital” after a series of brutal rape cases garnered high-profile media attention in the past few years. The general scarcity of women, in organizers view, makes public life more dangerous for them.
The female bikers led the rally and the group made many short pit stops in towns and villages along the way to gather locals who have been fighting discrimination against women within their families and communities. Free Souls Rider, an Indian adventure biking group, collaborated with Breakthrough India for the rally. “I am sure after this rally many other ladies who have been thinking of riding will be inspired to take up riding and sense freedom,” Ved Parkash, a male member of the group, wrote in an email Monday. “People were amazed to see lady riders riding efficiently through the streets and highways and their families were equally supportive. This rally will definitely inspire many for future.”
At about noon, the bikers safely reached Chotu Ram Stadium in Rothak. At the stadium, the organizers had arranged a small event to publicize the particularly acute shortage of girls and women in Haryana, a state in north India. At the event, women from Haryana who had broken gender stereotypes and barriers were ready to share their stories with the audience. One of the speakers was the first female bus driver of Haryana.
*source News India
