Female tourists asked not to wear skirts in India due to growing gang-rape cases
India has asked female tourists not to wear skirts or walk alone at night in India’s small towns and cities due to increased cases of gang rape reports Daily Mail
“For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts… Indian culture is different from the western.” Said India’s Minister of Tourism, Mahesh Sharma
According to Mahesh Sharma, India’s Tourism Minister, foreign arrivals are issued with a tourist security kit once they land in India.
‘In that kit they are given dos and don’ts… These are very small things like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts, and they should click the photo of the vehicle number plate whenever they travel and send it to friends.” Said the Minister
There have been a number of initiatives introduced by India to address the declining numbers of female tourists after the high profile gang rape and murder of a Delhi medical student in 2012 followed by subsequent attacks on female tourists.
India’s Foreign Office advises women travelling to India to ‘respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day’.
The Minister has been criticized for putting such pressure on women instead of the government doing a better job of improving security. Here are some posts online, some hilarious
Dear foreigners…. Sorry to tell u that Indian government holds women responsible for being eve-teased or raped.Kindly adjust!#MaheshSharma
— Pooja Mishra (@poojatweeter) August 29, 2016
Indian Culture Min #MaheshSharma wants India 2 shw intolerance towards othr countries' culture by regulatin wat female foreign tourists wear
— Dr. Ragini Nayak (@NayakRagini) August 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/DanishSait/status/770138595642466305
You are perfectly fine with nude monks in Vidhan Dabha but foreign women travellers in skirts is a cause of concern #MaheshSharma #Misogyny
— Riya Mukherjee ریا مکھرجی (@riyalovezu) August 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/gops333/status/770077498474463232
