Are men responsible for creating safe spaces for women?

As much as I love travelling, I always find it difficult to be completely excited about road trips. Particularly in and around Delhi NCR. Destinations that fall in the 4-7 hours drive category.

This time around, I kind of reflected on why I feel anxious about them, and I wasn’t surprised but surely saddened. Being a woman, and now a girl mom, I find it very unsafe to stop the car at any point on the trip where there are not many people. For example, at a dhaba that is empty, my guards are on. I just can’t help think about leaving the place as early as we can. Considering my coccyx issue, I need to get down and stretch every one hour or so, but how can I? I don’t find it safe to leave the car and get down on a highway either. There is so much discomfort followed by the road trip. So much worry and underlying feel of fear that the whole point of travel for me gets lost. Being a carefree woman is so difficult amongst of course plethora of issues that surround us Indian women particularly.

And I can’t help and compare, do men have to live under similar fear? No. But do men in our lives think the same when they travel with us? Are they scared too? Should they do something about it? Can they do something about it? Is that not the only way forward?

Ending it with the question mark, resentment and sadness!