德里女性專用車廂受青睞

Subway Announcer： Male passengers are requested not to sit on the seats reserved for ladies.

Welcome to the women’s-only-compartment， where lawyer Saloni Chowdhry climbs aboard twice a day.

Saloni Chowdhry： I prefer it from the general compartment， because it’s more safer， less of eve teasing， so I prefer the ladies’ compartment any day.

Eve-teasing is an Indian 1）euphemism for how men harass women， pass sexually charged remarks their way， or brush up against them to make physical contact； everyday， sexist abuse of India’s every woman or Eve， as the Biblical name denotes.

Reporter： Have you been harassed on the train before？ Saloni： Yes， yes.

Reporter： What’s happened to you on the train？ What do men do？

Saloni： Just being little touchy. And at times， then you have—it’s a bad word， how they want to feel you. So for the last， oh， like， say three years since the ladies’ compartment has started， I think we are much more safer now. Yeah， you feel better， and even if it is a little crowded， there’re all ladies around you， so you feel more secure.

Cairo， Tokyo， Beijing， Rio de Janeiro—all reserve subway cars for women， to spare them from being groped or harassed. Pritpal Kaur， a radio jockey， says New Delhi’s single-sex compartment is a refuge， especially at night， when she says men have 2）leered at her and deployed Hindi slang that refers to women， delicately translated， as hot stuff. Pritpal Kaur： Hot stuff， exactly.

When the ladies’ carriage fills， there is a dormlike 3）camaraderie as young women， like Sonal Sinha， survey fashion trends among fellow passengers and swap gossip.

Sonal Sinha： Sometimes you even hear gossiping， two girls about others. Fantastic.

Akanksha Gupta says women can get plenty pushy in the lone female carriage. But at least there， she says， she can relax and not worry about men staring at， say， her neckline.

Akanksha Gupta： When I’m in the ladies’ compartment， I feel satisfaction. I mean， no matter if I sleep， I don’t have to wear a scarf or anything if at all. But when I’m in the general compartment， you know， I have to be very careful.

A recent Times of India survey said 96% of women in Delhi feel unsafe after sunset. A glimpse at recent headlines provides reason enough. “Woman Alleges Gang Rape in Lawyer’s Chamber，” “More Shame： Five Rapes in Two Days，” “Woman Resists Molestation， Shot Dead.”

The emphasis， in India， has been on protecting women rather than giving women more freedoms—like the freedom to be safe， or the freedom from fear. The choice to sit among women on a train is a form of security. But the question arises： Can 4）segregating the sexes be a long-term solution for what 5）ails India？

地鐵播音員：男乘客不得使用女性專用座。

歡迎來到女性專用車廂，律師薩蘿妮·喬德瑞每天都要兩次踏入這種車廂。

薩蘿妮·喬德瑞：我寧愿來這里而不去普通車廂，因為這節車廂更安全，少些“夏娃的逗弄”，所以不管在什么時候我都選擇女性專用車廂。

“夏娃的逗弄”是印度的一種委婉說法，指男人用淫穢語言或故意造成身體接觸，對女性進行性侵擾。這種騷擾每天都困擾著印度婦女，或者說印度的夏娃——如果套用圣經的語言的話。

記者：你在地鐵上曾經被騷擾過嗎？薩蘿妮：有過，有過。

記者：在地鐵上你遇到什么？男人會做些什么？

薩蘿妮：就是被輕輕碰了一下。有時，你會覺得被——那是一句臟話——他們是想摸一下你。近年來，大概三年吧，自從女性專用車廂啟用后，我認為我們安全了很多。是的，感覺好多了，雖然有點擁擠，但你周圍都是女的，你會覺得安全很多。

在開羅、東京、北京和里約熱內盧這些城市，地鐵都為女性設了專用車廂，使她們免被摸到或遭到騷擾。電臺主持人皮里珀·考爾說，新德里的女性專用車廂是一個庇護所，尤其是在夜間。她就曾經在晚上被男人色迷迷地盯著，并說一些關于女人的印地語俚語，說得文明一點，就是黃色語言。

皮里珀·考爾：黃色語言，對。

當專用車廂擠滿女人時，像桑娜·辛哈一樣的年青女性會在乘客中觀察時尚潮流，交換八卦新聞，有一種宿舍室友般親密無間的氣氛。

桑娜·辛哈：有時你甚至聽到她們在說閑話，比如兩個姑娘在議論其他人，太有意思了。……