I’m at an international airport to check in for a flight, I then go to passport control and finally through security. ALL the employees are women and all the security staff are muslim women.

At a different airport almost all the employees are men.

There’s quite a different atmosphere and vibe between the two.

The former was Phuket Airport in Thailand, the latter Bangalore in South India.

This difference was also reflected in my day to day experiences: most of the people serving in shops, at restaurants, hotels and their local equivalent of the auto rickshaw (a two wheeler with a walk-in side car for passengers) in Thailand were women.

I most often meet working women in Mysore in India in the banks and my accountants office, otherwise it’s almost exclusively men. Women’s presence is at home, in the office and behind the scenes.

While I’ve been away there’s been another shocking rape in India. But this is not the way to deal with it……

as summarised in this article

It will not solve the problem and exacerbate the situation with more macho male culture…

this will also NOT solve the problem

The attitude and dominance of men and their way of doing things, society’s patriarchy and women’s inequality is at the core of this. Equality and acceptance of diversity in terms of gender, race, religion, sexuality, class and caste is the only way forward.