53. Give way to Women!
She Taxi, launched in November in Trivandrum and in February in Cochin, is a project for women and by women in Kerala.
Once women were housewifes and housekeepers with little need –and freedom- to move around the city. Today many of them work on shift, travel and need to move at any time of the day and night. But the roads are not women-friendly, the Kerala men seem not ready to confront with the new, more empowered and liberated woman and the violence in on the increase.
She Taxi is a service that allows women to move safely at any time
It would be better if men could control their behavior and respect women, but while we wait for the change of mindset, She Taxi is a solid step forward freedom and better opportunities.
No more tension if you need to take a Taxi in the late hours of the evening after a late dinner, you have no more to endure the devious look of the taxi driver that, you are pretty sure, has sexual advances in his mind and does not think you are a good girl.
Now you can dial 8590000543 and book a She Taxi. A nice, white-and-pink cab driven by an assertive and smiling she-taxi driver, will pick you up and drop you safely. You will enjoy a relaxed journey.
She Taxi service uses car with a GPS and a safety system developed with the last technologies that enables the call center to track the route of each cab at any time. Plus you can even pay the ride by debit and credit card.
Not enough? Well, there’s more. The she-taxi driver is not only driving, she is an entrepreneur who is managing her business. Gender Park, an autonomous institution promoted by the Department of Social Justice to resolve the gender inequity, is selecting the drivers among women that want to improve their economic life, training and helping them in getting loans to buy their own car.
Km by km woman emancipates, builds self-confidence, grows her business and helps other women to go wherever they want, in independence.
Many women have applied for the project –many without a driving license. Anyway at present only experienced drivers got the taxis. You can meet them during the day along the congested roads of Trivandrum or, by night, in the deserted ones.