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Driving for Change: Women cab drivers in Delhi

An increasing number of women are becoming chauffeurs and taxi drivers in India, specifically to drive women and children and specifically in response to the number of well-publicized attacks on women. Journalist Rohit Gandhi brings us the story of women whose response to violence is to become empowered....
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One taxi company in Delhi believes it can lower the stress levels a little and provide new opportunities for employment with a service that hires women as drivers. (Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

An increasing number of women are becoming chauffeurs and taxi drivers in India, specifically to drive women and children and specifically in response to the number of well-publicized attacks on women. Journalist Rohit Gandhi brings us the story of women whose response to violence is to become empowered.

It's about a 9km taxi ride between the old Viceroy's House and the Red Fort. But in the bedlam of Delhi's choked streets, it's not really useful to think of these trips as mere distances ....

Taking a taxi to skip through the roads of Delhi involves skipping a few heartbeats along the way. But people need to get from A to B even in crowded, chaotic streets.

• Delhi's Female Taxis -- The Wall Street Journal

The city's cabbies can help dodge some hazards, but one company believes the streets and the city on the whole would be a lot safer if more of Delhi's drivers -- were women. Particularly at a time of heightened warnings about safety in the city... after another shocking gang rape - this time of a tourist.

Freelance journalist, Rohit Gandhi brings us this documentary, Driving for Change.

* A special thanks to the Vancouver actors: Tabitha St. Germain voiced the translation of Laxmi Kumar and Leena Manro provided the voice in translation of Suman Singh.

And we should say - the all women cab company in Delhi is hardly the only venture of its kind... entrepreneurs across the globe are increasingly starting up so-called, "Pink Taxis." You can now find them in Mexico, Moscow, Yemen, Iran and the U.K.

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