The all-female Priyardarshini Taxi Service was set up in Mumbai in 2008 by the social entrepreneur Susieben Shah, who wanted to support women’s economic empowerment in India. Dhanlaxmi Devendra, a single parent, is one of Priyardarshini’s drivers. Armed with self-defence training and black pepper spray – ‘in case any men misbehave’ – she drives both men and women, but mostly women. ‘They feel safest in our cabs,’ she says. With the money she earns, she hopes to buy her own home and give her son a good education