WOMEN IN INDIA
Women have been demanding freedoms, rights, equality, safety/security in our country for a very long time, but to no concern.
If we see the track record of our country, we failed miserably on this front both pre and post independence.
This narrow minded thinking which considers women as property and that you own them, otherwise known as Patriarchy, is destroying the potential of 50% of our population.
If we consider the crime rate against women according to NCRB report (graph below):-
We can see, in 2017, it increased 6% compared with 2016 and 9% compared with 2015 figures. It is continuously increasing every year.
We are living in a society where male child is preferred over female child. This notion already pushes the women in an unequal world. Right from childhood, they face discrimination in almost every aspects of life, such as, educational institutions, workplace, religious institutions and many more.
They are made and forced to accept that they are weak and are almost always subjected to gender shaming.
One such incident was gang rape and murder of 23 year old Nirbhaya, a defining moment for Indian women and their survival. It took Indian judicial system almost 7.5 years to deliver the final judgement, which was "Hanging till death" after a lot of red tape and delay tactics.
Credits must be given to Nirbhaya's parents who vehemently fought for justice and didn't let go. However, it is important to note that there are many Nirbhayas in our country whose pain and dilemma go unnoticed. Under-reporting, blackmailing, poverty, etc are some of the reasons for these cases to go unnoticed.
This incident brought whole country on streets. All types of protests could be seen all over India. The pressure from civil society, religious groups, political parties, etc pushed government for reforms. In light of this, government formed a committee headed by Justice J.S Verma to look into rape laws.
Some insights into J.S Verma committee:
About point 3, Verma committee was of the thought that death penalty will increase murder of rape victims. It was argued that if rapists would have nothing to loose, if they think their death is certain after committing the offence, then it would encourage them to kill the victim. It was further debated and government did not oblige to many of the recommendations, including this one.
Way Ahead:
So far, we can conclude that after all the committee reports, debates, protests, awareness programs, etc crime rate against women in India is increasing every year.
This is happening because of the rigid narrow mindset of people. We can change this mindset. If we can somehow make people understand that women are our other half. This will have far more impact than some stringent law or punishment.
Going ahead, we definitely notice that status of women in our country is improving day by day. They are more empowered. We have witnessed first women flying officers in IAF and Navy. We are witnessing women heading huge multinational companies, banks, educational institutions, sports, and much more. Their participation in workforce is increasing day by day.
But, there is a lot to achieve. For a country which has been independent for 73 years, this is too less.
We need more.
If we see the track record of our country, we failed miserably on this front both pre and post independence.
This narrow minded thinking which considers women as property and that you own them, otherwise known as Patriarchy, is destroying the potential of 50% of our population.
If we consider the crime rate against women according to NCRB report (graph below):-
We are living in a society where male child is preferred over female child. This notion already pushes the women in an unequal world. Right from childhood, they face discrimination in almost every aspects of life, such as, educational institutions, workplace, religious institutions and many more.
They are made and forced to accept that they are weak and are almost always subjected to gender shaming.
One such incident was gang rape and murder of 23 year old Nirbhaya, a defining moment for Indian women and their survival. It took Indian judicial system almost 7.5 years to deliver the final judgement, which was "Hanging till death" after a lot of red tape and delay tactics.
Credits must be given to Nirbhaya's parents who vehemently fought for justice and didn't let go. However, it is important to note that there are many Nirbhayas in our country whose pain and dilemma go unnoticed. Under-reporting, blackmailing, poverty, etc are some of the reasons for these cases to go unnoticed.
This incident brought whole country on streets. All types of protests could be seen all over India. The pressure from civil society, religious groups, political parties, etc pushed government for reforms. In light of this, government formed a committee headed by Justice J.S Verma to look into rape laws.
Some insights into J.S Verma committee:
- Repeal of AFSPA
- Criminalisation of marital rape
- No death penalty for sexual crime
About point 3, Verma committee was of the thought that death penalty will increase murder of rape victims. It was argued that if rapists would have nothing to loose, if they think their death is certain after committing the offence, then it would encourage them to kill the victim. It was further debated and government did not oblige to many of the recommendations, including this one.
Way Ahead:
So far, we can conclude that after all the committee reports, debates, protests, awareness programs, etc crime rate against women in India is increasing every year.
This is happening because of the rigid narrow mindset of people. We can change this mindset. If we can somehow make people understand that women are our other half. This will have far more impact than some stringent law or punishment.
Going ahead, we definitely notice that status of women in our country is improving day by day. They are more empowered. We have witnessed first women flying officers in IAF and Navy. We are witnessing women heading huge multinational companies, banks, educational institutions, sports, and much more. Their participation in workforce is increasing day by day.
But, there is a lot to achieve. For a country which has been independent for 73 years, this is too less.
We need more.
Well depicted ! 👌🏻
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