BY- NADIA HASAN
India is a place where women are worshipped in form of goddesses like the Saraswati, Laxmi, and Durga yet it is one of the most unsafe places for women on the planet. According to the Women Peace and Security Index 2019, India stood at 133rd place out of 167 countries. This data exposes the helplessness of women residing in this country and how much they are prone to violence and sexual harassment against them. It was not long ago when the country witnessed the brutal Nirbhaya gang-rape case which somehow awakens the conscience of the public in form of protests and dissent demanding the government to amend the laws and make them more favorable towards women safety. Then the government made changes to the criminal law after 2012 and drew the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 which provided rigorous life imprisonment and even death sentences to the rape convicts, in addition to severe punishment to the convicts of acid attack, stalking, and voyeurism.
But do these changes made after the 2012 Nirbhaya case yielded the desired results? Answer to this question can be concluded from the National Crimes Records Bureau (NCRB) report of 2019 where 88 rape cases were recorded regularly in India which highlights that the rape vulnerability of a girl or woman has increased up to 44% in the last 10 years. Not only has this, but the cases of domestic violence gradually increased during the lockdown period. Another report from the National Crime Record Bureau says that in India, there is one dowry death in the country every 78 h, one act of sexual harassment every 59 min, one rape every 34 min, one act of torture every 12 min and almost one in every three married women experienced domestic violence. These are some of the ugliest weapons used by men to prove their male superiority against a woman. The problem of such feeling lies within the roots of our society; our society has nourished the mindset of the male community in such a way that they believe themselves superior to a woman. This feeling of superiority has made a patriarchal misogynistic environment where assurance of women’s safety is a major concern. Another reason of raising the number of crime against women is depicting the women as an object by the entertainment industries. Although there are lots of movies where women empowerment is encouraged but they are fewer in number. The big-budget movie starring the most successful actors which attracts a bigger audience uses the female lead just for the sake of glamour and presents various tactics where the male lead tries to woo the female one regardless of she is constantly refusing, which is disgusting and unacceptable. They should understand that their movies leave a deep impact on the minds of the people and such depiction increases the chance of sexual violence happening against women.
The leisurely responses from the legislature and police authorities towards these abovementioned offenses are increasing the vulnerability of women in society. It takes courage for a woman to approach the police and if she does, she has had to face so many disgusting questions from them. They make the investigation procedure so lengthy that the victim and her family usually prefer not to report the crime. One of the instances happened in Punjab where a child rape victim was left waiting traumatized and injured all night at the police station because someone dragged their feet so that the case could not be registered. Such attitude of policemen came from the patriarchal society they were brought up in. These needs to be changed, instead, the police must be trained to show empathy towards the victim and encourage her to report the offenses rather than judging her character. Neither the community nor the police authorities can work in isolation but both of them need each other. Since the police can directly engage with the local community, they can play a major role in creating awareness to combat the stigma present in society. Our society keeps a very narrow perspective towards the crimes happening against a woman. Their first response towards any crime remains “it must be that woman’s fault”. Like we saw the attitude of one of the accused in Delhi gang-rape where he felt that it was that woman’s fault to be out so late at that night and harming her was pretty natural. He felt no regret for the crime he committed and according to him, he had done no wrong.
Such an attitude shows a brutalized upbringing where violence against women is often condoned at home and locally. The police may help to change these attitudes by working collectively with Non-governmental organizations. Victims have often expressed discomfort approaching the police, in my opinion, this could be resolved if women’s representation will increase in the respective department. Special Police units can also be set up to create awareness of women’s consent and autonomy, which are quite unknown and unacceptable factors for most Indian men. Similarly, Judiciary can also play its part in reducing the number of sexual offenses with speedy trials and timely decisions. Due to the fewer judges, the Indian judiciary is unable to serve justice to the victims on time. Due to the various loopholes in the law, the accused often go unpunished or punished with utterly lesser punishment. The death penalty is prescribed for crimes committed brutally and even if granted, its execution takes ages.
After going through the causes of violence, questions can be raised what has been done and what needs to be done? If we look at the community response, several initiatives have been taken like the Nari Adalat and Sahara Sangh initiative which was organized by the Department of Education’s Mahila Samakya Program in two districts of Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. The ICRW aired a television program on four channels named “Bol” which created awareness among women. The legislature has also made various laws to protect women from violence happening against them. In January 1992, the National Commission for women was set up to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women and to recommend remedial legislative measures, if any. Further, the Dowry Prohibition Act (DPA), 1961 was formed which applies to all the people of India from any religion making the dowry demand punishable. But this law failed to serve its purpose. IPC deals with various laws relating to violence against women. For instance, section 375 laid down the provision for rape and section 376 (along with its various amendments) deal with its punishment. Unfortunately, this provision remains silent on marital rape if the wife is more than 15 years of age which can be considered as a loophole. Section 498 A deals with the cruelty by the husband and his relatives with imprisonment of 3 years and a fine, which is a widely used provision against domestic violence. Another act is also formulated particularly for domestic violence entitled Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 which provided for more effective protection of the rights of women provided under the
Constitution. IPC also lays down provisions for causing miscarriage in sections 312 to 316. But whenever a crime happens against a woman, it confirms that all the measures have failed to stall the violence and the problem is with society.
Our late Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, once remarked, “Legislation cannot by itself normally solve the deep-rooted social problem”. And violence against women is a deep-rooted social problem that can only be solved if society will be educated, only then the laws could be properly implemented. The mindset of the judiciary and police must be changed. Amendments must be made to the existing laws, new laws should be made and they must be enforced efficiently. Only women cannot solve the problem, but women should understand men, and men should understand women and grow in themselves a sense of responsibility to respect the privacy and dignity of each other. Only then the menace could be eradicated.
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The Independent Pioneer 