People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No. 32
August 12, 2012
|
Vol. XXXVI
No. 32 August 12, 2012 |
Stop
the Tide of Violence against Women Sudha
Sundararaman EVEN as Mary Kom boxed her way into the
medal list at the London Olympics, the media here
carried the images of a young
air hostess who committed suicide in despair because a
Haryana minister of state
for home and youth affairs, Gopal Kanda was harassing
her and her family, and
forcing her to become his employee again. Her suicide
note accused him and his
assistant of breaking her trust, and
misusing her for their own benefits.
This was soon followed by reports of the deaths
of Fiza in Mohali and of
Neelima in Such occurrences have become so routine
that they no longer even raise any anger, or
indignation. If
at all they get reported, it is only
because there is a media angle that makes them
newsworthy. Unforunately, the 65th
anniversary of Indian Independence dawns on a nation
where women
everyday wake up to a harrowing reality
– they are
increasingly unsafe, whether
within or outside their homes. The
spate of sensational atrocities on women that have hit
the headlines in recent
weeks indicate only the tip of the iceberg. The scale of
violent crimes against
women, the frightening regularity with which they occur,
the huge increase in
sexual crimes being reported from every corner of the
nation are pointers to an
alarming trend – violence against women is becoming an
endemic part of our
society, and is getting dangerously institutionalised. GRIM
REALITY
Is society sufficiently aware of how
serious the situation is? The NCRB data
for 2011 released recently paints a very grim picture.
Crimes against women in The most heinous crime of rape showed a
rise of 9.2 per cent between 2010 and 2011. Girls under
14 constituted 10.6 per
cent of the victims, 19 per cent were teenaged girls
between 14 and 18 years of
age. 4.7 per cent were young women in the age group of
18-30 years. These
are the registered cases – as we know,
many cases do not get reported at all. In 94 per cent of
the cases the rapists
were known to the victim! Kidnapping and abduction rose by 19.4 per
cent in that one year. Cruelty and torture by husband
and relatives that is Sec
498-A complaints went up by 5 per cent and molestation
by 5.8 per cent. The
overall incidence of crimes against children went up by
24 per cent over 2010,
however, the conviction rate remained at 30 per cent. MULTIPLE
DIMENSIONS OF
GENDER VIOLENCE A
look at some of the horrendous incidents that
have occurred over the
past few weeks are evidence of multiple factors that are
working in tandem,
leading to violence at many levels. Like the six blind
men and the elephant, an
understanding can be arrived at only by looking at the
whole, not the parts. It
is this comprehensive perspective of the problem in its
entirety, analysing the
social, cultural, economic, and political linkages which
is essential if the
existing malaise has to be addressed. Otherwise, knee
jerk reactions to
individual cases of violence cannot effect the necessary
changes which can
impact on the trend as a whole. In the Guwahati incident, a 17 year old
girl was assaulted by a mob while coming out of a pub,
her clothes were publicly
torn, the assault continued for almost half an hour
while bystanders watched in
large numbers, and the media captured the images on
camera, beaming them across
the country within minutes of the occurrence. Subsequent
developments were also
disturbing. The police did not intervene to arrest the
culprits immediately,
the police chief went on record to say that the media
was hyping the incident.
One of the members of the NCW delegation which visited
the girl let out her name
in the media, for which she was later removed. The Assam
CM’s office was
equally insensitive in releasing pictures of the girl,
which were later
withdrawn. But
the damage was done. The
issue fuelled unprecedented national and state level
protests, due to which the
criminals were arrested, the girl was given protection,
and other measures are
being undertaken to ensure justice. But the incident is reflective of a pattern
of violence, and raises many questions about how
violence is getting social
sanction, and how tardy the law enforcers are in
implementing the law. It
showed how the institutions set up to provide safeguards
for women, like the
NCW, are not fulfilling their mandate adequately. The
role of the media has
also been called into question. Thus, while the incident
shook the conscience
of the nation, the struggle for justice to ensure that
more girls are not
subjected to such atrocities has to be undertaken. The
institutions set up for
justice delivery have to be made more accountable. One aspect, that of blaming the victim for
the crime has to be investigated more closely.
Invariably, when such assaults occur,
questions asked
include – what was she
doing, what was she wearing, why was she there... etc,
which deflect attention
from the actual wrongdoer, and justify the crime. This
is an outcome of a
patriarchal and conservative mindset, often manifesting
as a self appointed
moral brigade, which sets down codes of conduct for
women. But these are
violative of the constitutional rights of women in our
country. All
democratic voices must join up to counter
this dangerous trend, which is leading to many serious
forms of violence
against women PATRIARCHAL
POWER STRUCTURES One of the most vicious attacks on girls
and boys that was unleashed by the Hindu Jagran Vedike
in Mangalore for
partying together graphically
exposes
how this moral brigade works. The youth who were
celebrating with a few drinks
were perfectly within their constitutional rights to do
so. They were not
guilty of any crime. But
they violated
the norms prescribed by the self appointed gatekeepers
of tradition and
culture, who then felt justified in resorting to
violence. The mob
attack was a second warning – the first had already been
issued by an earlier
assault on girls in pubs, in 2009. The right wing
institutions are on the
warpath, they have been guilty of passing strictures,
and often use force to
enforce them, even though this is illegal, and
unconstitutional. The brazen
challenge to law and order is not responded to by the
law enforcers. Other institutions have also resorted to
undemocratic actions in recent weeks. The
recent diktat curbing adult women’s rights to use a
mobile phone, go to the
bazaar, marry of their own choice, etc issued by the
Baghpat panchayat of elders,
is but another manifestation of the same phenomenon. They have not
only been tolerated, some
leading personalities have gone on record to say that
they have done nothing
wrong! The fact that women themselves are forced to come
forward to burn jeans,
or give up their mobile phones, only proves that women
too fall prey to the
patriarchal ideology which is imposed on them.
Among the most powerful structures that
have unleashed violence on women in the name of
safeguarding
honour, are the “khap” panchayats. These
institutions do not have any legal authority, but as
part of a feudal power
structure, still exercise control, and enforce norms.
Many of the norms with
regard to dress, behaviour, mobility, etc, are
prescribed only for women, and contravention
of these norms is seen as a provocation to violence. How
do these institutions
get away with their illegal activities? LAW
MAKERS AS
LAW BREAKERS Unfortunately, one of the main reasons why
these illegal power structures get away with their
crimes is because those who
have sworn to uphold the law, also become complicit in
the crime by choosing to
remain silent. The
AIDWA demand for a
separate, stand alone law to deal with killings and
crimes in the name of
honour has been stalled by the chief minister of
Haryana, who needs the support
of khaps for their vote banks. The Uttar
Pradesh administration did not take action against the
Baghpat panchayat, with a
Samajwadi Party minister saying that no
crime had been committed yet! Comments of this nature, leading to
justification of crime by political leaders have been
proliferating of late. The
statement by a Trinamool Congress
legislator, Chiranjeet Chakravarthy, linking the
molestation of a girl in
Barasat district of North 24 Parganas to the shorter
skirts worn by women, once
again raises the question of how action would be taken
against the culprits if
the law makers take such a stance publicly. The comment
by the BJP minister for
industries in Madhya Pradesh, Kailash Vijayvargiya, that
women should not dress
provocatively is
another case in point. The
lack of commitment to safeguarding democratic rights by
sections of the
political leaders across the bourgeois parties is a
reflection of the desire to
maintain the patriarchal status quo, overlooking the
fact that women are being
subjected to violation of their rights. Elected
representatives must be made
accountable for such lapses, which are a clear failure
of their responsibility
in upholding law and order. LEGAL
GAPS The problem is compounded by the
deficiencies on the legal front as well. Many
legislations pertaining to women
have been pending for inordinately long periods. The
Criminal Law Amendments
Bill is yet to be passed. Protection of Women from
Sexual Harassment at
workplace has been hanging fire for 14 years. The UPA
government has not taken
this up on a priority basis, despite the chilling
increase in the violence
statistics. The
implementation of
existing laws is also deficient. The need for judicial
reform and for police
accountability is very high. Women’s organisations have noted that
institutions
like the NCW have a much more pro-active
role
to play in addressing crimes against women. The existing
system is weak. The
selection procedure for the appointment of the
chairperson and the members has
to be non partisan and transparent. The status of the
NCW has to be enhanced,
and its functioning should be made more effective. These are some
of the urgently needed
institutional reforms. WOMEN
IN THE PUBLIC
SPHERE One major dimension linked to current socio
economic changes is that women are entering into the
public sphere in much
larger numbers. Partly, the neo liberal paradigm is
pushing them into the work
sphere, where employment in private institutions often
means travelling at all
times, and everywhere. More girls are entering into
education, including higher
education, their hopes and aspirations have increased,
their abilities have
increased. As the 50 per cent reservation for women in
panchayats gets
implemented, more and more women can be expected to
assert their political
rights at
the local level. The
self help groups continue to increase in
number, with women coming together to challenge the MFIs
in many states. The
youth of today, both men and women – are facing a
different world, and have
more choices before them, including the right to choose
their partners. But, even while the women’s entry into the
public sphere has increased, the conservative sections
in society have not yet
accepted the change. This is the reason for frequent
attacks on young women
trying to assert themselves – it signals a backlash,
that seeks to keep women
under control. Women
who come forward to
challenge the status quo are getting increasingly
targeted. Social
conservatism has been accompanied by an
economic devaluation of women’s work, due to which she
becomes doubly
vulnerable. When we add to this the play of market
forces, and the
commodification of women that is rampant, we may get an
idea of how complex the
terrain of violence has become, and how intertwined are
the factors behind the
disturbing spurt in violence. It is important, therefore, to ensure that
women’s
political, economic, and social status is strengthened,
and that the growth
paradigm does not add to existing inequalities. This should be
accompanied by stringent action
against the culprits in cases of violence, judicial and
police reform; and display
of political will to defend women’s constitutional
rights. Only then can this
tide of violence be stemmed, and women be assured a safe
environment within and
outside their homes.
