Events
& Issues
New Delhi, 18 October 2017
Gender
Injustice:
Attitudinal
Change Imperative
By Dr.
Oishee Mukherjee
The triple talaq judgment has reinforced strength among women activists yet
personal laws are against the fairer sex as male chauvinists torture women,
force them to get money from their parents’ and leave them in the lurch.
Such incidents are common in rural areas forcing a woman to go back to
her parents’ house, sometimes with kids. Alas, not only are laws not enforced but
also law enforcing agencies remain silent spectators. Worse, a married man having
illicit relations with one or two women apart from his wife is common.
Pertinently, in rural societies this is a custom with rich landlords as
also in urban areas. Highly educated women in metros and big cities do not
allow this and walk out if her husband has multiple sex relations. According to
the Commonwealth Rights Initiative (CHRI) analysis two years back more than 57
rapes take place daily, averaging over two rapes every hour per day from 2001
to 2013. Undoubtedly, unreported rapes would be twice the number, four rapes
every hour per day.
Rap[es are not prevalent only in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana,
Gujarat, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand but there was a quantum jump in Maharashtra,
Karnataka etc where figures more than doubled compared to 2001.
Besides, Meanwhile a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll recently, found Delhi to be
the worst megacity in the world for sexual violence against women and them
feeling insecure from sexual attacks.
Undeniably, this
scenario speaks poorly of our attitude towards the fair
sex. Obviously, women’s education and empowerment have not reached the remote
countryside, yet in cities where there is awareness repeated sexual attacks on
women cannot be tolerated. Thus, the cultural tradition that we brag about of the
increase in society’s educational levels have failed to make any impact. This begs
a question: Why should women be treated as a commodity?
Further, as women in the economically active group of 16-55 years
constitute over 58 per cent of the total population we need to make to empower
them economically as it helps her to become socially empowered. True, women are
increasingly entering the work force, either helping their husband in the field
or doing another job to add to family income, but they do not have the much-needed
autonomy, thanks to lack of education and, of course, the patriarchal nature of
society.
Women participation in economic activities, outside the home, is often
considered as an important enabling factor in their socio-economic empowerment
as this exposes them to the world outside. A majority of women enter the labour force due
to economic compulsions and benefits of their economic contributions are likely
to be mediated by their socio-cultural context and their work burden. Sociologists
agree that employment could be a source of economic independence and gives
women a sense of self worth.
In this context the NDA Government is thinking of bringing the Women’s
Reservation Bill in Parliament, possibly this year, to ensure 33 per cent
reservation for women. Whether this is a BJP strategy to woo women voters, as Opposition
Parties allege is not known but it can safely be said that the present number
of women MPs is only around 10 per cent. If the BJP and NDA percentage is taken
this would be much less.
Also, a debate is raging whether uniform personal laws should become
applicable to all religious groups as is the system in any civilized country.
Even for electoral gains if the Bill is passed, women are expected to get
better opportunities.
However, what is most important now is to ensure how laws relating to
divorce and compensation are handled, not just in the cities but across the
country. Women should not be allowed to suffer and those who delay the process
must be booked.
The lower tiers of the Administration have to be motivated to help the
fair sex who fall prey pre or post marriage. Our law enforcing agencies have to
vigilant. For this each police station all over the country should have at
least two police personnel – one senior and junior – to attend to problems of women
be it rape, molestation, trafficking or sexual harassment.
The recent Supreme
Court judgment has rightly said that sexual intercourse between a husband and a
wife below 18 years amounts to rape. As is well known, in rural societies child
marriages take place and such intercourse affects the child’s health. Doctors
suggest the correct age for child bearing should be 19 or 20 years or more.
India has had a rich history of plural and specific common laws like the
Dowry Protection Act, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act etc
which seek to enlarge women’s economic
rights but poor implementation have created problems. Proper training needs to
be conducted at the State or national level to effectively help them deal with
the problems and allow women to assert their rights.
Other problems faced by women relate to health, sanitation and under
nutrition. Those from economically weaker sections still discriminate between
boys and girls and give better food and health care to the former. The
discrimination against the fair sex has been admitted by all Parties but the situation
has not yet undergone any perceptible change.
Priority should be given to health care for children, specially the girl
child and panchayats should be made aware of the fact that whether it is a boy
or a girl all need to be treated in an equal manner in matters of education and
health. More opportunities for the girl child would change the mindset of their
parents in the coming years.
It also needs to be pointed out that women, even in metros and big
cities, are treated as sex objects. And this is also reflected in most films
where violence and sex draws considerable appeal. A section of the young
generation gets perverted by seeing such films and fashion sequences and this
motivates them towards the opposite sex. Even politicians have been found
watching pornographic films, which is indeed quite distressing.
While girls’ education is being given sufficient emphasis, along with
this, the attitude of society has to undergo a change. Sociologists believe
that the indicator of prosperity being enjoyment of women and wine, like the
feudal landlords, should undergo a transformation. However, not just among the
rich but also among the low class, specially in slums, squatter settlements and
railway colonies, there are umpteen examples of people having multiple
relationships with women.
How soon this would change remains a big issue. But one cannot deny that
there has been some improvement in the attitude towards women which is manifest
mainly in cities. This has to reach the far corners of the country so that
women are accorded more rights and allowed to live a life of dignity. ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliancer)
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