[M35]

How to End Violence Against Women?

Are Indian women really so disempowered that we must discuss this, a day after we all celebrated Women’s Day? I think Yes.

New Delhi: Every 2 hours, a woman in Delhi is molested or raped
Candles were lit, angry speeches made and copious tears shed after December's gang rape of a young woman in south Delhi, and vows of change rang out. But less than three months on, things are getting worse, not better, for the capital region’s women. All promises of better policing and protection are ringing horribly hollow.
March 08, 2013,Hindustan Times

Faridabad: Woman raped after being offered lift
A Delhi-based woman was allegedly raped by an unidentified man in Faridabad after being offered lift from him, police said on Friday.
March 08, 2013,Hindustan Times

Thiruvananthapuram: A three-year-old girl has had two surgeries at a Kozhikode hospital and doctors say she could take months to recover, after she was kidnapped while asleep next to her mother and raped in Mallapuram district of Kerala.
March 07, 2013, NDTV

We,Indians have been moving away from our tradition, the moral values in us got deteriorated and above all, the double standards and hypocrisy prevailing in the society should have caused this increase in crime against women.

Despite country-wide outrage and debate on crime against women galvanising the government into framing tougher anti-rape laws, more rapes are being reported by the day.

Take a look at the MSN's Survey on Men: A glimmer of hope

In the run-up to International Women’s Day, MSN set out to bring men into the conversation about the safety and well-being of Indian women. They were invited to take a survey that would help assess the male perspective on an issue that has the entire nation’s attention. MSN brings you the results of the survey that provide valuable insights and will, hopefully, pave the way towards empowering the Indian woman.

1. Some men are conditioned to view women as victims and to harass them, is what 48 % of respondents (1896 votes) believed was the main cause of the violence, especially rape, against women. Which underlines the case for a multi-pronged approach to gender sensitisation. There’s no doubt that the male mindset must change if women are to go about their lives in safety and dignity.

2. A significant number of responses, 33 %, felt that weak laws pertaining to rape were the reason for the violence.

3. Only a negligible 4 % thought that the violence is because women are vulnerable,

4. while the 15 % who said women invite violence by being provocatively dressed or behaving promiscuously pointed to the reality that chauvinistic attitudes still prevail.

Let me conclude here by quoting a few lines written by Shivani Ojha,Bekasi, West Java in her letter.

As the world commemorates International Women’s Day on March 8, let us take an opportunity to ponder the significance of the day. Women are indeed one of the finest creations in nature. In fact, nature manifests its splendor in the form of womankind. She is the creator of life.

Women are the epitome of love, compassion, selflessness, beauty and devotion; and although physically weaker, nature has bestowed her with great emotional and mental strength and extreme endurance.

"No law or movement can help to resolve this issue until common people like us take the initiative to change the situation.

“Be the change that you want to see.” Respect women and encourage your children to do the same".

resource:

http://news.in.msn.com/her_courage/m...ale-chauvinism

ttp://www.thejakartapost.com/news/20...men-s-day.html

http://www.eurasiareview.com/0803201...ve-today-oped/

http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/3-...-kerala-339260

[pganapathy]

India is a particularly bad, hypocritical country to be a woman in. Supposedly we respect woman as that is what Indian culture says. The so called guardians of our morality don't even like women going out to pubs and discs.

Yet when it comes to things like preventing mistreatment of women from happening, they are suspiciously quiet.

One thing is women really need to learn some form of self defense. It may not necessarily be enough if the man is a lot stronger or there is a group of men, but anything to permit even one woman to get away from potential harassment is a good thing.

Reminds me of an article I read. Some time in the 70's there was an outbreak of rapes and violence against women in some American city. So the mayor and local government authorized and had weapons training and permitted the women to carry handguns. Would you believe the following year the numbers fell by like 80 or 90 percent.

Of course the issue with this is the misuse of said guns, but the same concept applies with self defense courses, mace, tasers etc.

[Samurai]

There is no real framework in India to ensure safety of women. For example, the police and NGOs only pay lip service. There is no systematic process to ensure safety.

For example, I know of a maid servant who is a frequent victim of domestic violence. So she approached the local women's cell for help. As a result the husband got picked up by the police, and he was beaten black and blue until he promised never to beat her again. Then they released him and he is back home. A week later the women's cell demanded Rs.5000 from her for the the service rendered. Due to the police pressure they could bring, the victim paid the amount after borrowing.

Now the husband is back to the old ways after a temporary reprieve. But she doesn't want to approach the women's cell again because she can't afford to pay Rs.5000 every time.

[rohanjf]

I don't think the following narrative adds any value to the solution, but I am sure it complicates the problem.

I have a lady friend from Delhi. Her father works for one of the defence forces. She told me what her father told her: one day her father was travelling to work with his 2 colleagues. The men exchanged some vulgar comments between themselves about some pretty girls walking on the road. And both the men have teenage daughters!

I leave the rest to your interpretation.

[deehunk]

The criminals have no fear at all in this country, classic example of Bitti Mohanty who escaped and got himself a job in a Nationalised bank, were all the levels of corruption involved to save him, the government of Orissa and Rajasthan owes an answer to the country. The current Parole system needs to be re-looked, Sanjay Dutt is another classic case who had to serve a 2/3 year term in Jail but was roaming free on Parole. Police department have to be made accountable and still public do not have a easy process to lodge a complaint in this country. Rape or any form of violence against women or girl child should be treated as non-bailable offence and there is a need for a separate act where the offender should be in Police custody for one year and should not be given bail under any circumstance. These criminals should be kept out of purview of human right activists. In one of the recent incident of rape inside Bangalore University campus, Home minister took a bold decision to arrest all the offenders under Goonda Act and set an example of severe action.

[shankar.balan]

Simple take:

Take a view of Thailand and Malaysia.
They mete out and enforce the Death Penalty for Drug Smuggling.
By this method they have significantly brought down the instances of this crime.

Saudi Arabia and some "extreme" Gulf countries - penalty for thieving is to chop off the hand. Penalty for other crimes can be death by beheading or stoning.
These are horrible, barbaric and extreme forms of punishment.

However, in an inherently uncivilized society where such drastic problems persist, then it seems to me that only drastic solutions will work.

Suggestions for the unique Indian problem:
1. Crimes against women such as Rape, Acid attacks, Grievous Bodily Harm etc - Public Flogging and Castration first and then Death Penalty after 3 months. No Bail.
2. Crimes against Children, the Elderly and Animals - Public Flogging and Castration and then Death after 3 months. No Bail.
3. Eve Teasing and other similar - Public Flogging and Castration and then Incarceration for 10 years - Hard Labour. No Bail.
4. If they seem to have reduced the "age of consent" to 16, then even the so-called "minor" criminals who have hit the age of 16 should pay for their crimes with sentences similar to those awarded to Adults.
5. Sentence for Corruption - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail
6. Sentence for Poaching - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail
7. Crimes like what Salman Khan and that Nanda fellow did - killing innocent people while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail.
8. Any form of Treason or Terrorism - Castration, public flogging, public parading and then Death by public hanging after 1 month.
9. Any public service officers like Politicians, Henchmen, Goons, Bureaucrats, Policepersons, Forces persons or other Government Servants caught perpetrating such heinous Criminal circumstances should also be publicly flogged, castrated and then given the death penalty.

It is time to stop pussyfooting around and playing the populist card everytime like a bunch of wishy washy namby pamby idiots, the way our Government and Judiciary are doing.

Take some hard decisions and enforce them immediately.

We crib about the Imperialists and stuff, but the overall fear instilled in the unruly masses by the figure of authority was far far higher than in this politically correct era of rubbishy self-governance.

India has deteriorated into a "free-for-all" and it is time that we took some drastic measures to get back on track!

Let us make a beginning with doing the above suggested to this Bitti Mohanty fellow...

[vivekiny2k]

considering the mystery surrounding it, populist justice may have been served.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2850785.html

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Suggestions for the unique Indian problem:
1. Crimes against women such as Rape, Acid attacks, Grievous Bodily Harm etc - Public Flogging and Castration first and then Death Penalty after 3 months. No Bail.
2. Crimes against Children, the Elderly and Animals - Public Flogging and Castration and then Death after 3 months. No Bail.
3. Eve Teasing and other similar - Public Flogging and Castration and then Incarceration for 10 years - Hard Labour. No Bail.
4. If they seem to have reduced the "age of consent" to 16, then even the so-called "minor" criminals who have hit the age of 16 should pay for their crimes with sentences similar to those awarded to Adults.
5. Sentence for Corruption - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail
6. Sentence for Poaching - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail
7. Crimes like what Salman Khan and that Nanda fellow did - killing innocent people while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol - 10 years hard labour without the option of bail.
8. Any form of Treason or Terrorism - Castration, public flogging, public parading and then Death by public hanging after 1 month.
9. Any public service officers like Politicians, Henchmen, Goons, Bureaucrats, Policepersons, Forces persons or other Government Servants caught perpetrating such heinous Criminal circumstances should also be publicly flogged, castrated and then given the death penalty.

None of these will work if the enforcers are corrupt. Every time you give law more teeth, it only puts a smile on the faces of corrupt police officers. They can immediately raise their rates.

First, clean up the police departments from top to bottom. Make it totally professional. Everything else will fall in place automatically if the enforcers are doing their job with the existing laws. There is no need for zero tolerance laws or draconian laws that unnecessarily harass the citizens. We need honest & intelligent cops who are capable of doing their job without interference from the politicians.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Samurai

None of these will work if the enforcers are corrupt. Every time you give law more teeth, it only puts a smile on the faces of corrupt police officers. They can immediately raise their rates.

First, clean up the police departments from top to bottom. Make it totally professional. Everything else will fall in place automatically if the enforcers are doing their job with the existing laws. There is no need for zero tolerance laws or draconian laws that unnecessarily harass the citizens. We need honest & intelligent cops who are capable of doing their job without interference from the politicians.

I agree with this point of view.
Like in Singapore, Hongkong and other places, public service people are paid as much as Corporate Executives and public service positions are sought after by regular job aspirants.
I agree we need a massive cleanup and a complete revamping of the system - but this is cool in theory - what can we do to make it happen in reality in practice?

Look at this silly Aadhaar Citizens Card - Nandan Nilekani, a reputed and fine professional, went on board with the government of India to help make it a reality.
Look at the shambles it is in now!!

The system is absolutely geared for failure, not success. Let us not quickly blame the Colonial era for this bureaucracy but rather, let us look hard within our own people and see how many of them really want to do a quality job of work - the answer to this as exemplified everywhere, is overbearingly, overwhelmingly, blindingly obvious...

[thoma]

Originally Posted by Samurai

We need honest & intelligent cops who are capable of doing their job without interference from the politicians.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Let us not quickly blame the Colonial era for this bureaucracy but rather, let us look hard within our own people and see how many of them really want to do a quality job of work - the answer to this as exemplified everywhere, is overbearingly, overwhelmingly, blindingly obvious...

So, the issue lies not with the system, right? Who are the police, politicians, government, bureaucrats, corporates etc? Very much one among us. It lies in our very own blood, in our minds. Priority. That is what we crave for. Over others. And some others are holding this 'priority' for a ransom.

[alpha1]

@Thread: Quite frankly, and I may seem extreme harsh while saying this, but no one in India really cares about rapes and crime against women.

The only reason why we have people seemingly galvanized (like this thread and many others on orkut/facebook/newpapers etc) is ONLY because of the level of physical abuse leading to death in the recent Delhi case. If you read properly I wrote "level of physical abuse", and not just physical abuse or rape.

We've had countless rape cases right to the night before the "Delhi case". Didn't move anyone ...

[srishiva]

I think we need to prevent rapes from happening. Not talk about police and judiciary who come in later. There is a bigger issue of our country's perception about girls (devalue) and how we treat them starting from when they are in the womb.
Even in places with stringent punishment and honest policing and justice, crimes happen (is rape just a crime?). Are we trying to reduce the numbers and fell good about it?

[carboy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Look at this silly Aadhaar Citizens Card - Nandan Nilekani, a reputed and fine professional, went on board with the government of India to help make it a reality.
Look at the shambles it is in now!!

I, for one, pray everyday to God that the Aadhaar Card fails & completely disappears from the system. I do not want a National ID system which will eventually be forced on everyone.

Originally Posted by Samurai

First, clean up the police departments from top to bottom. Make it totally professional. Everything else will fall in place automatically if the enforcers are doing their job with the existing laws. There is no need for zero tolerance laws or draconian laws that unnecessarily harass the citizens. We need honest & intelligent cops who are capable of doing their job without interference from the politicians.

Power corrupts. It's a fact of life. You can never clean up the Govt or the police completely. The only way is to reduce the power they have. Every corruption which happens is either because of a particular law or particular power bestowed upon the Govt or a public employee. The lesser power they have, the lesser the possibility of corruption.

Unfortunately, the same people who cry about crime also want Police and others to be given more power. For eg.
- TADA/POTA laws - essentially removes habeas corpus & due process and hands more power to the Govt and cops
- In the Delhi case, lots of people wanted punishment to handed over to the criminals without Due Process - this again increases power of Govt and police.
- The biggest surprise to me was the Anna Hazare movement and the clamour for an anti-corruption law. I don't understand the need for an anti-corruption law - is corruption legal in India without an Anti-Corruption law? Corruption can't be decreased by making new laws. It can only be reduced by removing existing laws.

[amit]

Fact is society & the law enforcement authorities do not consider crimes against women serious enough, in most cases, the women are blamed for what happens. In past one week there have been 2 cases of gang rape in Delhi. No one bothered maybe because the victim's were not brutally assaulted.

No news channel today covers the progress of the Delhi gang rape case. No one follows through to the solution of any problem. Neither the government nor the media. Where the media followed through (Jessica Lal), justice was delivered. Compare this to the Ireland case where an Indian woman died due to medical negligence. Our media as usual made a huge noise and moved on but laws have been passed there so this doesn't repeat. The media never even reported this. All they want is bad news since in India bad news is good news.

Another reason is that the police force is totally politicised, the maximum time is spent by the cops in serving the politician's and they have no choice because the political master's have the authority to transfer, suspend them at will. Besides, for a posting as in charge of a police station in Mumbai the asking price is HUGE. Where do we think the cops are going to get the returns from? Obviously, the low return's crime like sexual assault is of no interest to them unless the catch is somebody big like it happened in the Shiney Ahuja case.

Politicians have a hand and a cut in everything. I know for a fact that a big shot politician makes money out of scrap sold from factories in an industrial area. Imagine the future of this country!

For any problem plaguing our country today the government has come out with a brilliant solution. Make it seem like a lot is being done to improve things but nothing concrete actually is being done.

Problem with our democracy is we discuss & debate too much and act very little. Whether it's the news channel's or the parliament we just make a lot of noise discussing things but there is no solution because none of us have an understanding of the reality of the problem we are aiming to solve.

[noopster]

Women in India have the odds stacked against them the moment they are born.

Actually, even before that. Families eagerly await the news of a male offspring to carry the lineage forward. Grandmothers bless young women to be the mother of a hundred sons. Crooked doctors use sex determination and female foeticide as a powerful weapon to make money and perpetuate the cynical system that favours males.

Parents lament the birth of a girl child and moan about saving up for the wedding. Dowry is common and killing brides on the pretext that her family has not provided enough dowry is prevalent. Shockingly how educated or wealthy the family is has little bearing on their lust for money or blood. Bar a few pockets among the progressive classes, everyone behaves like this: rich or poor, across the caste spectrum.

An attractive woman MUST be teased, groped, catcalled, propositioned, molested. And she must learn to take all this in her stride. We have little time or sympathy for those who protest such deviant behaviour. "Boys will be boys". We call it "eve-teasing" a nice friendly-sounding term that takes the edge off the horror it actually is.

Rape is an extension of the "male in command" paradigm. Men rape because they can. And because it humiliates the woman in the process. The humiliation is the turn-on. Why do Dalit women get paraded in the nude in villages? It's a way of showing them lower-castes their place.

The cops are apathetic. Reporting a rape is traumatic in the best of places, but an absolute nightmare in India. You are shunted away, urged to compromise, make a settlement with your assailant- hell, some judges even encourage marriage between rapist and victim. Because "poor girl, who will marry her after this?"

The most hardened criminals will buy their way out of prison, get out on parole on false pretexts (often involving an ill mother), resume their normal ways of partying and raping and murdering with impunity. One or two cases will make the headlines every few years and we will howl our collective anguish out, waving candles at India Gate and demanding retrials and retribution. And yes, public flogging and castration. Never mind that the conviction rate of the judicial system is abysmally low, but we want to satiate our own impotent bloodlust by wishing horrible death and injury on those we see as guilty. Because quite often the people whose blood we bay for are not even sentenced yet. Trial by media is the norm in such cases.

We have become so used to the victim being punished in most cases that it almost seems natural to demand a quick, grisly justice for those that do get caught in the public's crosshairs.

On the other hand, we have had Presidents who issued pardons willy nilly to rapists and murderers. Laws that seek to strengthen the process to speed up justice for women (and victims in general) languish in the legislature by politicians afraid to ruffle feathers of their favourite votebanks. These same politicians flaunt rapsheets a mile long and conveniently gloss over the issue of accountability in public life. Their paid lackeys in the media back them to the hilt, instead raking up non-issues as "breaking news" to hide the rot within.

And at the root of all this, is the fact that we just do not accept that a woman is just as fabulous and wonderful and capable as any man. Because our way of dealing with womanhood is either revere her and put her on a pedestal or scorn and demean her.

I never fancied myself a feminist growing up. But thanks to being brought up among strong independent women who held their own in their own traditionally-male-dominated families, am today able to appreciate the worth of a woman better than a lot of women themselves can. Sadly, a woman in power in India typically behaves no different from any man. Apart from some lip service about "reservations"- our panacea for all ills- no politician or bureaucrat in India is interested in changing the status quo.

So what's the solution? At a micro-level, start with your family. Treat your women as the equals they are. Give your daughters the same opportunities you would your sons. Try not to propogate the chauvinistic values passed on down generations. Don't throw a hissy fit if your daughter chooses whom to marry, or what profession to choose.

At a societal level, too much has to change and not all of it within our control. But we have to try. There is too much at stake.

A country that doesn't respect half its population stands no chance of succeeding on the global stage. We may be among the highest GDP growers in the world and still end up morally bereft.