THE DEATH of the Delhi gang rape victims has triggered a wave of protests across the country. That people are coming out in such large numbers to talk about a safer society for women is a healthy sign. It is estimated that every 20 minutes a women is raped somewhere in India.
However, most such cases go unnoticed. In rural areas most such cases go unreported as the victims and their families are hesitant to lodge a police complaint fearing isolation or loss of family honour. The police too is reluctant to file an fir and try to forfeit the victim’s complaint. When it is reported, people justify the crime by blaming the victim itself. Questions are raised about her character and her dressing.
Therefore the response to the Delhi incident is quite optimistic and raises hope for a change in attitude. Ordinary citizens are raising their voice against such heinous crimes. Since the incidence, the city has seen massive demonstrations demanding swift justice and severe punishment to the culprits. Had it not been for the vigilant media and women’s rights activists, this case too would have been lost in police files like many such cases. Security agencies such as the police and paramilitary forces are the worst perpetrators of sexual crime in Kashmir and the Northeast most of which go unreported.
Since the past many years, we have witnessed sharp growths of such crimes in country. An astounding 2,28,650 cases of crimes against women such as abduction, molestation, harassment, immoral trafficking and dowry deaths were reported in 2011 growing at a rate of 18.9 percent. Of course, tougher enforcement of laws, lengthy judicial process and little fear of law among citizens are among the key factors for recurrence of such incidents, but our socio-economic structure and peoples’ attitude too are no less responsible for such crimes against women. Heightened security and tougher laws only prevent the small number of such cases. In rape cases alone, most victims are humiliated by their relatives and enforcement agencies have minimal intervention in that. Alongside the better law and orders, positive behavioral changes would ensure long-lasting and effective outcomes.
Rapid growth of market based economy and rapid urbanisation has altered our lifestyle. Larger work participation has empowered the women and lessened their dependence on male members of the family leading to a growing preference for live-ins rather than marriages. While late marriages are becoming the norm, the media and the pop culture is pushing the children to mature way too early. All these factors create an environment where a large number of people in metropolitan cities face unfulfilled sexual desire. Gratification of these sexual needs without marriage is often through unfair means and leads to sexual crimes. Legalization of prostitution, a demand often raised by liberals in the society, could be a short-term solution for the fulfillment of sexual needs of unmarried guys and widows but it can never be justified as a long-term policy in an ethic based country like ours.
The large gap in our socio-economic structuring is also a big reason for such incidents as very often sexual offenders belong to socially and economically deprived section. Whether it was the Maulana Azad Medical College rape case or the recent one, the offenders in both were slum dwellers. It often the frustration of these illiterate and economically deprived sections that leads them to behave this way. An imprisonment is no punishment for a slum dweller if he gets food and shelter there without any sense of losing dignity, but for a well settled, literate person it would be the end of a career.
SO APART from tightening law and order situation, perhaps what needs some serious attention is — minimising the socio-economic gap in the society. Instead of considering death as punishment for the culprits, focus should be to root out the behavioral problems that lead to such abuses. Education and awareness can be the remedy here.
Justice delay is justice denied; therefore speedy trials in cases of crimes against women will increase the faith of victims in the Indian judicial system. Rape is the most heinous crime against women which scars her whole life. It requires a long-time strategy and a sustained campaign for wiping out this malaise from our society as is being done in cases of ragging over the past few years.
However, most such cases go unnoticed. In rural areas most such cases go unreported as the victims and their families are hesitant to lodge a police complaint fearing isolation or loss of family honour. The police too is reluctant to file an fir and try to forfeit the victim’s complaint. When it is reported, people justify the crime by blaming the victim itself. Questions are raised about her character and her dressing.
Therefore the response to the Delhi incident is quite optimistic and raises hope for a change in attitude. Ordinary citizens are raising their voice against such heinous crimes. Since the incidence, the city has seen massive demonstrations demanding swift justice and severe punishment to the culprits. Had it not been for the vigilant media and women’s rights activists, this case too would have been lost in police files like many such cases. Security agencies such as the police and paramilitary forces are the worst perpetrators of sexual crime in Kashmir and the Northeast most of which go unreported.
Since the past many years, we have witnessed sharp growths of such crimes in country. An astounding 2,28,650 cases of crimes against women such as abduction, molestation, harassment, immoral trafficking and dowry deaths were reported in 2011 growing at a rate of 18.9 percent. Of course, tougher enforcement of laws, lengthy judicial process and little fear of law among citizens are among the key factors for recurrence of such incidents, but our socio-economic structure and peoples’ attitude too are no less responsible for such crimes against women. Heightened security and tougher laws only prevent the small number of such cases. In rape cases alone, most victims are humiliated by their relatives and enforcement agencies have minimal intervention in that. Alongside the better law and orders, positive behavioral changes would ensure long-lasting and effective outcomes.
Rapid growth of market based economy and rapid urbanisation has altered our lifestyle. Larger work participation has empowered the women and lessened their dependence on male members of the family leading to a growing preference for live-ins rather than marriages. While late marriages are becoming the norm, the media and the pop culture is pushing the children to mature way too early. All these factors create an environment where a large number of people in metropolitan cities face unfulfilled sexual desire. Gratification of these sexual needs without marriage is often through unfair means and leads to sexual crimes. Legalization of prostitution, a demand often raised by liberals in the society, could be a short-term solution for the fulfillment of sexual needs of unmarried guys and widows but it can never be justified as a long-term policy in an ethic based country like ours.
The large gap in our socio-economic structuring is also a big reason for such incidents as very often sexual offenders belong to socially and economically deprived section. Whether it was the Maulana Azad Medical College rape case or the recent one, the offenders in both were slum dwellers. It often the frustration of these illiterate and economically deprived sections that leads them to behave this way. An imprisonment is no punishment for a slum dweller if he gets food and shelter there without any sense of losing dignity, but for a well settled, literate person it would be the end of a career.
SO APART from tightening law and order situation, perhaps what needs some serious attention is — minimising the socio-economic gap in the society. Instead of considering death as punishment for the culprits, focus should be to root out the behavioral problems that lead to such abuses. Education and awareness can be the remedy here.
Justice delay is justice denied; therefore speedy trials in cases of crimes against women will increase the faith of victims in the Indian judicial system. Rape is the most heinous crime against women which scars her whole life. It requires a long-time strategy and a sustained campaign for wiping out this malaise from our society as is being done in cases of ragging over the past few years.
Published at the Financial World
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