ARE
WOMEN SAFE IN INDIA?
Do You Think About That Indian Women Are
Safe Or Not Please Give Your Openion.
AS A
23-YEAR-OLD MEDIA PROFESSIONAL WALKED TOWARDS HER OFFICE ON A CHILLY MORNING IN
BANGALORE, SHE CAME FACE TO FACE WITH HER ASSAULTER — A BIKE-BORNE MAN, WHO
SLOWED DOWN AS HE GOT CLOSER TO HER, SPAT ON HER AND SPED OFF. SHAMEFACED AND
SEETHING WITH ANGER, SHE FORGOT TO NOTE DOWN THE BIKE'S REGISTRATION NUMBER.
"I WAS SHOCKED AND BEFORE I COULD REGAIN MY COMPOSURE, HE HAD SPED OFF. AT
FIRST I ASKED MYSELF IF MY CLOTHES HAD INVITED SUCH AN ACTION. BUT I HATE HIM
NOW FOR MAKING ME QUESTION MYSELF. IT WAS NOTHING LESS THAN A TALIBAN-ESQUE
ASSAULT ON A WOMAN," SHE SAYS. WOMEN, CAREFUL OR NOT, ARE NOW BECOMING THE
TARGET OF A SECTION OF MEN WHO LEER, JEER AND DO NOT HESITATE TO MAKE THEM FEEL
VULNERABLE, AND, WORSE, ATTACK THEIR DIGNITY . A RECENT STUDY STATES THAT INDIA
IS THE WORST COUNTRY FOR WOMEN AMONG THE G20 NATIONS. THE REPORT SUGGESTS THAT
INDIAN WOMEN ARE NOT FREE FROM VIOLENCE. THIS IS APPARENT FROM THE TROUBLING
VISUALS THAT THE GUWAHATI INCIDENT HAS SHOWN US. THE NATIONAL CRIME REPORTS
BUREAU 2011 SHOWS THAT BANGALORE COMES SECOND IN THE COUNTRY FOR CRIMES
COMMITTED AGAINST WOMEN. ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, BANGALORE HAS 1,890 CASES,
WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR 5.6%, AFTER NEW DELHI (13.3%). WHY DO INDIAN MEN USE SEXUAL
VIOLENCE TO ROB A WOMAN'S SECURITY?
ACTIVIST ARUNDHATI GHOSH
SAYS, "THERE ARE MANY INDIAS AT PRESENT. IT'S DIFFICULT FOR A
SOCIO-ECONOMICALLY AND SEXUALLY REPRESSED INDIA TO LIVE WITH THE MODERN,
INDEPENDENT INDIA. BACKWARD IDEAS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY OVERPOWER THE
INDIA IN WHICH WOMEN WANT TO LIVE ON THEIR OWN." PSYCHOLOGIST VIKRAM
PRABHU SAYS THAT PATRIARCHY ALLOWS MEN TO COMMIT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN.
"IT OCCURS WHEN A MAN SEES A WOMAN AS INFERIOR. THIS HAS BECOME COMMON IN
URBAN AREAS WHERE MEN CAN TAKE REFUGE UNDER THE MASK OF ANONYMITY. IT IS MALE
CHAUVINISM, WITH THE MAN FORCING THE WOMAN INTO SUBMISSION."THE MAIN
ACCUSED IN THE GUWAHATI MOLESTATION CASE, AMAR JYOTI KALITA, REPORTEDLY
DEFENDED HIS CASE BY STATING THAT THE GIRL WAS INTOXICATED. WHY DO WE AS A
SOCIETY FIND FAULT WITH THE WOMAN? "INDIAN SOCIETY HAS ALWAYS PRIDED
ITSELF ON A STRONG MASCULINE FIGURE," SAYS VIKRAM, ADDING, "IN OLD
MOVIES, THERE ARE SEQUENCES OF THE HERO JEERING AT A WOMAN. MASKED UNDER THE
ACT OF 'COURTSHIP', THIS IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND LEGITIMIZE SUCH ACTS."
AND THESE IMAGES CHANGE THE WAY WOMEN ARE BEING PERCEIVED, SAYS FRANKLIN
JOSEPH, WHO CONDUCTS WORKSHOPS TO EMPOWER WOMEN. "WHEN A FAMILY
WATCHES A FILM IN WHICH A MAN BEATS UP A WOMAN, AND A FATHER HAS NO ISSUES
WATCHING IT, THE SON GETS A SUBCONSCIOUS MESSAGE THAT IT'S OK FOR HIM TO COMMIT
THE SAME ACTS. MOTHERS USUALLY HAVE NO SAY ON THE MATTER AND THE SILENCE IS
PROOF OF THE POWER OF THE MAN," SAYS FRANKLIN.ACTIVISTS BELIEVE THAT
INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA DO NOT OFFER ENOUGH SUPPORT FOR WOMEN WHO WANT TO REPORT
ON CRIMES. SAYS CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TEESTA SETALVAD: "WE ARE GUIDED BY
WEAK LAWS, AND WOMEN ARE NOT GIVEN ENOUGH SUPPORT IN THEIR FAMILY TO COME OUT
AND TALK ABOUT IT. SO, WOMEN FACE THE WORST OF BOTH WORLDS."
FEMINISM IN
THE WEST HAS BROUGHT ABOUT CHANGES: THE BRA-BURNING RADICAL FEMINISTS OF THE
60S PROTESTED AND REFUSED TO HIDE BEHIND AN APRON. HAS THE FEMINIST CAUSE IN
INDIA FAILED TO ESTABLISH A WOMAN'S PLACE IN SOCIETY? ARUNDHATI DISAGREES AND
SAYS, "IT IS BECAUSE OF FEMINISM THAT WOMEN LIKE ME ARE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT
IT. IT IS NOT THE FEMINIST CAUSE, BUT THE MEN WHO HAVE NOT KEPT UP WITH THE
CHANGING WOMAN. IT IS TIME TO STOP WORSHIPPING THE SITAS AND PARVATIS, AND TO
BRING THE KALIS OUT.
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