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NEED OF JUSTIFICATiON AND NOT VINDICATION
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, sharing the same spatial or social territory and subjected to the same political authenticity and cultural expectations. Despite such unanimity the societies are divided or stratified on the basis of caste, colour, class, religion and/or gender. The gender, although biological and being decided at the time of birth, yet it is constructed through the process of Socialization which prepares them for the social roles they are expected to play in future. These roles differ from culture to culture and a baby born as a boy or a girl, thus has no idea of his/her role in society till they grow up and are socialized to behave as Men or Women.
Both the genders, men and women, are important wheels in this social cart and contribute almost equally to its growth, prosperity and development. Apart from their equal contribution, they are also guaranteed equal rights under the Constitution. However, in a society we live in, the status of women seems to be theoretically high but practically low. This is supported by the official statistics which on one hand shows a decline in health status, literacy rate, work participation rate and political participation among women, while on other hand highlights a rampant spread in social evils like dowry deaths, child marriage, domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment and exploitation of women workers.
Nearly one-third of women aged 15-49 experience some form of violence and as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the incidence of crimes against women have risen by 12.9% from 2018 to 2022. According to the Georgetown Institute 2023 Women Peace and Security Index, India scored 0.595 out of 1 point, placing it in rank 128 among 177 countries in terms of women inclusion, justice and security. The index also states that India is among the top 10 worst countries for political violence targeting women in 2022. Except for a decline during Covid-19 in 2020, there has been an alarming increase in crimes against women with an annual reports of rape consistently exceeding 30,000 cases since 2012. If literature is to be believed, one women reports a rape every 20 minutes across the country and paradoxically despite tougher laws, conviction rates for rape have remained low, fluctuating between 27-28% from 2018 to 2022.
The recent rape and murder of a medical resident in Kolkata have reignited a nationwide concerns about women’s safety and the brutal incident has not only highlighted the rise of crime against women but has also exposed the farce initiatives by the stakeholders, be it political parties, legislations, strategies and measures related to women safety. The ongoing strike in resentment by the resident doctors since one month without any fruitful outcome signifies the same fact and the slogans like “Beti Padao, Beti Bachao” and alike seem to be an election sloganeering statements only without any relation with the ground reality. The seriousness of politicians, law makers, civil societies, women empowerment groups etc in providing justice to the victim also seems to be a slapstick.
A decade or more back when an unfortunate incident of Nirbhaya occurred, the whole country came on street in resentment with one single motto of providing justice to the victim and punishment for the culprits. Although the life could not be revived and parents could not be given the solace, yet the punishment granted to culprits set an example in the society that such kind of crime cannot be justified in the society. Since then many such crimes against women have got repeated and the R G Kar incident in kolkatta seems to be more heinous than others. However, except for the resident doctors neither we could see the support offered by civil society members and women empowerment groups nor we could find candle marches, protests, slogans and opposition by other groups in the society. It seems the society has started accepting crime against women as a norm and if it is so we are going to face a dangerous situation in future.
Before we witness such a scenario in society and crimes against women continue to rise, there is an urgent need for comprehensive reforms. The Nationwide Protection law which advocates for uniform protection for all working professionals and ensures consistent as well as comprehensive safeguards across the country needs to be implemented. As justice delayed is justice denied, there is a dire need to establish fast track courts with increased women’s representation and enhance the punishment for grave cases like rape, as recommended by Justice Verma committee. In addition, implementing specialised units like SHE teams in police, safe city designs and support systems including counselling and legal aid also need to be kept in consideration. Various NGOS also need to hold a responsible position and assign themselves with the task of highlighting social evils and the means to eradicate them. The public awareness campaigns using social media need to make youth aware of existing socio-economic causes leading to crimes and by disseminating information about their catastrophic effect on the womanhood and the society at large.
However, we need to remember that only legislation and law enforcement agencies cannot prevent the incidence of crime against women. We, at an individual level, need to take a lone responsibility to create social awakening as a person and also as a parent and/ or guide need to bring a change in attitude of masses in family and society, so that due respect and equal status is given to women.
DR. Pawan Suri
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