Enough tokenism has been shown on the many women’s days gone by. The perfunctory gestures of announcing schemes or special measures to address women’s access to their rights have not been met with action on the ground. Women’s access to health care is still pathetic. This is one reason why maternal mortality in Meghalaya is still high. So too infant mortality, which, in most cases is linked to the mother’s nutritional status and her poor health. Rape continues to be a much feared crime in Meghalaya even while the rape accused get bail with ease despite the tough laws against this heinous crime. There is a high incidence of other crimes against women and of domestic violence. As women muster courage to report such cases, the numbers are on an upward spiral.
Women doing small businesses and wanting to become entrepreneurs have a difficult time accessing credit without collateral despite grandiose schemes announced by the Government and the banking sector from time to time.
Much has been said about women policemen who are supposed to better address crimes against their own gender. But these women have little or no training on gender concepts and the politics of gender. They are not able to dismantle the gender lenses with which they view their work. The media continue to project women as objects in different spaces. Advertisements demean the women’s body. A woman is not treated as a wholesome human person but as body parts by the media. These parts which titillate the male and satisfy the male gaze are highlighted.
On March 8, rural women are given media space for one day. This tokenism is unacceptable since they are forgotten for the rest of the 364 days. Rural women are symbols of poverty and disempowerment. Government and organisations have to show their seriousness now and move beyond mere symbolic gestures. But dare we hope that the Government of Meghalaya would do something substantial for its women on this auspicious day?
