By Jenniefer Dkhar
It is a matter of shame and embarrassment but most importantly great pain for our country to be recognised as the most dangerous country in the world for women as per the survey carried out by The Thompson Reuters Foundation, London. The safety and security of women has been a matter of grave concern in all parts of the world. Whether it be the most developed countries or the developing and under-developed ones, women and girls have always been subjected to a lot of discrimination, violence, abuse, molestation, rape and murder. As an Indian and also as a woman, I feel the pain, anxiety and fear of what has become of this country in particular and the world at large.
Worldwide, women are some form of prejudices in their daily lives. To be seen as the weaker sex has been the norm, yet even in the 21st century we are still facing subjugation and suppression. We are a country of diverse ethnicity, culture, tradition, religion and faith yet if there is one aspect where we seem to have unity of thought, belief and practice it is in our projection and behaviour towards girls and women. Women have always been perceived as the inferior ones in position and status and therefore weak and dependent beings. To be ranked as a country that is the most unsafe for women is not only disquieting but alarming. Every single day, news channels, newspapers, radio and all sources of information do not fail to carry news of sexual abuse, rape and murder of women and even girls as young as nine months old. Every citizen of the country is bombarded with such painful news every morning they read the newspapers or watch the news on TV. What is even more horrifying is that these crimes are not limited only to culprits who are strangers but some of the perpetrators of these crimes are people known to the girl/woman and the family. At times it could be a family friend, an uncle, a cousin, a brother and even a father who have joined the band wagon.
Even today every Indian girl is being told by her parents and guardians that she must reach home well before dark and that she must not loiter about too late in the night. The streets, the town, the city, the neighbourhood was never seen as a safe and secure space for girls since time immemorial. Girls are to abide by this age-old rule of staying indoors especially once it gets dark. After all, there is no place safer than home! So it appeared as if the confines of the home are a girl’s safe haven. And sure why not! After all, home is where the heart is! Home is where an individual can be and should be herself/himself. But alas! Today even the home is unsafe and is no longer the sanctuary one comes to for rest. There is no other place today where a girl/woman cannot be raped and abused. In our very own state a father-son duo raped a daughter/sister; what more can be said?
Even today, in the court of law when a rape case is taken up the blame has always been on the character of the girl and the way she dresses and the time of night she is out. How pathetically lame that excuse is! For, no matter how a girl dresses or what she wears, the fact remains that no man has the right to judge her and rob her of her honour, pride, dignity and life. To say that because a girl dresses provocatively therefore she sets herself up for rape is a ridiculous argument since even a nine month old baby girl or a five year old girl are raped. So no female is spared these days. It’s time now to go deeper into the reasons as to why our country is so unsafe for women. Should girls and women be held responsible for being devoured and ruined? The root cause must be determined. Such heinous crimes are committed and are so rampant because of a sick and unhealthy mentality, perverted minds and corrupted souls of the opposite sex and secondly the low conviction rates. Our court of law is invariably lenient towards criminals that it does not act as a deterrent for others. A person who commits a rape and then murders is awarded only a few years jail term. The judicial process is so long and protracted that it takes the victim years to get justice. This lends credence to the saying, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” Is this fair? Isn’t this an important matter and a concern that the Indian government and the judicial system must work towards with greater urgency than anything else?
The sad truth is that we are really not protecting and saving our girls from discrimination and atrocities as heinous as sexual abuse, rape and murder. On that front we are a failure as we are really not doing much. It is disappointing that our girls/women are living a life of discrimination and insecurity outside and even at home.
Today as a country, we must be ashamed of the alarming threat to the honour and lives of our girls and women. Our government should reflect wisely and work diligently towards chalking out laws and decrees to safeguard our girls and women. As citizens of this country we must work together to ensure that every girl and every woman is safe and lives a life free from fear. As individuals, both men and women, it is imperative to nurture young minds into becoming human beings that are conscientious and sensitive towards the needs and existence of both men and women in this world.