CAUSE OF THE MONTH
CAUSE
The cause we have chosen is "women", one close to our heart. While doing our stories, reading newspapers we realized that the agony of a woman continues even after the crime against her. From lodging FIR to dealing with emotionally to being outcaste from society to being again accepted by the society. We want to bring to light the aftermaths of a criminal act against woman, like sexual acts, which is not usually done by Indian media and sensitize people so as to make them realise the gravity and real impact of gruesome crimes.
The endless Agony
God made every individual equal but human beings brought the word bias.The discrimination on the bases of gender has given rise to violence which in turn creates a rift in the society. A mother, sister, daughter, a woman deserves the right to be respected but ironically most inhuman acts are performed against her. Women from rural as well as urban areas have equal contribution in the development of culture and society like their male counterparts but with every passing day we see violent and sexual acts that simply show that we do not respect our women. New Delhi has dubious distinction of being the rape capital. And, its not just about rape. The agony does not end there.
According to a 2013 global review of available data, 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. In a developing country like India, cases like gang rapes, naked women parades in villages and rapes have become a regular phenomenon. Even after the incident, the pain does not stop. Mr Yogesh Kumar from NGO Pratidhi says that the most difficult period for a victim is to face the post trauma effects. "The accused undergoes a lot of depression and then comes the social stigma. Breaking people's perception against the accused is a very important task." According to Mr. Yogesh family support of the victim is required to cope up with the situation.
In the 2011 census, National Crime Records Bureau, Amnesty International revealed disturbing facts that rape within marriage is not considered a crime in India if the wife is over 15. The main cause of violence against women lies in discrimination against women which denies woman's right to equality, compared to men.
Organisations like Pratidhi which is a collaborative society of Delhi and Association for Development(NGO for professional social workers), working for the welfare and rehabilitation of the victim of crime, has played an important role in helping the victims in living a normal life. “ We provide counseling to the victim and all the best possible medical aid and at the same time we also provide training to the police and doctors in coping with such cases, "says Yogesh Kumar.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedom set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. But that does not seem to be happening.
After a crime it is important to get that complaint lodged. Unfortunately, it's almost impossible for educated or professional women in Delhi to go to a police station, especially in the night. Even in daytime it is plain difficult for ordinary Indian women from the margins, or who don't have any influence whatsoever, to enter police stations. This is not a general rule but a repetitive narrative.
And if this is the scenario in Delhi, it's like a nightmare in townships and interior villages. Witness for instance the police stations in western UP, Omkara territory, where between crime and law and order, the lines are so terribly blurred. Tribals and Dalits, especially women, are routinely refused entry in police stations. In a classically perverse sense, it is often the typical scenario shown in old parallel cinema like Aakrosh - check out innumerable stories of women assaulted, degraded and humiliated in Indian villages, or where movements against displacement are consolidating like in Lalgarh, Kalinganagar, Kashipur or Dantewada, or close to the capital in the caste khaps of Haryana and western UP, in the lynching and public spectacles of torture and death sentences given to women in the form of honour killings.
Rashi Mera was the president of the Gargi College Students' Union in Delhi University, when, on September 16, 2007, she saw it point-blank - male, machismo's perversity as a public spectacle. A gang of nearly 300 young men who had come to appear for the 'constable exams' in Delhi Police, went berserk around the north campus of Delhi University, attacking, abusing and molesting female students.
"I was in the south campus when we heard of this. We spoke to the girls who were molested. Since they were shocked, and shy of approaching the police, we formed a Joint Action Committee Group (JACG). We, a group of girls from Lady Sri Ram, Hindu, St. Stephen's, Kamala Nehru and Gargi College, went to the Maurice Nagar police station, which has north campus under its jurisdiction. But the FIR was not lodged. "We were told that you cannot lodge an FIR as we were not the ones who were molested. Do we have to be raped or molested first to get an FIR lodged for a woman who has been brutally attacked?" questions Rashi Mera angrily.
"The police categorically told us that since we were not the ones who were molested and there were too many men it was not possible to recognise and arrest them. We requested them that the FIR can surely be lodged on somebody's behalf, since it happened in a public place. No luck. Next time, when our group went again to the police station, they said, so where all did the guys touch them? It was so embarrassing," she says
Now if the police has behaved like this in the capital of India, where will the other girls go ?"
After two weeks, the JACG met the then Union human resource development minister Arjun Singh. They also approached the National Commission for Women (NCW). Two weeks later, an FIR was lodged. "How come the delayed FIR was lodged this time? The atmosphere in the police station was very intimidating. The police did not seem approachable at all. Even the women constables were of no help. They were rude and asked all sorts of questions which made no sense," says Rashi.
Beena Thakkar (name changed) was frequently abused by her husband. She had gone back to her parents' home several times, but had to come back to her husband's house since her parents insisted that "like all women she should make adjustments". "One day, he came back home drunk and forced me to have sex with him. I didn't want to. He beat me up. That day it was so severe that I went to the nearby police station. There was no woman official there. I was highly uncomfortable telling all the details. My FIR was not lodged. The experience was traumatic. Maybe it's because they knew my in-laws," says Beena stoically.
Beena, now a 'contract teacher' in a government school in Delhi and divorced, has come a long way. She is trying to find her feet again with great difficulty, but at least she does not have to face the violence of that man day after day. But she has little faith in the government, or the police. She is on her own, like many other women survivors of male violence in this country.
See related story by our team member at: http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/02/3442#sthash.bZfso4WW.dpuf
