In
the wake of the Delhi bus gang rape of a 23 year old medical student,
almost the whole of India is protesting against the government and the
police department’s lax in protecting the country’s women. But, is it
just improved law and order that can change the situation in a country
where most of such cases go unreported especially in domestic fronts? I
guess not.
Reminiscing Mahatma Gandhi’s words, Dr. Ranjana Kumari, a social activist from India in a news telecast (28th
December, 2012, Channel ABC2, Australia) mentioned that domestic
violence breeds violence in society. She also mentioned that one in
every three women in India has faced some sort of domestic violence. If
her figures are true, then among many of us who have gone out today
protesting against this heinous crime, must have been involved,
witnessed or even experienced some sort of violence on women at home.
Then why not change things at home as well? Is there a guarantee that
tomorrow men will stop raping women due to a stricter law? Did men stop
physically abusing women in a domestic set-up despite the Domestic
Violence Act of 2005? Just stricter laws will not help. The families or
the microcosms of our society need to practice proper implementation of
these laws on a daily basis to ensure that it percolates to the macro
level.
In
such a society only a change in attitude towards women can bring about a
reversal change in these matters. The key factor is that women are
still not respected enough by their own family members; leave alone the
society as a whole. The origin of such events lie in the sheer male
preference factor predominant in India even today, giving men a feeling
that they can easily objectify a woman to a mere commodity. In many
parts of the country, the good daughter or wife is still considered to
be someone who is an epitome of sacrificial life, with no career (no
financial independence), serving her family (sometimes working more than
the men and not getting paid for it), always listening (no freedom of
speech) and thinking about the family before herself (no right to
choose). The men and sometimes even the women of our country need to
realise that a woman’s independence is as good for the society as it is
for her.
We
need more representation of women in powerful positions, so that the
equality between the two genders is evident to everyone. If women
continue to throng administrative junior positions while men throng
decision making senior roles in organisations as well as families, we
might have to witness more and more of such dreadful representations of
male dominance.
Equality
is everyone’s right in a democracy, but understanding its relevance is
lacking in most of us. Many think that women empowerment getting
stronger may also be a reason behind such incidents, as men tend to get
more insecure of losing their importance and their insecurities get
manifested in appalling ways. In that case, we need to educate and
promote women in ways that will make men realise that they gain too, and
not just the society at large, by sharing the responsible positions and
roles with women.
It’s
a daunting task indeed but one that needs to be done in order to
inculcate a safer place for the Indian women to live a normal life that
they well deserve. It’s important that our government takes firmer
action against rapists and also improve the law and order in the
country. But, it’s equally important for us to implement such beliefs on
the micro level, as the roots of our society lie there; our homes.
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