O Womaniya!!

Posted on by Parul Thakur

You don’t need to do the “right” keyword search when looking up “Crime against women – #CrimesAgainstWomen”. Enter any word and millions of results will show in a matter of milliseconds. And if you happen to look up India, the results would be even more alarming. My heart really bleeds every time this topic comes up. We have come a long way since independence but stats show otherwise. Crime against women is at its all time high. According to National Crime Records Bureau, the latest numbers show that a woman is raped every 22 minutes.

Gender discrimination starts even before a girl is born and we all know how distorted the sex-ratio in India is. If a girl is lucky to be born, then she faces discrimination at every step throughout her life – in some form or the other. She is made to learn household chores and refused even the primary education when her brother enjoys all the possible freedom. She is not allowed to play outside with her brothers or their friends. Then one day, even before she hits puberty, she is married off. By the time she understands what has happened, she is already a mother. But whose fault is this anyway? First, a mother should not bear a girl child. Only a boy child gets a woman her due respect. This boy anyway would end up hitting his own mother and treating sisters poorly, but who cares? After all, he is a boy. Second, she was born a girl. Right? How unfortunate!

But there are a lot of ways to prevent crime against woman and right now I am going to talk about preventing rape – the most common crime against women in India. Just so you know, these are not my suggestions. These are views of noted people in our country – politicians, babas, panchayat sarpanchs and even university deans. So, they must be trusted and obeyed! (Of course, follow at your own risk!)

  1. The marriageable age for girls should be brought down to 16. Young girls are vulnerable to such hideous crimes and if married off early, we can save them.
  2. Stop watching Bollywood movies. They encourage crime and provoke men to try out things.
  3. No jeans, skirts to college – dress decently and cover up.
  4. Wear overcoats – when you are covered, no crime can be committed.
  5. Junk food leads to hormonal imbalance. So, avoid Chowmein – it creates such an imbalance.
  6. Don’t be too adventurous and step out at night. Rather stay indoors as soon as the Sun sets. Whatever happens at home is none of our concern.
  7. Stop using mobile phones – what is the need to communicate when being raped?
  8. 90% of rape cases are consensual. Don’t just make a fuss out of it.
  9. Very shameful that rapes happen in India. Such crimes don’t happen in Bharat. Try relocating to Bharat.
  10. Plead and pray when attacked. Call the attacker “Bhaiya” and the human in him might just wake up and let you go free, untouched!

If by chance, in the rarest of a rare case of rape, penalty is awarded, we get to hear – This was a silly mistake. He is just a boy! Even better, get the girl married to the same guy. She will be raped every day and will live happily ever after.

Ours is a country where is victim is blamed and held accountable for the crime committed against her. If the laws change here, they change only on paper. Even something as critical and important as “One stop crisis Centre” required an entire episode of Satyamev Jayate so that people could vote and such centers could be put up all across the country? Why can’t we go for blanket approvals all across all states in one shot? Why do we treat our survivors so badly that they fear lodging the FIR in the first place? Society, police, lawyer, judge and every Tom, Dick and Harry believes that it was the victim’s fault.

It is a sorry state and our generation has to do something about it before it gets even more late. My only suggestion – let’s start by respecting the girl child even before she is born!

P.S. Last year I wrote a post on One Little Girl Child and this post too talks about the plight of girl child in India. Sad but there is really no change!

16 thoughts on “O Womaniya!!”

  2. i hate these rapist moreover i believe they are not human beings and normal people . they should be hanged . most important such cases should be brought up in light . generally people hide it . saying ‘ ijjat ka sawal hai , log kya kahege ” type of rubbish statement .. v well articulated .

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  3. Hello .
    The idiotic bunch that we have called the politicians, babas , leaders etc.. I wish we can make them stand in a line and Shoot them. thats the only way to get rid of them.

    our nation is in a sad state and needs a full change , and these leaders are not the people to do because they are all the same and are only interested in one thing their own coffers ..

    I feel that the problem is justice and Police, if case are finalised within weeks and a harsh judgement given then things will change, ALSO where it is found that the police has not done its job the officers need to be relieved of duty immediately, I know in the start many good officers will also feel the brunt , but we will have to live with that as the police department needs a complete makeover.

    the rapist is not afraid as they know even if caught they will be fine as when the case starts they can happily make it carry on for years and yearssssssssssssssssss.. and in those years anything can happen .

    and to start with we need the leaders changed..

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  7. I support the general theme of your article. However some points i do not agree with your list.

    1) reduce the marriage age of girls- seriously is this really a solution- it is “respect of the individual” is most important. This needs to be taught at home by parents and family and at schools from the time of the first education inputs. Early age marriage just perpetuates the problem, as this is an easy road to bullying and family violence at the new married home.
    2) bollywood movies- stop watching them…. its the movie directors, producers, financiers and politicians that need their heads read. They are the biggest creators and manipulators of social breakdown in the country. By showing heroism and encouraging family violence, violence against women and the poor, simply creates a culture of “its ok”. I agree with not supporting and watching these movies. More social and community pressure is a better solution. Highlight and publicise the personal contractions of these individuals. Its these same people behave “holier than thou” at their mandirs.
    3) clothing and cover up of bodies- really… if the man wants to rape, molest you, beat you up, what is a simple piece of cloth going to protect you? Take time to read about violence against women in many of the middle eastern countries where women are well covered up. Consider the case where many tribes, where the only clothing is a loin cloth/ bark, is there a high case of this type of violence? No. The reason being there is respect of the individual and peer pressure that this is not an acceptable behaviour in the community.

    I will continue with my comments when i have more time.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Maya!!

      This post is a sarcasm and mark my words
      “These are views of noted people in our country – politicians, babas, panchayat sarpanchs and even university deans. ”
      This post is written differently and this is not what I want to say. I am making a mockery of all those people who give such statements. 🙂

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  8. Point taken- I should have read your article more thoroughly. My apologies to you.
    My sentiments are with you.
    Its a very relevant and pertinent subject. By airing and starting the discussion can all be good.
    There needs to be a change in culture…

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