Let me begin this article on woman’s safety with a poem by Kishwar Naheed titled
‘I Am Not That Woman’
I am not that woman Selling you socks and shoes! Remember me, I am the one you hid In your walls of stone, while you roamed Free as the breeze, not knowing That my voice cannot be smothered by stones, I am the one you crushed With the weight of custom and tradition Not knowing That light cannot be hidden in darkness. Remember me, I am the one in whose lap You picked flowers And planted thorns and embers Not knowing That chains cannot smother my fragrance I am the woman Whom you bought and sold In the name of my own chastity Not knowing That I can walk on water When I am drowning. I am the one you married off To get rid of a burden Not knowing That a nation of captive minds Cannot be free. I am the commodity you traded in, My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty. Now it is time for me to flower free. The woman on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes- No, no, I am not that woman!
This poem is directed towards woman are being oppressed and deserve to be respected and are entitled to live in a safe world the empowerment of women, and clearly portrays that women are being oppressed and deserve to be respected. Women are not commodities, their beauty is used in advertisements to sell a variety of products but this too is indirectly a forum of oppression. A woman’s self worth is linked to her body; this is not right. Women should appreciate and confidently respect themselves and prove their worth. In many cultures around the world a woman walking outside alone is considered immodest and disgraceful. The main purpose of men keeping their women indoors was to protect them from the dangers of the street, this is understandable to a certain degree but the main hidden purpose is that women are locked indoors as they are considered inferior and a burden. They are objectified and at extremes are not even seen as humans anymore, merely modes of receiving pleasure and satisfaction, nurturing the home, children and family, myriad roles to enable man to live like a king, she being his slave. It exposes the hypocritical nature in which men are free to go where they please without care or question while women are literally locked behind stone in an attempt to silence their minds on the pretexts of keeping them safe. This poem reveals a lot about gender bias which indirectly leads us to think of women’s safety.
Gender bias is a discrimination on a person based on sex / gender (Wikipedia). It is an evil that plagues society globally even today in the 21st century. Looking at the status or the plight of women in India it can hardly be contested that historically, culturally, religiously and structurally the society has always remained and continues to remain discriminatory and unjust towards them. The system has always treated men as superior to women and denied them equality, equity and fairness. It cannot be denied that the problem is complex and a web of factors are responsible for it. Almost every system that aims at regulating human behaviour (example religion, culture and social morals has contributed to the prevailing plight of women which is full of injustice, arbitrariness and unfairness towards them. No doubt Institutions of Law relatively speaking and in many respects has played a positive role but equally it cannot be denied that full potential of law for leading the change or for giving impetus to process of change favourable to women causes, still remains under applied or subjective to many kinds of limitations some inside and many outside. However it cannot be denied that Law has played and has a significant role in realising the constitutional commitments for prohibiting discriminations, arbitrariness and subjugations of women and in ensuring them empowerment, dignity and freedom. The role is tiny but important. To quote the Upanishads ‘For our body give us Freedom. For our dwelling give us Freedom. For our life give us Freedom. ‘ This quote from the Upanishads can be lifted to describe women yearning for Freedom – Freedom from subordinations, freedom from subjugation, freedom from exploitation and discrimination bodily, emotionally, socially, economically and psychologically or to sum up Freedom from the shackles of patriarchy. We will not be able to succeed in winning the struggle of securing welfare, safety, security, freedom and dignity to human society, if we continue to neglect half of the human species namely women and refuse to acknowledge the deep yearning of this section of humanity for freedom, dignity and equity in the process of development and progress. The women’s movement is rising all over the world but the issue of exploitation is getting more visibility and demanding greater attention. Women need fairness, justice and equity in every aspect of human existence and despite a lot of positives in this regard the gender gap, or gender bias, the difference between women and men specially when reflected in familial, social, political, cultural or economic attitudes and attainments remains so pervasive and formidable and is widening and thickening in many respects. India has miles to go in bridging the gender gap and there is an acute need in the system for securing fairness justice and equality in all spheres of women’s life and all the while ensuring their safety.
There is low sex ratio between males and females. This speaks volumes of insecurity that women suffer. Due to femicide, Asia the most economically dynamic region of the world deprives the world of almost 170 million girls.
There is gap between men and women with literacy as per the national family Health Survey censes. We find that women literacy stands low when compared to male literacy.
In the health sector it is to be noted that women are starkly discriminated and they have negligible access to health care and services. With an exception of urban areas half of all births in India occur at home which is a great hazard to women’s health. Institutional delivery is less than 60%. Widening the gap in the health sector it is a shocking reality that women are not allowed to take decisions pertaining to their health and care. Adolescent girls are most malnourished among women and this has remained unchanged overtime. They suffer from malnutrition and anaemia.
The participation of women in decision making is negligible. It is not only in the legislature but even in other establishments under the constitution there exists a wide unexplainable gap, and there does not seen any hope that the same will disappear in the near future. Women’s representation in the judiciary too is negligible.
Story of women exploitation and violence gets further discouraging and disturbing on going through the National Crimes Bureau report – while charge sheet were filed in 91% of cases in crimes against women only a mere 21% resulted in conviction. More shocking is the fact that the number of rape cases are increasing and with regard to human trafficking 94% cases were charge sheeted but only 45% resulted in conviction. This is shocking making it seen that violence and women go together what a bitter fact and a fact hard to fight.
There is lack of economic equality. Women have less political voice, less social and cultural freedom. Women in India have made a significant economic contribution by providing capital both physical and human and actively participating in the work force of the country. But they remain excluded in equal opportunities and access to the benefit of growth and progress. Even in the corporate board rooms the number of women is negligible. Women are paid less when compared to their male counterparts. Women are the care givers, they multitask, but all the hard work they put in is under the door mat of duty and responsibility and their work and contribution is never accounted financially when compared to men. There is a gap or gender bias in women’s representation in employment and so also in terms of wages they earn. Gender bias persists in elite jobs too. Likewise there is inequality towards women even in their relation to property and inheritance. To bridge the gender inequality we need to bring a paradigm shift in thoughts theory’s, ideas, concepts, actions and attitudes and sweeping reforms.
Girls are discriminated upon for various reasons, economic, social and political. Various studies and researches have brought to light the fact that, women are more economically vulnerable in societies where gender bias is practised. Gender inequality is considered a push factor in human trafficking. This yet again makes us think of woman safety.
In many gender unequal countries women face barriers, where they are discouraged from travelling alone, likewise if they leave a country without a male escort, she is frowned upon. In our country inequality is often higher in most parts of rural Indian Society, where a woman leaving a house alone is stigmatised. Their male counterparts justify it by stating that restrictions on the movement or mobility of women curtail, the likelihood of them migrating alone, and that then there is less risk of being trafficked. India is one among the worst hit countries where trafficking occurs. In all countries, girls from rural areas, face severe discrimination. Through threats, beatings and other modes of harassment, they are forced into the sex racket at tender ages to supplement the income of the family. While the boys are allowed to go to school, the girl child is made to stay at home to look after the babies, while the parents go to work, and the elder girl children are forced to supplyment family income and forced into prostitution. Victims of sex trafficking are usually young girls who have very less education and come from poor socio-economic backgrounds. Our socio-economic fabric has changed significantly, post globalisation and privatisation and people with single income are finding it difficult to sustain their families, so more women are joining the workforce. This is a sign of a progressive society, but gender equality, is yet to be realised. The condition of women has changed with changing demands of societies and in turn this calls out for bringing about changes to make women safe and secure.
In our country, which has a very high population, women are paid less, compared to their male counterparts. Employers prefer to employ women as they are cheap to hire and can be fired easily. Our country does not have any system of uniform social security and with absolute job insecurity, uneducated women, when they loose their jobs are thrown into prostitution for survival. Women are usually care givers and men are the bread winners in a family. But this situation is changing when more and more women join the workforce. When women travel from one place to another for work, a vulnerable situation is created, which is conducive to traffickers for exploiting them.
Women need to be empowered to reduce their trafficking in any form. Another reason for gender bias and trafficking as I see it are the fact that many topics are taboo in our society. Sex education is not open but a hush-hush affair. Though we have laws to protect women and several schemes for their empowerment and protection and safety, they do not see the light of day due to corruption that is rampant in our society. Politicians come and go, policies are framed but implemented to a bare minimum, and there is an alarming increase in the number of cases where guardians become perpetrators of crime.
Gender inequalities persist throughout the world. The patriarchal system followed in most of the countries coupled with poverty and limited resources, has resulted in a distribution of gender roles. The traditional patriarchal system has taken a back seat and more women are joining the workforce. There is less trafficking in countries where there is equality in educating boys and girls and more trafficking in countries were education of the girls takes a back seat.
Other aspects to be considered is gender bias that exists in families, were they teach the girls to be submissive to their males, preference is given to boys to get educated and the girl child is not given an opportunity to voice her opinions to name a few.
While interacting with a group of students perusing their MSW course it shocked my sensibility to hear, of their experiences, while dealing with or rather interviewing women, young girls and tender children who had been trafficked. To cite a few examples, a lady who was interviewed, submitted, “no women in my family is educated, when I was young and insisted to go to school with my brothers, I was laughed at by my family. I was the butt of all jokes. My father was wanting to get me married, being attracted by the bride price I could bring the family. Then there were instances where, for the same job undertaken, the boys were paid more and the girls were paid less. And after working hours at their jobs the girls were sexually abused by their employers. Other instances that came to light was the fact that husbands sold wives, because they could not conceive, where families ran brothels using these women who could not conceive and they had their own system of sharing the money so procured. Girls and women were never included in decision making process of the family, as another girl sadly put it I had a body but no control over my body. There were instances of forceful abortion committed on women when the sex of child was revealed, showing the foetus was female putting the mother through severe health risk. Some others opened up saying, men in their community did not work, women worked as prostitutes the males just pimped them. Other reasons for gender bias are social customs, dowry, female foeticide, bride price and selling daughters. In the light of these reasons the topic of women safety acquires significants.
Men in remote places married several times, and there existed a heinous practise of wife buying. Yet another instance brought to light, was of a young woman sold into prostitution who, complained to a police man, who raped her under guise of consoling her, she escapes with the help of a journalist, who has the audacity to force her to have sex with him, film it and blur his images and broadcast it on television, under the title “Call Girl Racket Busted”.
It is not just the women and girls from rural areas who are being exploited and remain by and large unsafe, it occurs in the cities too, where girls are duped and defrauded with promises of making money through procurement of jobs and opportunities in movies and show business and later, duped and trafficked across international borders with the help of politicians, bureaucrats and police, making it difficult to escape.
To eradicate this vice, there should be proper sex education, health awareness, medical aid and legal aid provided to girls at a young age and establishment of rehabilitation centres at all levels, and it is to be made available to girls and women living in rural and urban areas, cities, towns, slums and tribal areas.
Those of you who have studied economics will be familiar with the theory of demand and supply. With gender bias and imbalance, trafficking will thrive. This can be curtailed only with education and dignified, employability. When women are educated and given political power, they can be the harbingers of change. Though there are upteen number of laws in force and “protectors” no result ensues when they turn perpetrators and thus women’s safety is a necessity to be addressed on a war footing. The only help that is genuinely got is from NGOs and though they do a good job due to lack of funds, corruption, and similar vices rampant there, number of women who are saved or rehabilitated for that matter is a bare minimum. It is to be noted here that NGOs take care of awareness, education and rehabilitation, but choose to stay out of the rescue process for which they have to depend on other agencies and authorities like law enforcement, politicians, governments etc.
If the situation has to change, the mindset of people has to change, there has to be equality at all levels for both girls and boys as enshrined in the constitution. We have to educate and sensitize people from the ground level onwards. We should do our bit to eradicate this evil from society and should have a commitment to do our bit. There is vast material available online and through books and research papers that can be used to help us achieve this and be educated. Important case laws, law, rules, guide lines, rehabilitation processes etc. have to be studied and implemented. There are so many women centric laws that come to their aid to keep them safe. Women should be educated about them to better equip them to face the future and live in a safe world. Constitutional Protection, International Commitments, National Commission for Women, Various laws relating to crimes against women, Personal laws relating to women, Women and Industrial Law, Laws relating to protection of children, Laws related to trafficking, The Juvenile Justice Act, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition Act), The protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act etc. move a long way to aid women. These provisions of law will go a long way into empowering the women to remain safe.
In Indian culture it is seen that girls are taken care of by their father till marriage after which in their youth they are taken care of by their husbands and in old age they live under the protection of their sons.
Our country India is called our mother land and Indians worship various deities and goddesses but inspite of that women do not get the same respect and equal status. Our ancestors faced the gruesome practice of SATI where a women is burnt on the funeral pyre of her husband. This is because then it was deemed that after her husband’s death she cannot live safely in society on her own. Even though this practice has been banned and even after the formulation of laws and rules and the empowerment of women and constitutional safe guards the cruelty towards women has not faded. It has taken varied gruesome forms and has affected women in so many myriad ways that women’s safety assumes significance in modern times. You speak to any woman and every single one has her own experiences to share which highlight the importance of women’s safety.
The root cause of the problem as I see it lies in the different rules set by society for men and women about their conduct, their behaviour and their dressing and choices taken by them. A woman is frowned upon if she steps out of her home alone at night without a man by her side be it her father, brother, husband or son. This sub consciously promotes the idea that women are unsafe and due to this families treat their girls differently from boys. Girls have different curfew times than boys. Girls are forced to learn domestic chores right from childhood while the male child plays around. Boys are given priority in education and all aspects of life when compared to a girl child. Giving them priority makes them privileged and entitled and it manifests in their growth where they believe they are to be served and their’s is the last word. The men thus become what they are taught to become. Even in the lower strata of society this huge divide is seen in the bringing up of male and female children. The male bosses over the female. They show their authority by subjugating the female. This takes violent forms like rape, sexual harassment, marital rape, acid attacks to name a few.
For a woman to be safe she has to be educated. This is the first step. She should know her rights and fight for it. She should be taught these things from a very young age itself. There are numerous laws that help towards educating the women to stay and live safe. Women have remained unsafe largely on account of illiteracy, poverty and patriarchy. While there is a marked improvement in regard to general awareness about women’s rights the legal system too has done its bit by protecting their rights while enforcing statutory provisions and judicial precedents. Even then women’s safety will become a reality only when women know about their rights and remedies available in law. Educating women is not to make them superior to men but to enable them to live and work together as both men and women are two equal halves that make a complete whole. Women have tremendous potential which they need to explore and use with confidence.
It is following the Nirbhaya case and the public outrage it provoked that safety for women garnered attention and concern in India. Provision of buses explosively for women SHE Taxies, mobile apps, stronger GPS tracking features, provision of suraksha buttons and emergency connectivity through Wi-Fi with the police, installation of CC TV and strict measures of verifications of drivers of public transport all go a long way to enable women on the move to stay safe.
Even while living in the country with a largest democracy in the world, women in India fight a fight much harder than a man can even conceive it to be. Women are not able to enjoy public spaces on par with men when they hang around in public spaces beyond the socially be accepted time and with proper male escort they are frowned upon needless to mention women when seen alone public spaces or with other women alone are harassed by bullying subject of indecent comments and is teasing which is an afront to their dignity. The rules that society imposes on women, and the rule women are expected to abide by force them to be accommodative and make them compromise even when they are in an unhappy or unsafe environment. The consequences of all these rules are an increase in crimes against women trafficking, rape, harassment, acid attacks, female foeticide, honest killing etc. are result. Women who become widows and divorcees are exploited abuse and looked down upon and no one takes the trouble to understand why they are so or act to who is responsible for their situation. This makes them vulnerable as they need to be protective and allowed to live with safety and dignity. On the other side if women grow up to be self made women who can empower others they are looked upon as a threat to their male counter parts. Men though educated and enlightened generally look upon themselves has been superiors to women and ego leads to situation where a women’s progress be it in a home or workplace is not judged by her potential or calibre. Men always try to put women in their place. Sexual exploitation at the work place is of grave concern and the ‘me to movement’ proves that it occurs in every strata of society. Thus women safety is very important and the women are to be safe the men should also be educated and should recognize that women too have rights like them and ought not to be thrust into unsafe environment on account of their behaviour. Change has to begin from home and put into practice in society to make the world a safe of place for women. As society we could support the education of women and encourage them to attain powerful positions those in government and coperate world and then force stricter laws for those who hamper the safety of women the way to grow is together. Women have so many issues and they face so much without complaining and multi task Excellency. Therefore there should be a collective effort by everyone to support women and enable them to live safely and grow to their full potential without fear and without having to constantly look over their shoulder to make sure they are safe. A change in mindset of one in all will enable our women to live safely and this will be a true sign of women empowerment.
Article prepared by Adv. Geetha Job,
Practising lawyer High Court of Kerala.
Books referred...
1. ‘I am not that women’ referred poem by Kishwar Naheed.
2. Law relating to Women and Children by Mamta Rao
3. Journey of Women Law Reforms and the Law Commission of India by Pawan Sharma
4. Women Know Thyself by Dr. Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal Hasan Khurshid
5. Various articles in Times of India and The new Indian Express
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