Where exactly is a woman safe?
Introduction
Crime is any action or omission which constitutes an offence and is further punishable by law. Certainly, there is a wide difference between men and women when we talk about crime. Globally, women have been one of the most vulnerable species who are subjected to crime. WHO estimates that every 1 in 3 women globally suffer from physical or/and sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence throughout their lives. Crimes against women include sexual violence, domestic violence, rape, honor killing and so on. The list of crimes that are committed against women is never-ending. According to the United Nations, a woman or a girl is killed by an intimate partner or a family member, every 11 minutes. The public image of rape is of the proverbial stranger attacking a woman in an alleyway. While such rapes do occur, most rapes actually happen between people who know each other. A wide body of research finds that 60–80 percent of all rapes and sexual assaults are committed by someone the woman knows, including husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends, and ex-boyfriends, and only 20–35 percent by strangers. A woman is thus two to four times more likely to be raped by someone she knows than by a stranger.
If we try to understand the reason behind so many crimes being committed against women, we get to know that the patriarchal society is one of the major reasons behind this. The idea that women are weak and cannot fight back for themselves encourages other genders to commit crimes against them.
Types of crimes against a woman
One of the most heinous crimes that we come across in our day-to-day life is sexual assault. Every other woman goes through some or the other kind of sexual harassment at least once in her life, be it a mere touch while travelling in public transport or molestation in their own house. Women are not safe in their own homes, workplaces or anywhere outside which gives rise to a question- Where exactly should a woman go in order to make sure that she remains safe? There have been several cases where women, inspite of building the courage to go and report in the police station, are sexually assaulted by the police officers.
Home seems to be the safest place for every individual-be it a man or a woman. It has lost its peace and safety, ever since we got to hear about so many cases where girls are sexually assaulted in their own house. These girls are so small that they are not even able to realize or understand what exactly happened with them. Therefore, it becomes easy for criminal-minded people to take an advantage of such a situation. The cases which take place inside private spaces often go unreported, sometimes because the girl is too small to talk about it to her parents or sometimes, when the parents do nothing about it even after being informed.
It is a huge pity that we live in such a world where a woman has to think twice before uttering a word about what she has gone through, because of the fear inside them which forces her to think about the society and what they would think if she shares her trauma. These women, not only have to go through such heinous crimes but are even not allowed to step out of their houses, as if it’s their own mistake. So many girls are not allowed to play outside their house just because a certain group can come and pass comments on them. Nobody really bothers about the freedom of those little girls with big dreams. All they are taught is to stay inside those four walls in order to protect themselves. The concept of defence and not attack is installed in their young minds.
Another major crime against married women in general is domestic violence which hiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cases of Domestic Violence were increased when people were in their homes. Alcoholism is one of the largest factors behind Domestic Violence, wherein the husband hits the wife after drinking a lot of alcohol. Women are a mere puppet for them. These men have an understanding that no matter what they do to their wives, they will never leave them as they are more or less dependent on them. This brings us closer to the idea of financial independence which is important for every woman in the society. Women won’t have to think twice before leaving their husbands if they were financially independent, which would, in long term, make the men in the society realize that they cannot treat women like trash and that they have no right to hit them in any circumstance.
Current scenario
Nowadays, there have been several cases where live-in partners are killing women. There was this famous Shraddha case which shook everybody around. In Delhi, Aaftab Amin Poonawala strangled his live-in spouse Shraddha, then chopped her body into 35 pieces. The accused man allegedly committed the act because Shraddha was pressuring him to get married. Before gradually dumping Shraddha’s body pieces at several spots in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest, the accused kept her body parts in a refrigerator for close to 20 days.
Cyber Crimes are on peak these days. Every other day, a woman is contacted via Instagram or Facebook and asked for nudes. Boys even send their own nude pictures in order to 7harass the girls. During the pandemic period, there was a case wherein a group of men residing in South Delhi made an Instagram group called “Bois Locker Room” where they used to share images of women (some of them underage) and objectify them by using graphic sexual language. The screenshots of these chats were leaked and posted by some of the victims, blowing the lid of the controversy. This case was further taken up by Delhi Commission as a suo moto cognizance case. This shocked the entire country. The language used by the boys in the chat shows that they were even ready to rape these women. The situation is pathetic and needs urgent attention. Leaving aside every real space, women are not even safe in virtual world.
Susan Griffin began a classic essay on rape in 1971 with this startling statement: “I have never been free of the fear of rape. From a very early age I, like most women, have thought of rape as a part of my natural environment—something to be feared and prayed against like fire or lightning. I never asked why men raped; I simply thought it one of the many mysteries of human nature.” Rape is the fourth most common crime committed against women.
Suggestions
These smart and bright girls are the future of our nation and it’s extremely important for us to talk about them, fight for them, teach them to fight for themselves and make them strong, confident and bold. Abuse in any form should not be tolerated by any woman. A mere slap can lead to major atrocities one day. To abolish the power-based hierarchy, a gender-egalitarian society must be established while keeping in mind the current condition of women. To make India safer for women, more effective rules and legislation must be developed. Financial independence will women stronger where they will be able to take a stand for themselves. Educating women is a step towards making them independent. There are certain teachings that start at home. If every mother teaches her son to treat women properly, right from their birth itself, the world would change a lot. Men would understand the atrocities that are committed against women and contribute towards changing the world.
Conclusion
Patriarchal society has normalized hitting women and treating them like trash. It is immaterial to the woman’s family whether the husband hits their daughter. All they can say is “He must have hit you in anger. Women have to tolerate such things. They cannot leave their homes for such small things.” The wife has no option left but to stay with her husband and tolerate everything that he does to her, which sometimes, also results to them committing suicide. The case that shook the entire nation was Nirbhaya case, wherein a woman was raped brutally and thrown from the bus in an unconscious condition in the middle of the night. She was admitted in the hospital but died eventually. The Supreme Court, after 7 years sentenced the offenders to death penalty. Nirbhaya got justice on 20th March, 2020. That day was a bright day for the entire nation.
Referances
- [Author removed at request of original publisher] (2016) 4.4 violence against women: Rape and sexual assault, Social Problems. Available at: https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/chapter/4-4-violence-against-women-rape-and-sexual-assault/ (Accessed: 04 August 2023).
- Violence against women (2021) World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women (Accessed: 04 August 2023).
- Arora, A. (ed.) (2020) Bois locker room: 10 things you need to know about scandal that has rocked Indian social media, India Today. Available at: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bois-locker-room-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-scandal-that-has-rocked-indian-social-media-1674687-2020-05-05 (Accessed: 04 August 2023).
- Vinay Sharma v. Union of India and others (2020)
- Thapliyal, N. (2023) Shraddha Walkar murder case: Delhi High Court restrains news channels from broadcasting contents of Chargesheet, Live Law. Available at: https://www.livelaw.in/amp/high-court/delhi-high-court/delhi-high-court-news-channels-chargesheet-shraddha-walkar-murder-case-226704 (Accessed: 04 August 2023).