It is indeed exhilarating to see the Centre for Women’s
Studies and Development, Panjab University, organizing a programme like the
present one, aimed at considering the problems of violence, a women has to face
all through her life. I congratulate the University to have taken up such an
important subject for consideration as the problem of violence against women
has varied and wide ramifications which affect our lives so greatly and deeply.
Though such pandemic maladies which have ingrained the woof and warp of our
society for centuries, cannot be cured or removed overnight through seminars or
formal or informal discussions of a small group of intelligensia; nonetheless,
collective deliberations off and on directed on the core issues, do help us
find out ways to tackle these as best as we can. Since certain violations are
country-specific and region-specific, the programmes like the present one
enable us to concentrate on a particular aspect of the problem which can be
handled more effectively by analysing the background and causes responsible for
the problem. It is in this context that while Prof. Indu Banga of the Panjab
University provides a theoretical analysis of the problems, being propounded in
the present seminar, Prof. Meenakshi Malhotra dwells upon the travails, the
woman has to undergo all though her life from her birth to death that is to say
– ‘from womb to tomb’. Other aspects including violence against women in the
context of
2. As all of you know, violence against women is
a universal phenomena which cuts across countries,
cultures, classes and castes. It is often said that violence against woman
begins from the day she conceives. But even this belief does not appear to be
rationally-founded as the society we live in, is afflicted with an inherent
wish for a male child in almost every Indian family. In fact, our very idea and
thought for preference of a male child appears to be a product of sick mind. We
do not want to have a girl child because she is not a boy and have our own
strong reasons, whether right or wrong, for this preference. It is also
strangely true that we tend to kill her very conception in our mind even before
she gets a chance for conception in the womb of the mother. The female
foeticide is a centuries-old practice and femicide quite predominant in the
rural parts of
3. Recognizing
that the women still did not enjoy equal rights, the United Nations General
Assembly proclaimed the period 1976-1985 the United Nations Decade for Women.
The most significant achievement during the Decade for Women was the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1981,
which established the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women to oversee the implementation of all principles of gender
equality and empowerment of women.
4. The
United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women,
1993, states that “violence against women means any act of gender-based
violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts,
coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life.” It goes on to add that
the states have an obligation to “ exercise due
diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation,
punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by
the state or by private persons.”
5. Thereafter,
the
·
Women’s rights are
human rights, which need to be protected particularly in relation to violence,
sexuality and reproductive health;
·
Women should have
equal rights in inheriting land and property;
·
Women have a special
role in the family and in society, but maternity should not impede the full
participation of women in society nor should they be penalized for illegal
abortions;
Rape is a war crime, and in some cases an act
of genocide, under international humanitarian law.
6. According
to the 1997 UNICEF report, The Progress of Nations, violence against women
and girls is the most pervasive violation of human rights in the world today.
Cutting across economic, social, cultural and religious barriers, violence
against women is an insidious phenomenon affecting the lives of millions of
women and taking a dismaying variety of forms. The international community
did not take concrete action against the alarming global dimensions of
gender-based violence until 1993, when the General Assembly adopted the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. Until that point,
most Governments tended to regard violence against women largely as a private
matter between individuals, and not as a pervasive human rights problem
requiring active state intervention. It also identified systematic rape, sexual
slavery and forced pregnancy of women in situations of armed conflicts as
extremely grave violations of the fundamental principles of human rights and
international humanitarian law. The Declaration identified three broad areas in
which women are particularly vulnerable-
§
Violence
in the family;
§
Violence
within the community;
§
Violence perpetrated
or condoned by the state.
7. In
the family, domestic violence is on the increase, according to a World Bank
study, which found that, worldwide, 25 to 50 percent of all women suffer
physical abuse by their partner. An estimated 60 million females die because of
son-preference. Each year, an estimated 2 million girls in at least 28
countries are subjected to the traumatizing traditional practice of female
genital mutilation. According to the World Health Organization, 85 million to
115 million girls and women in the population have undergone some form of
female genital mutilation and suffer from its adverse health effects. Every
year an estimated 2 million young girls undergo this procedure. In some societies,
girls are compelled to marry at any early age before they are physically,
mentally or emotionally mature. In the community, rape continues to be a
widespread offence that still brings shame and blame onto the innocent victims.
Women who are victims of rape and sexual harassment often suffer trauma,
physical handicap or even death. The extent of trafficking in women and girls,
within and across borders, has reached alarming proportions, especially in
Asian and Eastern European countries. At the same time, sex tourism to
developing countries is a well-organized industry in several Western and other
developed countries. In case of State-perpetrated or condoned violence, police
or prison officials, who supposedly protect women from violence, are often
perpetrators of sexual abuse. Thousands of women held in custody are routinely
raped in police detention centers worldwide and cruelly tortured by security
force. In virtually all armed conflicts, rape continues to be widely used as a
cynical tactic to subjugate and terrify entire communities. Women and girl
children are frequently victims of gang rape and sexual slavery at the hands of
soldiers, as seen during the conflicts in
8. Any
traditional custom that places women in subordinate positions within society or
in the family, has the potential to turn violent. The
sacredness of a traditional marriage, rigid ideas of conjugality, and
patriarchal traditions of family structure take precedence over concern for
women or children. It has been observed that whenever male authority is
threatened, the lives of women, and children are in
danger and become redundant, and are considered dispensable. Prejudice towards
women is entrenched in Indian culture. But, by no means, this is unique to
9. According to the World Health Organisation Report on Violence and Health, it is estimated that interpersonal violence results in the death of one person every minute somewhere across the world. The latest World Development Report alarmingly points out that globally rape and domestic violence account for about 5 percent of the total disease burden amongst women in the age group of 15-44. It need hardly be pointed out that these figures possibly represent only a fraction of actual violence-inducted physical and somatic disorder.
10. Police
records in
11. The gender of a child plays a significant role in its socializing process. Male children are permitted far greater economic and social mobility. Indulged, pampered, little boys seem to get away with misconduct, get away virtually, with anything. Girls on the other hand, are taught to emulate characters from the Hindu mythology. Female characters like Sita and Savitri are held out as role models for daughters. Female children are strictly tutored from infancy to conform to dress and behaviour codes, make personal sacrifices, to be obedient, tolerant, and virtuous.
12. It
is not poverty that kills baby girls. Girls born in
13. Women
are sacrificed to save family honor in the Arab states and
14. A
blatant manifestation of gender crime peculiar to
15. Family
planning programmes are population-control oriented and do not place any
emphasis on women’s health, emotional and psychological welfare. They do not
raise the status of women by reducing unwanted pregnancy but make them victims
of experimentation and state policy.
16. Violence against women by the members
of the law enforcement and criminal justice systems, who are supposed to
protect them, is most deplorable.
According to Amnesty International, thousands of women held in custody
are routinely raped in police detention centres, worldwide.
17. Domestic violence has devastating
repercussions on the family. Mothers are
unable to care for their children properly.
Often they transmit to them their own feelings of low self-esteem,
helplessness and inadequacy. Children
themselves may become victims of their father’s abuse if they try to defend
their mother. On the other hand, boys
who witness their father beating their mother, are
likely to emulate this behaviour. In
18. The reason why so many women “put up
with” abuse in the home, is primarily due to their
unequal status in society and the fact that they have no viable alternatives available
to them. Women are often caught in a
vicious circle of economic dependence, fear for their children’s lives as well
as their own, repeated pregnancies, shame, ignorance of their rights before the
law, lack of confidence in themselves and social pressures. Fear of harming a husband’s career and
apprehension about the attitude of the
police also prevent women from reporting crimes of domestic violence.
19. The sanctity of privacy within the
family, which makes authorities reluctant to intervene, often leads women to
deny that they are being abused, despite obvious physical signs of brutality
which they attribute to self-inflicted accidents. Thus, what are
euphemistically called” domestic disputes”, but which frequently involve broken
ribs and disfiguring facial injuries, are dismissed as family matters, while
rape within marriage are ignored or simply not acknowledged as a crime in the
vast majority of countries.
20. Rape and physical assault also extend
to the female children within the family. From the
21. As I have already said in the beginning, the maladies like the one being considered in this seminar cannot be eliminated or exterminated overnight through seminars or short-term deliberations of groups of intelligensia; there has to be a multi-pronged strategy, first to take care of the causes and circumstances climaxing into violence against women and then taking care of the victims who undergo the trauma of violence and hence, victims of human rights violations. Besides this, employing preventive strategy to counter atrocities on women, will also help in arresting the rising trend of violence against women. The consideration of preventive measures and the circumstances leading to violence against women, are indeed very wide areas since these are inextricably interwoven in our family and social structure. This needs meticulous and elaborate planning by expert bodies but can be allowed to be managed by the state authorities in education, social security, home, health and others, in active collaboration with the NGOs, as a temporary measure as heretofore till an appropriate mechanism is put in place to take care of these areas in an effective manner. Although the matters regarding providing succour, relief, solace and solatium to the victims of violence are being looked after by the Punjab State Human Rights Commission with the help of the State Govt and the Commission is doing its best to mitigate their suffering, it is indeed an uphill task to restore the faith of the victims in the basic goodness of the humanity since most of them get emotionally orphaned and shattered after the incident. Like virtue and goodness, every act of violence is also counterproductive. While the excruciating pain of the memories lasts, the feeling of inability and helplessness of the victim, adds to her misery and trauma left behind after the act of violence. As I have said earlier, every act of violation is tantamount to violence of one form or the other and violence does not take place as an isolated incident in the life of the woman, these are the most sensitive areas which need special and specific consideration and planning of the fora like the one assembled here to discuss the problems being faced by women.
22. Having highlighted in minute details about the violence against the women, the question arises as to how violence can be decreased or brought to a minimum level. The august gathering present here must have oftenly seen the utterances by high dignitaries in Press regarding the proposed punishment against rapists. It is every now and then uttered even by politicians that rapist must be given capital punishment. I am of the considered view that atleast rape with murder should be mandatorily made punishable with death penalty. In any case as the aforementioned suggestion is only my personal view. I would not know whether the same would be translated into practice or not as it would mean amendment in the Indian Penal Code. For the time being, we present here must think of preventive measure and the only preventive measure as far as I can think, can be that a person who wants to cause any harm to the woman either in the shape of a rape or other violence, must put himself into position of that victim and then think how much pain and agony he would suffer by the act which he is going to commit and if he does think of that pain and agony, I am sure, he would never commit the intended act of violence. In any case before parting, we present here must take a pledge not to cause any violence against a woman and propagate this view to whomsoever we come in contact in our life.