Manifesto for Change

Children of a lesser God?

Emancipation and Empowerment of women by addressing the need for change in the socio-economic system, while implementing stringent measures to protect the modesty of women in India

“Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right to participate in the minutest details in the activities of man, and she has an equal right of freedom and liberty with him. She is entitled to a supreme place in her own sphere of activity as man is in his. This ought to be the natural condition of things and not as a result only of learning to read and write. By sheer force of a vicious custom, even the most ignorant and worthless men have been enjoying a superiority over woman which they do not deserve and ought not to have. Many of our movements stop half way because of the condition of our women”- Mahatma Gandhi (1922, p.413).

India is a country with a population of 1.2 billion, of which 58 million are women and the incidence of rape is 22.61 per 100,000 females and counting (Census of India 2011). Drastic action needs to be taken before the numbers reach an irreparable high and destroy the community, taking the nation from being ranked 135 on the Gender Inequality Index (GII) to the very bottom (UNDP 2014).

The GII is 0.563 as reported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 2014). The index measures inequality in achievements between women and men in India with respect to the parameters: Empowerment, reproductive health and labour markets. The values range between zero to one and a higher value is indicative of women being negatively impacted with respect to the above mentioned parameters (UNDP 2014).

The brutal gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh, a university student from a lower-middle class family, stirred the stowed away emotions and anger of every Indian woman. Demonstrations, protests and vigils were held throughout India calling for Jyoti Singh’s justice. Since then many other sexual violations have taken place. The gang rape of a 22 year old photojournalist in Mumbai (Samervel 2014), gang rape of a 71 year old nun in a chapel at Ranaghat (‘Elderly Indian nun gang-raped in convent school’ 2015), rape of a 67 year old mentally unsound grandmother by her 16 year old nephew in Champai (‘Minor boy arrested for raping 67-year-old relative in India’ 2014), the gang rape of a 19 year old “Dalit” girl by her boyfriend and his friends (Sahu, 2014), gang rape of a 30 year old BPO worker (‘Dhaula Kuan gang rape: Court reserves verdict till Oct 10’ 2014).  Have we recognised the atrocities faced by these women with the same vigour as that of Jyoti Singh? Do these women not deserve our attention? Is what is happening to them any less brutal? The list could go on, but in the words of Naila Kabeer (2013),”It is the tip of a very ugly iceberg whose hidden depths we know very little about”.

Rape in India is a common phenomenon. An approximate 2.5 million adolescent girls (15–19 years) are victims of sexual violence in India, which accounts for 24% of rape (Raj and McDougal 2014). Most importantly, these are just the incidences that are reported. Only 1% of victims of sexual violence, report the crime to the police (Palermo et al 2014, Prasad 1999, Weiss 2010).

Women in India have been subjugated to violence of all forms for centuries. A sense of being the servant to her “lord” has always existed. Reasons for this can be derived from the age old practice of the caste system, the patriarchal structure of society and religious discourses (predominantly Hindu literature[1]). In addition the Indian media has proved to be no ally to women’s empowerment. Since time immemorial, the position of women in India has been more often not dictated by the socio economic systems in place. “Patriarchy is a set of symbols and ideas that make up a culture embodied by everything from the context of everyday conversations to literature and film” (Johnson & Johnson 1997). The idea embodies that a woman’s duty is to serve her male counterparts through her life without having equal access to tools of gender empowerment and equality. This breeds a misogynistic culture where women are subjected to abuse; physical, sexual and emotional.

The representation of women as mere commodities for the purpose of filling your stomach, cleaning his space, satisfying “her” man and keeping his bed warm, is portrayed more often than not. These movies are what make the box office, these movies are what the Indian societies enjoy. As mentioned earlier, such representation comes with an underlying patriarchal foundation, one where women are denied the right to freedom, expression and to paid labour. It is time to bring about radical changes to the general mindset in India; the respect and acknowledgement for a woman is long overdue.

Gender Discrimination often plays a key role in the subjugation of women in India. Female infanticide and low levels of literacy were found to be factors that adversely affected the male to female ratio and in turn affects not only the gender inequality issue but also impairs economic growth of the nation (Habeeb & Madan 2012). A census data recorded in 2011 indicated a drop from 927 to 914 per 1000 females born (Census of India 2011); a cruel reminder to the gender discrimination in India and also its lowest since independence. The census also accounted for the male literacy rate being at 82.14% compared to female literacy rate which was well behind at 65.46%. This emphasizes the greater strain put on the education of males while their female counterparts lag behind causing an unhealthy trend that adversely affects the economic development of India.

As the Verma Committee (2013) points out, ”Does the Indian State live at two levels? One which comprises those who are affluent and who have access to the Constitution and its machinery, and the other comprising those who live in the silent domination of the superior will of tradition, customs and practices which are derogatory to women?”.

The high figures of female foeticide and infanticide, maternal mortality rates, poor maternity and child care, subjugation of women to malnutrition, all bear proof to the existence of a mere concept such as “Free India”. I would once again like to remind the state of India that gender equality and empowerment of women are among key objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (UN 2015).

Recommendations

I recommend the following to be implemented to ensure we monitor our nation’s progress in addressing sexual offence and progressing towards the fulfilment of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

1.    Redefinition of “Rape” in the Indian Criminal Code/Constitution.

According to the Indian Constitution, “Penetration is sufficient to constitute the sexual intercourse necessary to the offence of rape” (Indian Penal Code [IPC] 1860). This age old definition does not encompass all other forms of sexual violence that a woman can be victim to. It has been suggested by the United Nations in their handbook for, Legislation on Violence Against Women (2009), to have existing offenses of ‘rape’ and ‘indecent assault’ be replaced with a broad offense of ‘sexual assault’. Penetration alone cannot account for the full range of violations experienced by women and assume there to be no impact by other forms of violations.

In addition I urge the state to define ‘sexual assault’ as a violation of an individual’s bodily integrity and sexual autonomy.  Offenses such as Eve-teasing, stalking, groping, molestation, acid attacks to be included within its range of offenses.

2.    Identify marital rape as a form of sexual violence against women.

“Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape”(IPC, Section 375).

Most often, due to the cultural barriers that exist around marriage in the Indian society, women affected by marital violence face a double edged sword as explained by Das (2010). The concept of rape ceases to exist in institution of marriage in India. Ahmed Ghosh (2004) discusses the effect of stringent gender roles in marriage as well as patriarchal family dynamics in households that attribute to marital violence in India. The misogynistic cultural attitudes, and the prejudiced legal system contribute heavily to India’s neglect and lack of awareness of marital violence (Das 2010, Chowksey and Srivastava 2010). A woman does not become the property of man once she is wed to him neither can she be objectified by him. As per the Indian constitution, citizens have been granted the right to freedom and the right against exploitation (Constitution of India 2011), and yet a woman does not have right to her body.

3.    Ensure the strict ban against the use of the “two finger” test on all instances of rape throughout the country.

The use of “Two-finger test” on victims of rape, to evaluate their chastity and their habituation to sex, continues to be used in medical establishments throughout the country, following its ban in 2003 (Lodhia 2015). The use of this test to conclude whether the woman initiated and invited sex, is both unethical and unscientific. Steps should be taken to reinforce this ban in all medical facilities assigned to provide care for victims of rape by conducting random checks. Medical personnel should be educated on the unscientific basis of this test during their course of study and certification.

4.    Ensure Court proceedings never refer to a women as having lost her “honour” by coming forward.

To enable a change in the social mindset of typing victims of rape as outcasts.

Sohaila Abdulali, a victim of rape that took place 35 years ago in Mumbai is quoted saying “Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the reasons that have been drilled into the heads of Indian women. It is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” It is not horrible because your father and your brother are dishonored. I reject the notion that my virtue is located in my vagina, just as I reject the notion that men’s brains are in their genitals. If we take honor out of the equation, rape will still be horrible, but it will be a personal, and not a societal, horror. We will be able to give women who have been assaulted what they truly need: not a load of rubbish about how they should feel guilty or ashamed, but empathy for going through a terrible trauma” (Abdulali 2013, para. 6).

The Court should be first to help rid the patriarchal view of sex, that the rape has done harm against the honour of the woman’s family, and question her ‘purity’. The farce idea of “Purity” of a woman does not lie in her womb and if there were such ‘Purity’, the penis could be the cause of its damage. The court should also keep in mind to address the woman as a whole, an individual who feels her bodily integrity has been violated, and not as a sexual congress.

5.    Ensure military/ army personnel to be tried in civilian courts when charged with sexual violence and rape.

There has been excessive documentation of the sexual harassment by the Indian armed Forces in the Northeast in international as well as national human rights reports (Asian Centre for Human Rights [ACHR] 2008, Human Rights Watch [HRW] 2008). This has also been brought to the attention by Women’s right activists, organizations and human rights groups both from the region and the nation over time.

Women have been raped by Armed Forces at gunpoint, in captivity, on their way from or to school, by forced entry into their homes in front of their village and family members, not excluding instances of gang rape. Most often leading to their death after sustaining injuries. (ACHR 2008, Goswami et al 2005, HRW 2008; Drahoňovská 2010, Duncan 2012).

Based on these findings I urge the trial of the armed forces offenders be brought under ordinary criminal law. Once again ensuring strict vigilance of women detained in government detention centres.

6.    Monitor representation of women in popular media. Movies, scenes of assault, violence, stalking in the name of love, show men as the hero after.

As every other thread of the Indian Society is soaked in patriarchal values, so has the popular media in its depiction of women being objectified. Scenes of assault, stalking, and physical interaction by the “hero” commonly types the women as wanting such attention. More often such attempts to view the woman ends in the male protagonist winning over her heart. Whereas in reality, such attempts by men and the resulting rejection by a woman leads to acid attacks, rape, and possibly murder.

As Rachel Simon-Kumar (2014, p.454) suggests “The innate beast [the rape offender], is aggravated by promoting sexualised images of women in films and on television, and scenes that show rape to be titillation not violence that is desensitised to the pain of women”

Our goal should be an India without violence directed at women. A society where equal voice is given to its women irrespective of caste, creed or religion. An India, where opportunities to excel and contribute are not marred by gender bias and the bane of patriarchal misgivings. A society where men and women walk as equals and not subservient to each other. I end by quoting Tagore in the context of a society that would cherish its women as does its men, “Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.”

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[1] 80% of Hindu followers in India. ‘Population by religious community 2011’ 2011, Census of India

*References provided on request