The Longest War of India-Women’s Safety
Women in this country are objectified and treated as someone just living to serve others i.e men, sexual desires, kids, you name it! Often only given love and kindness when they are beneficial for someone else, like during pregnancies or fulfilling desires.
In urban areas, the situation is changing periodically, however, in rural areas, the situation is the same if not worse. This country must have seen deaths from female infanticide or rape more than from natural or any other causes, and if a girl is ‘mistakenly’ born, she lives a life that can equate to the concept of hell.
Every other day, we hear some or the other news of eve teasing, sexual assaults such as Rapes, domestic violence, Murders etc. But do we actually do something to fix this? The answer is simple. We ignore such things thinking its just another case, often normalising it’s existence without realising it.
->16 December 2012, a really horrific day in India’s history. A 23-year-old girl was brutally raped by 6 men on a moving bus, gutted with an iron rod and then thrown out to die. The poor girl who died within a few days due to severe injuries was given justice after 7 entire years! No one had ever seen such an incident and everyone prayed that the same never happens again. But it happened. It happened time and time again.
->A similar incident took place recently in Hathras with a 19-year-old girl who belonged to a Dalit community and was sexually assaulted by men of upper caste, she too, eventually died within a few days due to severe injuries.
->Last year, in November, a girl named Priyanka Reddy was raped by a few other men and then burnt alive.
->An 18-year-old girl died in an accident after falling off from the bike due to some boys teasing her in front of her relative. She got a scholarship in a college in USA and was ready to continue her education to lead a successful life.
All these women had plans for tomorrow, the week after, and a life they imagined in 10 years.
Are these not barbaric enough to take action?
Should women stop stepping out of their houses?
Will this country even see one day with no case of assault or rape?
The safest place in this world in supposedly our own home, but that doesn’t seem likely anymore. Hundreds of cases are being reported of domestic violence, brutal sexual assaults and murders.
In this pandemic, we wished that women would be much safer since they are at their homes with a much secure environment, but that is absolutely wrong.
->Domestic violence cases in Rajasthan have increased by 76% in the lock down
->759 new cases registered in Bihar in the last 3 months
-> 134 new complaints registered by women in Telangana amid this lock down
->more than 1500 cases have already been recorded all over India about domestic violence and sexual assaults.
This period of lock down has recorded more cases of domestic violence than in past 10 years.
Where should we go?
If we step out, we are raped and assaulted
If we stay in, we are raped and assaulted
The problem is not women, the problem is this society, this mentality that makes everybody objectify women as a source of pleasure.
The society should respect women’s dignity, they should understand that a woman is not an opportunity, she is a responsibility.
Government plays a vital role too and should take actions immediately when such incidents are recorded rather than delaying the justice for 7 or more years.
So lets not depend on the government for justice, lets promise ourselves to make this a better place for women to live in, provide them with a safer environment to breathe in and respect them. Do not stay quiet about these cases, because knowingly or unknowingly, you are normalising them.
Written by: Arya Pathak
Edited by: Asmi Khungar
