Article on Women's safety in India
Safety of Women in India
By
Dr.S.Padmapriya, Thinker and Writer
Bangalore, India
The people of a country
are its most precious jewels. The safety and security of its women, children and
men is of paramount importance.
On the 1st of January,
2017, India woke up to disturbing news; the news of mass molestation in
Bangalore on the eve of New Year in public space and also the news of a 19 year
old woman who was assaulted and molested by a gang of unruly men. So, what does
all this mean? It means that women are not safe in India. Where does the problem lie? It is time for introspection.
The main reasons and the respective
solutions are as follows. In my opinion, the first main cause is a culture of
bad parenting in India, which in turn is a result of the dominance of
Traditions over Rationality. The male children are given greater importance as
compared to their female counterparts. The girl children are taught to do
household tasks and taught to allow themselves to be lowly treated by their
brothers. Their brothers are told to study hard and secure well paying jobs. This
is the true state of affairs in many Indian households. Parents should promote egalitarianism amongst
the children. They should set the standards for their children by promoting
free speech and equitable division of labour with their homes.
The second cause, in my opinion is the
ineffective supervision of popular art, cinema and literature, where in the
name of creative freedom and freedom of expression, obscenity has become the
norm. What can be expected from popular songs like, ‘Munni badnam hui’ or ‘Want
to be my chamak challo’, which are full of multiple obscene meanings. Whenever
the Censor Board is strict and calls for cuts in a movie, it is deplored as
being restrictive but then few mechanisms are available to curb the outbreak of
deluges of obscenity in art, cinema and literature. There is no ombudsman to
curb creative expression promoting vulgarity and obscenity. The public
especially the youth are led astray. With the advent of new technologies with
each passing day, it is easier than ever for a person to access obscene
content. Strict censorship and establishment of regulatory bodies for art and
literature is imperative to save the youth of this country.
The third reason for all this gender
inequality is the attitude of people, which needs to change. Women should not
only be worshipped in temples as Goddesses but ordinary women should be
permitted by the members of their society to travel, work and speak freely without
fears of backlash. The attitudes of people should become more tolerant.
A lack of gender education in our school
syllabus is another constraint. Gender education should become an integral part
of primary education. Equality in
treatment of human beings should be inculcated from childhood.
More importantly, even the attitude of
women towards other women must be kind and free from jealousy. They should try
to promote their cause. Strong women must stand up for the voiceless women; be
it at home, educational institution and work place.
Also, Laws to protect
women and children should be made stricter and laws should be promptly
implemented.
Last but not the least; we must
remember the pertinent words of Swami Vivekananda who said, “Education is the
manifestation of the perfection existing in man”. There is no better way to promote women’s
safety than through awareness and education. The above suggestions if properly
implemented can go a long way in preventing crimes against women.
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