Rising tide of sexual violence in India

December 21, 2012

rape_protestNew Delhi, December 21: Despite an outpouring of anger at a student’s gang-rape, observers say misogyny remains widespread in India where sex assaults are often dismissed as “teasing” and victims find themselves blamed for attacks.

The Sunday night assault on a bus in New Delhi, which left the 23-year-old victim fighting for her life, has triggered nationwide revulsion and protests.

But campaigners say India has been slow and complacent in its response to what they call a rising tide of sexual violence against women.

Official figures show rape cases alone more than doubled between 1990 and 2008, though part of the rise could be attributed to better reporting.

“Our streets reflect an extreme misogyny,” Brinda Karat, a Communist Party lawmaker said.

“Women are objectified, harassed or sexually assaulted all the time, but no one does anything about it.

“Why should it take such a horrendous crime to wake us up to the fact that crimes against women keep increasing while conviction rates remain very low?”

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year targeted women, with conviction rates for rape cases at 26 percent.

Campaigners say such figures are a direct consequence of a failure to tackle a culture in which sexual harassment is often dismissed as little more than a joke.

For example activists say “eve-teasing”, a phrase widely used to describe harassment ranging from obscene comments to molestation, obscures the depth of the problem and creates an impression that victims are only being “teased”.

There have long been complaints that police in India are dismissive of sexual harassment as a serious crime and campaigners have steadily attacked authorities for their lax and often insensitive response to victimised women.

An account published in the national newsmagazine “Tehelka” this month by a rape survivor illustrated the routine treatment of victims of sex crimes.

In it, a 23-year-old student at Delhi University recollected her ordeal, from the violent rape and beating to a brutal medical examination at a government hospital to a courtroom trial where she was questioned several times about the fit of her jeans and her “provocative” underwear.

Although Indian law requires that any rape victim be shielded from public view during a trial, no such screen was provided during her initial court appearances.

Her family received anonymous threatening phone calls every time she turned up in court. Last week, three years after the attack, her alleged rapist was cleared.

“Rape is a crime unlike any other. You have to live with your violated body, you have to live with the memory of what was done to you, and you have to live with the fact of your own helplessness,” she wrote.

In response to widespread fear among women of sexual harassment, trains in Mumbai and Delhi run segregated women-only coaches.

India’s top court directed all state governments last month to put female police officers in all public spaces including markets, parks, beaches and public transport.

A traditionally conservative country, India’s rapid economic growth has thrown open new job opportunities for women and increased their financial independence.

But activists say that many men see the trend as representing a threat to male dominance.

“Today we are seeing a real battle between a violent patriarchal mindset and a surge of empowered women who are very visible in urban India,” Hindol Sengupta, co-founder of Delhi-based non-profit Whypoll said.

“Female empowerment is totally unsettling to many men in this country, it has shaken up their sense of entitlement and their response is violent and volatile.”

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal was on Sunday sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row at Ramlila Maidan here, after his party registered a massive victory in the recently concluded Delhi Assembly polls.

Kejriwal was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

The sprawling Ramlila Maidan reverberated with sounds of thousands of people cheering for the AAP leader.

Kejriwal who received a hero's welcome here had extended an invitation to the people of Delhi urging them to attend the swearing-in ceremony to witness "the son of Delhi" taking oath today.

The AAP nearly repeated its 2015 performance in the elections, sweeping the Assembly polls winning 62 seats in the 70-member Assembly, in the face of a high-voltage campaign by the BJP, which fielded a battery of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in its electioneering spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6; The Indian equity indices slumped on Friday morning, with the BSE Sensex falling over 1,450 points

The slump across the sectoral indices was led by the finance and banking stocks as the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday superseded the board of directors of Yes Bank and placed it under moratorium.

Persistent fears of the coronavirus outbreak severely impacting global economy also weighed on the investor sentiments, analysts said.

At 9.36 a.m., the BSE Sensex trimmed some losses and was trading at 37,376.66, lower by 1,093.95 points or 2.84 per cent from the previous close of 38,470.61

So far, the index has touched an intra-day low of 37,011.09, falling by 1,459.52 points.

It had opened at the intra-day high of 37,613.96.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 10,938.75, lower by 330.25 or 2.93 per cent from its previous close.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Places of worship on Monday across the country reopened after staying shut since March due to the COVID-19 induced lockdown.

Scores of temples, mosques and gurudwaras were seen opening up keeping in view the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by Union Home Ministry to prevent coronavirus spread.

As per Ministry of Health guidelines, touching of idols/holy books, choir/singing groups, etc are not allowed.

In Delhi, people gathered at Gauri Shankar Temple in Chandni Chowk to offer prayers. With national capital seeing a rise in coronavirus cases, the devotees were seen wearing masks and taking precautions. People were also seen offering prayers at Kalka Ji Temple.

Several people arrived at Sri Bangla Sahib Gurudwara to offer prayers. Devotees were made to pass through the disinfectant tunnel before entering the Gurdwara in order to prevent the virus.

In Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath Temple after state government allowed re-opening of places of worship from today.

Devotees were seen offering prayers at Eidgah Mosque in Lucknow.

Devotees also offered prayers at Shree Dodda Ganapathi Temple in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru.

Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya also reopened on Monday.

Prayers were offered at Durga Mata Mandir near Jagraon Bridge in Ludhiana, as the government has allowed reopening of places of worship.

Although religious places have opened in most of the states, however, there are some states which are yet to do so.

Preparations related to Yatra of Char Dhams including Badrinath have been completed, however, local representative of the areas from where the routes of this yatra pass have requested the government to not allow the commencement of the Yatra.

Based on the assessment of the situation, the Odisha Government ordered that all religious places/places of worship for the public will continue to remain closed till June 30.

Earlier, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that religious places and places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8.

However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.