Empowering the Voice of Women with Special Reference to Violence against Women in India
Women are the essence of the divine. Crime against women is one of the major barriers against empowerment. Over the years, the rate of domestic violence has been increased. Women empowerment can only be brought about with the help of legal regulations, education, and awareness. This article focuses on crime and violence as hurdles for women’s empowerment.
Women play an important role in the society. They have always been in the forefront to develop their families. A society, where women are educated and treated with respect, always flourishes, empowered women can make a difference in society. To empower women there has to be a change in the outlook. Over the years it has been seen that violence against women has been increased which is an enormous hurdle for empowerment. The women of the developing nations frequently and largely become the victims of violence. In India, every year lakhs of crime rates against women are registered. A few dares to protest against the violence being done to them and many prefer to be quiet.
In about 736 million women almost one in three have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life. Many have faced violence from their former or present husbands. Of those who have been in a relationship, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (24 percent) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband. About 6 percent of women report they have been subjected to sexual violence from someone other than their husband or partner. Less than 40 percent of the women seek help of any sort. One in 10 women in the European Union report having experienced cyber-harassment since the age of 15.
In the Middle East and North Africa, 40–60 percent of women have experienced street-based sexual harassment. Globally, one in three students, aged 11–15, have been bullied by their peers at school at least once in the past
The Basic Causes of Crime and Violence Against Women:
Lack of gender-based education among people – In India, we have to give basic education to both genders. Boys should be taught to respect girls and vice-versa. In the academic syllabus, there should be topics where children learn to respect both genders. Parents should be role models for their children.
People are prone to Pornography– Pornography is nowadays freely accessible to all through phones and through other modes. Due to this people become psychologically unstable and are prone to sexual crime, and women become their easy victims.
Alcoholism and Drug Addiction– Addiction problems have always made women the soft targets of violence. Many women face physical torture from their alcoholic husbands or partners. At times their hard-earned money is taken away by their drug addict husbands or partners.
Dowry Demands – In poor underdeveloped nations dowry deaths and harassment are very common, at times the newlyweds are instigated for suicide, murdered, or physically tortured when they are unable to fulfill the dowry demands of their in-laws.
Lack of empathy towards women– Many times, women become the victims of the anger, frustrations & stress of men. At times the parents show careless and discriminating behavior towards their girl children and due to this, the girls become the target of aggression by men. It has been also observed that domestic violence has also increased during the Covid-19 lock- down period.
Illiteracy and Ignorance amongst women– Many women in India are ignorant about their rights. Many do not have much idea about the legal procedures to use at the time of injustice being done.
Lack of Moral Education- India is a land of diverse cultures, traditions, castes, creeds, and religions. Still, due to a lack of cultural & spiritual ethics, crime and violence take place. People fail to understand the importance of relation and bonding. Both men and women should have the feeling of tolerance, love, and respect for each other. Anger, lust, and violence are not the solution to any problem.
In order to bring about empowerment there has to be a change in the social, economic, and educational scenario. We have to bring strict laws against violence. Women have to be educated about their legal rights and responsibilities. Awareness programs should be there right from the school level. For empowering women, we have to develop the primary education system of our country so that the drop-out ratio is less and more enrollments should be encouraged. The higher education system has to be more employment-oriented. The New Education Policy of India has already been announced and now we need to wait for few more years to see the fruits of its efforts.
In rural areas, the condition of Indian women needs to be improved. Awareness programs have to be implemented in the tribal regions of the country. In rural areas, agricultural diversifications have to be enhanced along with the development of the rural banking system so that more village women can go for savings. Medium, Small, Micro Enterprises MSMEs should provide special assistance in the form of training, finance, and technology to both rural and urban women of India. Avenues are many in India. Indian women have to grab the opportunities and move ahead with courage and conviction.
Parents have to have a positive mindset up they have to treat their girl child with utmost care and love. Parents need to motivate their girl children so that they can excel in all the fields. Girls should be given more opportunities in the field of government and private jobs. More important is that, the law of the country should be very stern, and immediate justice should be given for all the registered crimes against women because justice delayed is justice denied.
REFERENCES
- United Nations General Assembly, 1993, Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women), unstats.un.org>unsd>gender>vaw. Accessed on 20 th May 21
- unwomen.org >what we do>facts and figures. Accessed on 22 th May 21
- timesofIndia.Indiatimes.com>india>Times of India Report of 5 th August 20
- National Crime Records Bureau. www ncrb.gov.in accessed on 20 th May 21