How can India end this tide of violence against women?

Despite rising levels of education, gender awareness and stringent pro-women laws, change has been slow and violence against women is increasing

The rape of a young woman by a taxi driver in Delhi has again left the city and the country traumatised, and searching for answers on how to end this tide of violence against women.

Despite rising levels of education, gender awareness (the 16 Days of Activism to end gender violence are being marked in India with more enthusiasm in recent years) and stringent pro-women laws, there is still a perception that women are second-class citizens.

Violence against women is increasing. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, an average of 92 women are raped in India every day. The total number of reported rapes rose to 33,707 in 2013 from 24,923 in 2012.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is endemic. A study – Masculinity, Intimate Partner Violence and Son Preference in India – by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), a US-based research institute, and the UN population FUND, UNFPA, said 52% of women surveyed had experienced violence during their lifetime, and 60% of the male respondents said they had acted violently against their wife or partner.

The study, released at the second MenEngage global symposium in Delhi in November, found that men who exerted control through violence were diverse in age, level of education, place of residence and caste status.

Based on interviews with 9,205 men and 3,158 women, the study found that the average Indian man is “convinced that masculinity is about acting tough, freely exercising his privilege to lay down the rules in personal relationships and, above all, controlling women”.

The report also showed that, regardless of age, men who experience economic stress perpetrated violence more often. This may be because of the expectation that men are the primary economic providers for their households.

When I asked Priya Nanda, one of the two lead authors of the study, whether there is any correlation between gender violence and income levels, she said:

"Violence exists at all income and education levels even though poverty and lack of education aggravate the practices due to economic stress and lack of exposure to other gender equal norms and knowledge of laws. Sometimes, if a woman is earning more than her male partner then that too can be a trigger for IPV."

This study also established a link between masculinity, gender violence and a preference for sons, which represents the most powerful manifestation of gender inequality. An overwhelming majority of men and women considered it very important to have at least one son. More women (81%) than men (76%) showed a preference for sons.

“Physical violence is not the only form of violence women in India face. In rural parts, women, especially those who belong to the Dalit community, are often denied land rights, and their children, especially girls, bear the brunt of this discrimination. They are denied proper schooling and health facilities,” says Anita Katyar, a civil society activist who works in Lakhimpur Kheri district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Katyar was in Delhi recently to take part in a women’s parliament, organised by ActionAid India as part of its Beti Zindabad (Daughters Forever) campaign and 16 Days of Activism. The proceedings, attended by 80 activists, were structured to mirror the the Indian parliament, which is a stone’s throw away from the venue.

Women deliberated on Dalit women’s access to land, equal property rights for women, women’s political participation, social security, disability, wage inequality and workplace harassment.

“I want to raise the issue of trafficking and exploitation of women in my area,” said Anandi Padhi who works in Jharsuguda in Orissa. “Ours is a mine-rich area and tribal women are often subjected to sexual violence by officers who work in these mines.” Her fellow “MP” Rebu Ozukum, of the Sisterhood Network for Nagaland, spoke about how Kohima, the state capital, is becoming a hub for trafficking women.

Annu Swamy spoke about the situation facing her fellow sex workers. “When they are raped, no FIR [first information report] is registered. The police ridicule us by saying that a sex worker cannot be raped,” she told me on the sidelines of the event, adding: “I am angry because there is no one for us. This is why we need to come together and raise our voices.”

Despite rising awareness, change on the ground has been slow because authorities have not been able to get their act together: most initiatives that were announced after the December 2012 gang-rape in Delhi have not been implemented. The result was evident in last week’s attack. But whether this will lead to any positive change for women is far from clear.

Taken from HERE.