Violence and Women: What remains unseen

Where do we lack? Are Indians just a bunch of people suffering from perennial amnesia? We behave like unruly citizens struck by a blazing streak of indignation trying to turn the tables on the hapless law agencies and spark a revolution. Hundreds of women commissions and volunteers blurt out in public but why does these voices debilitate in a few weeks? Why this ire is extinguished precociously?When will this rhetoric have an answer.

We start with zeal and chutzpah but our end is anti climatic, a stalemate.

Repetitive incidents of assaults and brutality against women blot the dailies, it garners a lot of despise from the society, condemnation from the government and empathy from the past victims. Some senior leaders and ostentatious sadhus blame the victim and the western culture instead; inexplicable and utter nonsensical in the contemporary world. But, this platitude never leads to any action. This is where the source of the problem lies. The protests are important but do we critically analyze whether they actually serve any purpose other than creating a volatile environment and fragile law and order. 

The 16th December rape in Delhi garnered a lot of media interest and varied sections of society came out on streets demanding exemplary punishment for the culprits. The government just assured justice to everyone and promised better law and order. But, as we all know, sexual assaults and harassment haven't ceased at all. 

If we persiflage from rape, there are other crimes, though not as audacious and ignominious as rape but equally shameful. There are thousands of cases of gender discrimination right from birth: female foeticide, restriction on secondary education, dowry and domestic violence. So, as WHO implies, violence can be mental as well as physical and by a stranger or an intimate partner. The bruises caused by the latter are deeper.

What has the common man learned and imbibed by these menaces? People have come to terms with the fact that they can't curb the violence until the government takes stern measures against those accused of crimes against women. So, they have started to evade from those errands where their safety could be compromised. It is imperative, at this time, for women to discern that all men are not with a criminal psyche. They are also victims of this violence but in this patriarchal society, it is the women who are categorized as the oppressive sex. Men have time and again came out to support gender related issues. Raising our voice, using our democratic rights, protecting our, mothers,sisters and wives of any unforeseen incidents to an extent are some exercises that we can pursue to achieve a degree of safety. The tunnel is long and dark and the light is sputtering, but a billion people together surely have the grit to bridge the chasm and bring about a defining change is the paradigm of the society.