[ Before
you read this blog, let me warn you that this particular one might seem a
little too chauvinistic for some of you. Somehow I’m still compelled to talk about this topic, for I
do believe that everyone has an opinion, the following being mine. Again, not
having travelled the world (yet), I focus this opinion, based on the Indian community
in specific and solely on personal experiences.]
What
compelled me to write this blog was what i’ve experienced during the past few
days and the following article that pretty much added fuel to the fire:
Kavya, is just one among the many thousand women who face such a
situation or a similar one on a ‘daily’ basis. If you are a girl and you walked
through the streets of India, you would feel one of the two things- the urge to
run away to save your life, or if you were like me, you would want to fist someone in
the face and give him a piece of your mind and the like. (I’m not proud of
that!)
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to say you cant ever look at a
man or a woman and go “wow!” and appreciate beauty or whatever (ummm, if you didn't, that
would make you an abnormal human being). What I mean is the constant ogling, passing
disgusting comments, vulgar gestures, stalking and some of the gutsy one’s that
dare to go ahead and touch (I kid you not)!
I found this article in The Times Of India -Thursday,July 26, 2012
:
“ The law is
toothless,so men whistle away
BANGALORE: Men who
tease woman or outrage her modesty or molest her get away lightly. Had the four
men who pushed a 19-year-old woman out of a running train on Tuesday near
Mandya not been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder), they would have
escaped with a maximum imprisonment of two years under Section 354 (outraging
the modesty of a woman).
The
law is toothless when it comes to attacks on women. Someone accused of
whistling at a woman or making a vulgar gesture or making a lewd remark can
escape with just one year imprisonment under Section 509, which is also
bailable offence. An accused of a crime punishable for less than three years
can get bail from the police station.
"Eve-teasing
cases are either treated as molestation or outraging the modesty of a woman.
There is no special provision in the Indian Penal Code to book an accused for
eve-teasing," said a senior police officer.
Said
VS Elizabeth, additional professor of sociology, Centre for Women and Law, National Law School
of India University: "The law is not clear about eve-teasing as an
offence. What we need is change in social attitude towards such crime and
sensitizing the police force about it."
She
added: "Most often, the accused escapes punishment because women don't
register a complaint. If she complains, police ask uncomfortable questions. In
India, women face social pressure not to pursue such cases, as they can go on
for years and affect their future. We need a strong will on the part of police
and society to bring such notorious people to justice. Even putting them behind
bars for a week will serve the purpose."
Prof.
RS Deshpande, director, Institute For Social and Economic Change said: "We
need much stronger laws and stringent punishment for crime against women. Not
all cases of molestation amount to rape. In such cases, the accused escape
lightly. Most cases of eve-teasing lead to a bigger problem. Also, women need
to show courage to fight such evil."
The title of the above article particularly caught my attention,
but for a slightly different reason. I did mention that one of the reasons that
compelled me to write this blog was of the experiences of the past few days. I’m
currently doing my Bachelors in Law. My curriculum requires me to intern every
year. This year, a friend of mine and I chose to intern under a lawyer, who took
us to the different courts in the city to watch and observe the practical
aspects of law. Every day was similar to the other not only with respect to how
pathetically the law works here in India but also with respect to the countless
oglers in court. Yes, even at ‘Court’. Somehow you expect to be safe there, but
trust me, you would feel like taking the law into your own hands at times. From
the accused, convicts, criminals, police to His honor, the Judge himself, would
get your nerves boiling! There you are trying to learn and understand the law,
but all you can feel is the weight of the many eyes on you! This one time, an
advocate, (from 11am to 2pm), just ogled at us the whole time he sat in front
of the Judge. I’ve also heard (from our lady advocates) how the judge would postpone hearings, only to annoy women, unless she is accompanied by a
senior male advocate. [I do not in any sense mean to disrespect the Law or it's seat, lest I be charged for contempt.]
You might think that it's just a matter of speaking up. But here
in India, we women are helpless! Go ahead and sue them? Unless you want to drain
your pockets, be insulted by society, or have your file pushed around for years
to find justice, you would be extremely discouraged to do so. The law isn’t a friend
either. Yes, under the Indian penal Code, Section 345 , the offence is
punishable with imprisonment up to two years or fine or both and under Section
509, the offence is punishable with simple imprisonment of 1 year or fine or
both; both offences being cognizable, bailable and compoundable with the courts
permission, yada yada yada- precisely comforting you with the fact that there
is a law to back you up. But when you find His Honor himself on his seat ogling
his way through the sessions, tell me, who would even have faith in the law? Or the
countless files stacked away for years, what would even motivate you to trust
the law? And I say this being a student of the law myself- The law is
toothless!
For that matter, I’m not even allowed to travel by myself from
city to city (on public transport I mean), because my mother fears harm from such men to befall me. Little
would she understand that these sick gestures can happen anywhere from my
street to the heart of the city! I mean, how much longer can women go on being treated this way?
One of the biggest excuses our Indian politicians and many others love to give when something crops up is this- " that's because women don't dress modestly". As all you Indian women would know, here in India, unless you decide to cover your face and walk around, you are bound to be a victim of those heartless men! Defending such a pathetic excuse would be a waste of time.
Yes, women were created a little meeker than the males, but with
all my heart I know that they weren’t created to be treated disrespectfully
and as objects of sexual pleasure (or
whatever the hell some get! ). How do you deal with it? let me quote something I
read today “ for a girl or even a middle-aged woman, stepping out of home
brings her in conflict with the ‘eve-teaser’…the solution to this public menace
could lie at home, where mothers teach their son to respect women.” I needn't say more.
I could go on forever on this topic, but I hope this blog does not discourage you from speaking out just because
the law is toothless. India is ‘free’ country, so Women, SPEAK! Scream if that is what it takes! Stop letting them nasty men take advantage of you! And Men, if you
do fall under any of the categories I’ve mentioned, please, women are as human
as you are, and we deserve to be respected too. If you don’t fall under those
categories, then don’t be afraid to speak out if you find something disturbing
around you- She might not be your sister- but she is a lady! She deserves
respect!
After all didn't God choose to love us male and female, equally? How would you choose to treat a fellow creation?
