Dr.Biplab Pal and Rahul Guha,
Earlier I have sent you information on "Pink Justice". Here is another for you attention to all concerned--specially those who are involved in social and customs enhancement- which any honest Citizen should be doing first:---
300% increase in violence against women in India's most literate state
| A national conference of special significance for women in this country was conducted recently in Delhi by the Lawyers Collective Women's Rights Initiative. The occasion was the first anniversary of the passing of the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) and the release of the first monitoring and evaluation report on this piece of legislation, aptly named Staying Alive. This may be the first time in the country that a law is being evaluated on its first anniversary! The report states that a total of 7,913 cases were filed under the PWDVA in the one year since its enactment. The figures are based on information received by the Office of the Chief Justice of India from different high courts in the country. According to the report, the largest number of cases have been filed from Rajasthan (3,440), where no protection officers have been appointed or any infrastructure put in place. Second comes Kerala, with 1,028 cases registered under the PWDVA. Regarding the prevalence rates of domestic violence in Kerala, the figures vary. The recent National Family Health Survey III seems to suggest that domestic violence affects only 16% of families. But according to an International Centre for Research on Women and International Clinical Epidemiologist Network (ICRW-INCLEN) study (2000), Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, ranks first among five cities in India in prevalence of domestic violence. Violence in Thiruvananthapuram is about 64% in urban non-slum areas and 71% in rural areas, as shown in the graph. This is higher than Bhopal, Lucknow, Nagpur and Vellore. Another study on gender-based violence in Kerala, undertaken by Sakhi in 2004 for the Kerala government's department of health, revealed that 40% of respondents had experienced violence in the home at some point in their lives. Why do the figures vary so much? Firstly, because of the general misconception that gender-based violence constitutes only physical violence. The UN Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women defines gender-based violence as "any act of violence against women that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private spaces." Causes of violence in intimate relationships There are several theories on why people resort to violence. Some focus on the individual aggressor, with psycho-pathological explanations that hinge on personality traits; others take the socio-pathological view that argues that the external environment plays a large role in an individual's behaviour. Feminist analyses of violence point to power relationships between men and women that deny women equal access to power and resources thereby making them vulnerable to violence at the hands of men. The cause of violence here is traced to patriarchy – the ideology that bestows on men the power and authority over women's lives and their bodies. Domestic violence takes place within the four walls of the home, and women are conditioned to accept this as part of their lives. They are conditioned to believe that their husbands have every right to beat them or punish them. In the Sakhi study, 36% of women admitted as much, and it's a view shared by most people in India. According to the third National Family Health Survey, covering the period 2005-06 and released during the second week of October this year, about 40% of ever-married women have experienced violence, and over half the sample believes that "wife-beating" is justifiable. So if a woman goes to a police station complaining about violence by her husband, she is told to "adjust" and that the occasional beating could not be called violence. Or that she must have done something wrong to justify the violence! Sakhi found that one of the main hurdles in conducting the study was to speak to the women alone. When they did get the opportunity, the women were extremely willing to share their problems. What is clear from all these studies, however, is that there continues to be a high prevalence rate of gender-based violence in Kerala. The state government's Economic Review 2004 admits that atrocities against women in the state have increased 300% in the period 1991-2001. Why this huge increase in a highly literate state? Most people have a glorified image of Kerala as a matrilineal society that boasts several positive social indicators. However, the matrilineal system existed only among the Nairs and a few other communities. And none of the social or political movements that contributed to great change in Kerala (class, caste, etc) ever took up gender issues or upheld the dignity of women, as did Periyar in Tamil Nadu or Jyotibai Phule and others in Maharashtra. Literacy and education do not change mindsets. In a deeply patriarchal society, education teaches women to be good wives and mothers. This attitude has been supplemented by missionary education, which brought with it a Victorian morality. In this context, one must remember that Kerala is at the forefront of suicides in the country; around 36% of them are a result of family or marital problems. One would assume that large-scale migration out of Kerala to other countries has resulted in a change in attitude. But most people from this state go to work in the countries of the Middle-East, which are extremely traditional in their outlook towards women. The women of Kerala are organised by political parties that have their own agendas. So, although there are a number of mass-based women's organisations, specific gender-related awareness-building and leadership-building is taking place only very slowly. There is little autonomous political space for women to organise around their own issues, and the autonomous feminist movement in Kerala is weak. But change could happen fast in Kerala, thanks to high levels of literacy. Greater awareness, redressal mechanisms, etc. could help women move forward, as has been seen in recent times. The State Women's Commission is flooded with cases and, in one year, 1,028 cases have been filed under the PWDVA. If strengthened and made to function, panchayat-level jagrutha samithis (vigilance cells), initiated by the government through the State Women's Commission, have the potential to act as a community response system to address the problem of violence against women. The PWDVA is a powerful tool in the hands of women as it affords them protection and the right to continue to live in a shared household. The first and immediate impact of domestic violence is dispossession – throwing the woman out of the house and taking custody of the children. Now, a woman can get a protection order to stay in the same household, whether it is rented or owned by her husband or his relatives. She can claim immediate maintenance, compensation for any loss to property, etc. Source: Infochange |
Take care.
Badrul Islam
Dr Biplab Pal <biplabpal2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dr Biplab Pal <biplabpal2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
Please send your comments/write ups to rahul.guha@gmail.com,biplabpal200 0@yahoo.com ASAP.Please circulate this email among your friend groups, Orkut and where ever possible if you feel that CPM needs a thorough dressing down on political prostitution of Islamist appeasement. It is a question of our survival as liberal secular nation.ThanksBiplab Pal
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