Submission
To
The UN
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms.
Rashida Manjoo
New Delhi
Tuesday 23
April
Venue:
UNICEF (behind the UN Office), Carol Bellamy Room, 73, Lodi Estate, New Delhi
BY
And
Through
Shruti
Nagvanshi and Shirin Shabana Khan
Contact Address:
Savitiri Bai Phule Women Forum
Peoples’ Vigilance Committee on Human Rights
SA 4/2 A, Daulatpur, Varanasi – 221002
India
1.Introduction:
We are living in
such a society today in India where women are not in a position to oppose any
act of violence, and misbehaviour with her. She might be educated or may be
living in a village the situation is the same. India’s traditional patriarchal system
puts women at the lowest ebb of the community, whatever be the society but the
dalit, minority and poor women are further pushed to the wall under the caste
system and poverty.
Dalit, minority
and poor women are subjected to discrepancies on the basis of the religion,
caste, poverty by the patriarchal and caste based society. Women being
subjected to violence, rape and inhuman behaviour are a matter of shame for any
society however progressive the society might be. But in India such attitude
towards the dalit, minority and poor women is not only common and is at
extreme. Even today the age old myth of a women becoming Dyan (witch) is
followed and women are killed under this belief. The law is unable to act in
such cases and, even does not lodge reports, forget action. If women raise a
voice against such practice not only the women but her entire family and her
advocates have to bear the brunt and is ostracized by the entire
society/village. Atrocity upon women and children continues without even thinking
what circumstances they face and what mental torture they have to bear or what
kind of security they need. The society instead of helping the victim of such
violence keeps mum and thereby extends a quiet support to the offenders.
Similarly the ones who work for victim women, the human rights defenders are
also attacked so that they may retract their support. By all means the women
are forced to step back if she is resisting the violence and torture.
Women who manage
to reach police station to lodge complaint and not behaved with properly and
they are made to sit for hours together with the family before anyone listens
to them. And later on the women is pressurized to take back her complaint.
There have been many cases of custodial rape with women and girls child who
went to lodge report and for protection with police. Women are blamed for any
act of violence with them. The worst is those women victims are made to sit
with her offender inside police station, which is another way of psychological torturing
her. Presence of the offender beside gives shocks to mind and thoughts of that
act often give pain to the victim, which is difficult to even understand.
The women and
her family are made to feel down but the offender is not even once made to
realize what offence he has done. Investigation in cases are started late hence
the criminals get enough time to remove evidences and thereby the case becomes
weak. Even the women officers are no less than their male counterparts and
behave the same way with women victims as the male officers do. The support to
women victim depends upon how much she can pay as bribe to the investigating
officer.
Usually justice
comes delayed as ‘justice delay is justice denied’ under the present judicial
system. The judiciary itself has less number of women judges. But the court’s
utmost delayed process in cases of atrocity with women is point to be noted.
When justice is delayed often women victim are forced to make out of the court
settlement on the conditions proposed by the offender itself. Delay in
judgement given the entire benefit to the criminals. In many cases it has been
seen that the lawyer appointed to fight the case for victim join hands with
offender and delays the perusal of the case.
In the
courtrooms the attitude of the lawyers towards cases of women rights is
traditional based on patriarchy and they are themselves unaware about the rules
that protect a woman from violence and make the case complicated.
Not even the
national and state women commissions are taking steps that can help women
positively. Women commission itself is governed with patriarchal mind set. The
selection of women commission office bearers is totally political and only
those women who are close to the ruling party are appointed here, which in
unscientific and irrational. These appointed members lack even the basic of
women rights which is reflected in the decisions they take. Of the cases
brought before the women commission very less are taken up by the commission.
As far as social
security and development is concerned dalit, tribal and minority women have
little access and are subjected to dual atrocity thereby. Those bodies that are
responsible for women’s’ health services are engaged in money making from these
women only and ignore their needs. At times women have lost their lives due to
such an attitude.
A mother dies
during child birth in India every eight minutes. For every maternal death in
India, 20 more women suffer from lifelong health impairments that result from
complications during their pregnancies. Worldwide an estimated five hundred
thousand woman die as a result of pregnancy each year. Approximately one
quarter of all pregnancy and delivery related maternal deaths worldwide occur
in India. In Uttar Pradesh (Indian State), caste discrimination is an ingrained
part of the medical system, doctors and activists say.
"Upper-caste
health workers refuse to visit Dalit communities," said Lenin Raghuvanshi,
a rights activist. "Because of that pregnant Dalit women do not get
(nutritional) supplements and the majority of them are anaemic."
It's not just
mothers who died. Babies were stillborn and few of them were premature. Many of
these children who survived, many are at risk without their mothers to take
care of them.
Why Do Mother’s die:
According to
WHO, the major complications that account for 80% of all maternal deaths are:
•
Severe
bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth)
•
Infections
(usually after childbirth)
•
High
blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia)
•
Unsafe
abortion.
There are 3
major reasons/delays for which even a well-educated mother is succumbed to
death during child birth. If taken care of below delays caused, 90% of deaths
can be avoided.
The First Delay:
Pregnant mothers or their families often fail to recognize and seek medical
help quickly enough, when a pregnancy related complication happens. This is due
to illiteracy, not just in the family but also in the community that does not
have adequate education or access to the right information necessary to spot
the early warning signs. Women might also use ineffective home remedies due to
traditional myths.
The Second
Delay: Many mothers die at home or on their way to hospital due to lack of
preparedness for any complication, lack of access to transportation or because
they were referred from one hospital to another. The incidents of mothers dying
because they cannot get to the right hospital at the right time is high because
more than half of the child births in India still happen at home, and in most cases
a skilled attendant or midwife is not available.
The Third Delay:
Even if a mother gets to a hospital in time, there is no guarantee that her
life is safe. The third delay happens when the right medical facilities,
trained professionals, medicines and other critical inputs like blood are not
available.The health care service system in India consists of three tiers. The
facilities available, the expertise level of health care workers and quality of
care differs widely at each level because of the lack of standards. For
example, according to the National Family Health Survey II, less than 30 %
community health centers had an obstetrician available; less than 10 % had an anaesthetist.
Many rural and
low income urban families first go to either a private nursing home or a
primary health care facility. These centers are not equipped to handle
complications that arise during a delivery. Some of them do not have access to
basic services like a blood bank. The poorly trained medical staffs take a long
time to recognize complications that occur during labour or immediately after
birth.[i]
The need is that
preventive steps from the government come. The government should identify the
problem and find solution instead of waiting for accidents/incidents. The steps
should be made in collaboration with social organizations and should be strong
enough to support women.[ii]
So, in India, an
ideal woman is supposed to be silent that nourishes the system of patriarchy;
men in the society take decisions and women silently follow them. Society asks
its women to be silent and obedient, following all its norms and keeping up the
same values as before.[iii]
The global
development projects initially made women invisible; being heavily male biased,
women’s productive role, often not directly linked to the market or the formal
economy, was ignored. Instead, their role as reproductive individuals was made ultra-visible.
Programmes to control population growth, seen as a primary cause of poverty,
began to spring up, with women as targets. The socio-economic status of women
declined following their exclusion from agricultural development schemes.
Development not only ignored women but also had extremely detrimental effects
on women’s economic position. Women’s productivity began to exist only in
relation to its market value and how it could better be exploited.
Indian women
have been endowed with several responsibilities concerned with the household
and family circle. Nonetheless, now with the drift in development and political
policies, the onus of decision-making is also laid on women. To provide
enhanced representation to rural women in a political world, specific
provisions were incorporated in the Constitution of India through the 73rd
Amendment Act in 1992. A significant provision of this Act is the reservation
of one-third seats for women in all positions in the local self-governance. The
73rd amendment[iv] was
a landmark for women’s empowerment.
Through this
amendment, participation of women from all caste was encouraged at the village
level. Education is an imperative factor for the empowerment of human beings.
But education is given little or no importance in rural villages. The situation
of women is even worse as least interest is shown towards their education.
After all, education develops insight and helps the representative carry out
the day to-day activities and making political decisions. Lack of or low
literacy level hinders women’s active participation in panchayat (Local
self-governance) activities.
It also makes
women more dependent on men for paper work. In fact, most women sarpanchs
(village heads) are not allowed to work freely. They are either forced to sign
on papers prepared by influential lobbies or become part of their husbands’
politics.
They are victims
of politics by influential persons or the ploys of panchayat secretaries,
corrupt administration system and the tactics of powerful locals in the
villages. They are removed from office through forced no-confidence motions.
They have been threatened and humiliated. At the village level, officials,
whether junior or senior, are often found to be anti-women even though it has
been proven that these women sarpanchs can make a difference if they are
allowed to perform.
Lack of
preparation on the part of rural women for political affairs is also a factor
for their low enthusiasm. The rural population, especially women, is less
equipped with the information on the rural governance system. Lack of awareness
about the systems and procedures regarding functioning of governance are main
cause for subdued leadership in panchayats. Information helps elected
representatives understand their roles and responsibilities with regard to
Panchayati Raj (local self-governance). Women elected representatives who are
more active and aware perform brilliantly in their political offices whereas
women who are less aware do not perform that well and end up becoming dummy
elected candidates.
In rural
villages of India, culture and traditions are observed very rigidly, the
patriarchal family set-up as well as caste plays an important role in directing
the course of life for the individuals. [v]
Indian
women bear the burden of many cultural taboos. Primarily in rural scenario,
women were supposed to perform the social roles (related to family), in some
cases economic roles (working on their family land as a labourer) and caste
traditional role for Dalit women and men were likely to perform the economic
and political roles (decision-making at community level). Women were always
kept away from the political frame.
Violence against
women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men
and women in general and all women of all castes as shudra[vi] by Manusmriti[vii] in
India particular, which have led to domination over and discrimination against
women by men and prevention of the full advancement of women. Violation against
women is a serious problem in India and it is putting a huge strain on a
nation’s social and legal services and leads to heavy loss of productivity. It
is an epidemic that losing self-confidence be afraid/angry, and blame/feel
guilty.
Witnessing
violent actions can be mentally damaging as people tend to copy the violence
they witness. While the impact of physical abuse may be more visible than
psychological scarring, repeated humiliation and insult, forced isolation,
limitations on social mobility, constant threats of violence an injury and
denial of economic resources are more subtle and insidious forms of violence.
The intangible nature of psychological abuse makes it harder to define and
report, leaving the women in a situation where she is often made to feel
mentally destabilised and powerless.
The isolation of
women in their families and communities is known to contribute to increased
violence, particularly if those women having little access to family or local
organisations. Lack of legal protection, particularly within the sanctity of
the home, is a strong factor in perpetuating violence against women.
Increasingly,
however, states are seen as responsible for protecting the rights of women even
in connection with offences committed within home. The challenge is to end
impunity for the perpetrators as one means of preventing future abuse.
2.Family:
An undemocratic and anti-women Institution in India:
Violence in the
domestic sphere is usually perpetrated by males who are, or who have been in
position of trust and intimacy and power – husbands, boyfriends, father,
father-in-law, stepfathers, brothers, uncles, sons or other relatives. Domestic
violence is in most cases perpetrated by men against women. Women can also be
violent in patriarchal society due to patriarchal socialization, but their
actions account for a small percentage of domestic violence.
The Domestic
Violence Act, 2005, is the first significant attempt in India to recognise
domestic abuse as a punishable offence, to extend its provisions to those in
live-in relationships, and to provide for emergency relief for the victims, in
addition to legal recourse. The Act is so liberal and forward-looking that it
recognises a woman’s right to reside in the shared household with her husband
or a partner even when a dispute is on. Thus, it legislates against husbands
who throw their wives out of the house when there is a dispute. Such an action
by a husband will now be deemed illegal, not merely unethical.
In 2005 at the age of 15 Sapana Chaurasiya
was forced to marry marriage with her husband Mr. Sunil Kumar Gupta resident of
Varanasi. She says with pain and agony
mixed with fear, “As soon as I reached his home he started misbehaving with
me in front of his other family members and when I resisted he slapped me in
front of them. I was not aware about his family till then. It was after
reaching his house that I got to know he had a son and a daughter (who were 17
and 15 years of age by then). I was not aware of all this till then. By the
evening I told him that I will not stay any more with him then he convinced me
to stay on making an excuse of illness. I thought it to be fait accompli and
became ready to stay.
But my husband was a horrible man who abused
me every now and then. There was nothing in between us as there is a sweet
relationship between husband and wife in common. He never treated me like wife.
Whenever I asked to leave for my mother’s house he would refuse permission. He
made sure I do not talk to anyone in his family, among his relatives or
friends. He had asked everyone and threatened them to stay away from me.
He never treated me like a wife is treated by
her husband and neither did his family members considered me their
daughter-in-law. In fact I never got treated as human in that house. My parents
were not allowed to some and see me either.
My husband made MMS of our physical
relationships and whenever I refused to make a relationship he threatened me
that he would make those MMS public and defame me. He regularly threatened me
that he would kill my brother.”
The police’s
attitude that such crimes are a “private matter” is most plain with regard to
police treatment of criminal offenses involving domestic violence, for which
police are empowered to make an arrest without a warrant. The Protection of
Women from Domestic Violence Act of 2005 was enacted to augment women’s
immediate protection from violence through emergency relief, including access
to temporary protection orders and domestic violence shelters. But due poor
implementation of the law, women facing imminent and life-threatening violence
remain almost solely reliant on police aid.
The
question arises as to why women put up with abuse in the home? The answer lies
in their unequal status in the society. They are often caught in a vicious
circle of economic dependence, fear for their children's lives as well as their
own, ignorance of their legal rights, lack of confidence in themselves social
pressures and patriarchal attitude of different institution at government level.
These factors effectively force women to a life of recurrent mistreatment from
which they often do not have the means to escape. The sanctity of privacy
within the family also makes authorities reluctant to intervene, often leading
women to deny that they are being abused. This is equally common in the higher
as well as in the lower segments of the society.
A
woman who lodges a complaint of abuse is often forced to withdraw the complaint
or drop the charges not only by her family and society but also by the
authorities. Social prejudices reinforce domestic violence against women. They
are treated as their spouses' property; husbands assume that this subordinate
role gives them right to abuse their wives in order to keep them in their place
as status of Shudra.
Victims often
turn to the police only as a last resort and typically when the violence has
escalated. Virtually all police including those working at women’s cells and
departments they do not treat domestic violence as a normal criminal offense to
be registered and investigated, with the perpetrators arrested or monitored.
Instead, they encourage “compromise” between domestic violence victims and
their spouses or spouses’ families, even when women allege repeated physical
abuse. Police fail women victims of violence when they promote reconciliation
and ignore police obligations to promote safety and enforce the rule of laws.
Against
this background is the traditional dowry, where the father of the bride is
compelled to give the groom/groom’s parents substantial cash and/or other
assets. In a majority of Indian families a boy has inheritance rights while the
girl is given a hefty sum at the time of marriage in lieu of her rights in the
parental property. The evil of the dowry system has spread its tentacles in
almost all parts of the country, all communities and all sections of the
society. When the boy’s parents’ expectations of dowry become exorbitant, one
can imagine the anxiety it may cause to bride over the consequences if her
parents are unable to meet the demands. Women’s physical and violence
includes verbal abuse, harassment, confinement and deprivation of physical, financial
and personal resources. For some women emotional abuse may be more painful than
physical attacks because they effectively undermine women's security and
self-confidence.
PVCHR
member Ms. Pinki Singh brought Ms. Jyoti
to the PVCHR office. She narrates, “In 2009 I got married with Neeraj Soni.
For eight days after marriage the in-laws behaved well with me but when I
visited the house for a second time after visiting my parent house there
was my mother-in-law said that my father had given all fake items in
marriage and she demanded those items should be given again. My in-laws sold
off all that was given by my father in the marriage and demanded for again
giving those items. When I asked my husband why things like fridge and cooler
were being sold he started beating me and my mother-in-law said, “Beat her up
properly she is insolate.”
I slept with tears in the eyes that night. In two months all that happened with me in my in-laws house had made my life hell. I became pregnant but they never thought of giving me relief. They made me work for hours and then offered less food that was not sufficient for me. I used to fall down out of weakness and hunger but they never used to ask why I was getting weak every passing day.
On top of
this my mother-in-law used to comment I was trying to make fool of others by
falling down. My husband joined her and used to ask me to go to my parents’
house if I were to behave like this.
I used to
think my father had given so much of dowry and even then I get beating from
these people. My mother-in-law used to feed my husband against me and my
husband used to believe her. When I tried to tell him the truth and what all
those women do with me, he never trusted me and always started to beat me. I
could not do much about it and always though the child in my womb should not
take birth in such a situation.
After
some time my father came to take me. He said to my in-laws if he could take me
to home for a few days. Hearing this, my father-in-law started abusing my
father. For long heated words were exchanged between the two and then my
mother-in-law stood up to say, “take away your witch, inauspicious daughter and
I came back with my father weeping. Daughters always feel happy after coming
back from their in-laws house but I never felt anything was making me happy.
I used to
think what was the shortcoming in me that I got such a treatment from that
family. Neither is my husband interested in me nor is he paying attention
towards the child who is going to take birth soon.
After a
few days a daughter was born to me and the information was sent to my in-laws
house. But no one from came to see the child. I thought if not for me they could
have come to see the child at least.
Whenever
someone knocked at the door I used to run and see hoping it were someone from
my in-laws family but when it found it was someone else I used to come back
with tears. My mother and wife of my brother always consoled me saying things
will get better soon.
Then on
March 01, 2010 my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to take me and my father
told me to go with them. But when I came to my in-laws house they repeated the
behaviour. My husband never used to see my child for she was a girl. All of
them used to say it was a girl child. What was the fault or that child or even
mine if she was a girl child. They didn’t allowed her to have milk. My
mother-in-law used to say, “give her flour with water instead of milk.”
Her words
made me cry and I asked her, “She is just two months old and if I do this she
will die. You may not give food to me but please allow my daughter to have
milk.” It was then turn of my sister-in-law who said, “Your father hasn’t given
money for her milk then how could you feed her.”
When I
used to give her breastfeed they snatched her from me and put her on the floor
and compelled me to work. My sister-in-law used to spit upon me and made me
clean her footwear. When my husband was at home they used to feed him against
me and made him beat me up. They thumped my child on floor instead of playing
with her and cursed my parents. My father-in-law used to say, “We are the court
and your father will not be able to do anything.”
Even then
I used to think that things will get better soon. But nothing got better but
became worse.
One night
my husband brought me down from the first floor while thrashing me and all
other family members including my mother-in-law and sister-in-law too came
there. Father in-law tried to make me drink acid kept in a bottle while my
husband kept on beating me. I was crying and asking mercy at the feet of
everyone. None had sympathy for me. My father-in-law said, “go and get money
from your father else we will kill you.” I replied, “Father, how would my
parents bring more money.”
Listening
to my reply he dragged me by the hair and beat me up.
On May
22, 2010 my father came for vidai to take me home. When he asked them to allow
me to go with him my husband pushed my brother as a result of which his head
got bang with the wall. He said no one is going from this house unless you
people bring money. Hearing my father left the house.
I was afraid and though if my father left the house who will then save me from these demons. They will kill me. I rushed and picked up my child and went behind my father crying, “father takes me along with you else these people will kill me.”
I was afraid and though if my father left the house who will then save me from these demons. They will kill me. I rushed and picked up my child and went behind my father crying, “father takes me along with you else these people will kill me.”
One
of the main causes why domestic violence prevails and continues is the lack of
alternatives among the victims due to patriarchy and caste system. Women and
children may be economically dependent on abusers. Elderly people and children
may feel too powerless to escape. Language or cultural barriers may isolate
victims from seeking help.
Victims
generally feel, it is better to suffer in silence than to be separated from
loved ones. They keep hoping for improvement, but it is normally observed that,
without help, violence gets worse.
Victims
may also feel helpless, guilty or worthless. They may feel ashamed of the poor
quality of the relationship. Abusers may fear the consequences of seeking help,
unaware that continuing as before may be even more dangerous.
Family
members may be unaware of the help that is available from the local agencies.
They may also be unaware of their legal rights.
Sapana narrates
“Once when I was upset with the torture and escaped to her mother’s house he
had sent me a packet in which there were clothes that was cut in to tiny
pieces. He told me that I have sent your clothes now but if you do not return
back soon I will do the same with your children so if I wanted children to live
I should come back.
Even then I
refused to go back. Then my brother Shyamsunder was lifted by cops and held
captive in the police station. He was set free only when I went back.”
In
India we have no provision for protection of a complainant, not even under the
Prevention of Dowry Act. A woman who has complained of harassment goes back to
the very people against whom she has complained. What security can she possibly
feel in such a situation, and how can she continue to act on her complaint? She
obviously continues to be victimised often paying the ultimate price (Bedi K,
1999).
Many
complainants are faced with eviction from the family home, are cut off without
maintenance, and are unable to follow the complaint precisely because they have
no means to do so.
Frequent,
unexplained injuries, reluctance to seek medical treatment for injuries or
denial of their existence, fear in the presence of certain family member/s,
social isolation, disorientation or grogginess, especially in elders indicating
misuse of medication and decline in physical appearance and personal hygiene
indicating increased isolation and a lack of desire to continue living are some
of the indicators of violence (Aravamudan G, 1995)
Sapana’s
husband filed habeas corpus on basis of manipulated fact that his wife was
illegal detained by organization. Sapana provided her statement before Hon’ble
High Court. The Hon’ble Court gave order[viii] “Corpus is set at liberty she may go anywhere
as per wish and desire. Her husband, Sunil Kumar Gupta is restrained from
making any kind of interference in the peaceful life and liberty of the corpus.”
But,
there is no order against the false petition by Sapnas’ husband. It is noted
that High Court issued notice to Lenin Raghuvanshi, Executive Director, PVCHR
to appear before High Court of Uttar Pradesh[ix]. We
are providing time line Sapna case to understand the hurdle and non-cooperation
of many actors in India and at International level.
2.1 Timeline in case
of Sapana Chaurasiya:
3rd
December, 2012
|
|
5th
December, 2012
|
PVCHR released
the urgent appeal in Hindi and sent it to the given below authorities as
follows: http://www.pvchr.net/2012/12/blog-post_5732.html
|
13th
December, 2012
|
|
15th
December, 2012
|
|
16th
December, 2012
|
|
17th
December, 2012
|
|
17th
December, 2012
|
|
20th
December, 2012
|
|
16th
January, 2013
|
Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi
got threat
|
19th
January, 2013
|
|
21st
January, 2013
|
|
22nd
January, 2013
|
|
23rd
January, 2013
|
|
24th
January, 2013
|
regarding
providing security to Lenin, his family and Sapana Chaurasiya and demanded
for CBCID enquiry
|
25th
January, 2013
|
|
27th
January, 2013
|
|
28 January,
2013
|
|
29 January,
2013
|
|
1st
February, 2013
|
|
7th
February, 2013
|
|
13th
February, 2013
|
Hon’ble
Governor, Uttar Pradesh directed to Principal secretary, Home Affair to look
into the matter letter no. P – 538/G.S
|
The District
Probation Officer wrote letter to SSP Varanasi for the investigation and
taking appropriate action.
|
|
23rd
February, 2013
|
letter sent to
Mrs. Suman Yadav, Upadhyaskha, State women commission through registered post
ARU120297648IN
|
28th
February, 2013
|
Habeas
Corpus writ petition no 8753 of 2013 filed by Sunil Kumar Gupta on behalf of
Sapana
|
13th
March, 2013
|
|
18th
March, 2013
|
Sunil
Kumar Gupta, the husband of the corpus has appeared before this court along
with five years child who his admittedly born out of wedlock. The question of
his country of his custody may arise but for the purpose, corpus may apply
before the proper forum in separate suit if she is so advised. The petition
stands disposed of, accordingly, her husband, Sunil Kumar Gupta, is
restrained from making any kind of interference in the peaceful life and
liberty of the corpus
http://www.scribd.com/doc/132395197/Order-of-High-Court-in-case-of-sapana
|
25th
March, 2013
|
The
order of the Habeas Corpus sent to S.O Mahila Thana, S.O Bhelupura, S.O
Cantt, SSP, Varanasi, DGP, Lucknow
|
28th
March, 2013
|
Sapana
mother died due to illness of shock
|
18 April 21,
2013
|
Sapana
gave her statement before court in mediation and mediation cancel
|
The rule of
Domestic Violence Act 2005 mentions that each police station at the block level
will comprise two social workers, one of whom could be designated as additional
PO. A full-time PO will only be at the district level, housed again at the
police headquarters. A PO is to be assisted by a legal assistant, field
coordinator, social worker, accountant-cum clerk, data entry operator and
multipurpose worker.
Due to the no
appointment of social workers at block level reports the less cases of domestic
violence and Poor and hapless women who doesn’t have money
to travel to the district office to file or do follow up of the case. Even in DOP office they have to pay to 10 Rs
each time to get the new dates and even also during the time of the mediation
of the both parties.
Due
to lack of knowledge many lawyers filed in court under domestic violence. A number of
crucial components that have been laid down in the Act remain neglected due to
paucity of funds. In light of the above findings, it is disappointing that
states reporting a higher incidence of violence such as Bihar, Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh have still not committed any resources for implementation of
PWDVA. Instead, they claim that they are able to meet the expenses for various
provisions of PWDVA through the existing schemes of women’s - welfare.
What
clearly follows from the above analysis is that while some states have
initiated some action with respect to providing resources for implementation of
PWDVA, there are a lot of issues, especially the specific components of the Act
that remain neglected and the expenditure of the allocations made. Worse still,
there are many states that have not committed any resources for PWDVA. They
claim that the existing women’s welfare programmes will be sufficient to fulfil
the provisions under the Act. Thus, the first and foremost step that needs to
be taken is financial commitment by all states for PWDVA. While many states
have initiated a State Plan Scheme, initiation of a separate budget head for
this purpose would go a long way in committing resources for this crucial
legislation.
2.2
Tara: A story of domestic violence & re-victimization of victim with help
of international media:
Tara says, “I was a
branded as a witch and they asked me to leave the house along with children and
they dragged me out. I started crying and asked my mother in law that where I
would go with children. My sister in law said there was no space for evil
spirits inside the house.
I had to spent days without food and whenever I got something I shared it with my children. One day my sister in law dragged me on road from near the house and I came to my mother’s house with children. Upset and in tension my husband climbed up a Guava tree.
I don’t want my husband to climb down the tree which he is living on due to my mother in law and my sister in law. I don’t want to stay with my in laws and once my husband gets down I will bring him to my parents house. My children are crying for their father and I am crying for my husband. Until I am able to live with my husband and children I will not get relief. I fear what my husband might be eating and when I try to eat something I cry.”
But it is mostly a story about the media's chase for news with a sensational value of patriarchal mind set at the expense of the truth-value to whom Sanjay and his wife Tara became victims. On the eve of international women day PVCHR is delighted to share the video “The Man in the Guava Tree: A Story on Media Ethics and Global Responsibility” http://vimeo.com/59711847
One
of founder of PVCHR Shruti read the story published in media and she
immediately doubts on patriarchal manipulation from local media people. After
she shared the story and her doubt to the activist of PVCHR, immediately the
activist went to verify the information and talked with Sanjay his mother
Kushma Devi and also with Sanjay Sister Nisha.
After
knowing the one side fact the activist went to meet with Sanjay’s wife Tara.
She said that I was a branded as a witch and they asked me to leave the house
along with children and they dragged me out. I started crying and asked my
mother in law that where I would go with children. My sister in law said there
was no space for evil spirits inside the house.
But
without knowing the fact few media published “Man lives in tree for nine months
- and won't come down until wife says sorry for cheating on him.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2250695/Man-lives-tree-months--wont-come-wife-says-sorry-cheating-him.html
Cuckolded
Indian man lives in tree for nine months waiting for apology:
During
that time a volunteer Ms. Sofie Rordam from Denmark was in PVCHR for technical
assistance in corporation with Dignity: Danish Institue against torture. She
went along with activists and prepared the documentary.
2.3
Domestic Violence Affecting children:
Children
can witness domestic violence in a variety of ways. For example, they may be in
the same room and may get caught in the middle of an incident, perhaps in an
effort to make the violence stop; they may be in another room but be able to
hear the abuse or see their mother's physical injuries following an incident of
violence; or they may be forced to take part in verbally abusing the victim.
Children are completely dependent on the adults around them, and if they do not
feel safe in their own homes, this can have many negative physical and
emotional effects. All children witnessing domestic violence are being
emotionally abused, and this is now recognised as 'significant harm' in recent
legislation.
Children
will react in different ways to being brought up in a home with a violent
person. Age, race, sex, culture, stage of development, and individual personality
will all have an effect on a child's responses. Most children, however, will be
affected in some way by tension or by witnessing arguments, distressing
behaviour or assaults - even if they do not always show this. They may feel
that they are to blame, or - like you - they may feel angry, guilty, insecure, and
alone, frightened, powerless, or confused. They may have ambivalent feelings,
both towards the abuser, and towards the non-abusing parent.
These
are some of the effects of domestic violence on children:
• They may become anxious or depressed.
• They may have difficulty sleeping.
• They may have nightmares or
flashbacks.
• They may complain of physical symptoms
such as tummy aches.
• They may start to wet their bed.
• They may have temper tantrums.
• They may behave as though they are
much younger than they are.
• They may have problems at school, or
may start truanting.
• They may become aggressive.
• They may internalise their distress
and withdraw from other people.
• They may have a lowered sense of
self-worth.
• Older children may start to use
alcohol or drugs.
• They may begin to self-harm by taking
overdoses or cutting themselves.
• They may develop an eating disorder.
Violence
may also interfere with your children's social relationships: they may feel
unable to invite friends round (or may be prevented from doing so by the
abuser) out of shame, fear, or concern about what their friends may see. They
may feel guilty, and think the violence is their fault, or that they ought to
be able to stop it in some way. There can be an impact on school attendance and
achievement: some children will stay home in an attempt to protect their
mother, or because they are frightened what may happen if they go out. Worry,
disturbed sleep and lack of concentration can all affect school work.
You
may feel that you will be blamed for failing as a parent, or for asking for
help, and you may worry that your children will be taken away from you if you
report the violence. But it is acting responsibly to seek help for yourself and
your children, and you are never to blame for someone else's abuse. It is
important that you - the non-abusing parent - are supported so that in turn you
can support your children and ensure that they are safe, and that the effects
of witnessing (and perhaps directly experiencing) the violence are addressed.
3. Witch Hunting: a game play of patriarchal
community with mind of caste against women:
Witch
hunting is still prevalent and brutally practiced in the twenty-first century
in the rural part of India. Almost every other day, a woman is branded a witch
or victimised for witch-hunting in the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh.
The frequency of such assaults and the dismal
conviction rate, despite the existence of the Prevention
of Witch Practices Act, has terrified victims into a silent
acceptance of the cruelty. Some of the most common concerns in
relation to witch hunting are that in very few cases have the authorities
actually responded to the complaints, and witch hunting is severely under
reported, poorly investigated and prosecuted with negligible rates of
conviction. The police often do not register FIRs.
The easiest way to grab a
woman’s property in rural hinterland is to brand her
a witch. Unbelievable but horrifically true in 21st
century India, women in the interiors of states are beaten,
paraded naked, disgraced, ostracised and then robbed of their land by
anti-social elements and sometimes even greedy relatives. Witch hunting is a
tool to oppress the critical thinking and wider participation of women in
decision making process in the patriarchal society. In our Bhojpuri language
they are called as Kan – Dayan (initial form of witch hunting).
However, the conviction
rate for witch hunting crimes is dismal. The
perpetrators, in most cases, are male relatives and their motive is
to usurp the property of single women. The modus operandi is to
disgrace and ostracise the victim. "
The fact is that it
is not superstition that is at the root of many of these accusations of
witchcraft but socio-economic factors: land-grabbing, property disputes,
personal rivalry and resistance to sexual advances. In many cases, a woman who
inherits land from her deceased husband is asked to disown the land by her
husband's family or other men. If she resists, they approach the Ojhas and
bribe them to brand her a witch. This strategy of branding a woman a witch is
also used against women who spurn the sexual advances of the powerful men in
the community.
Manbasia (45) is another
woman who has been subjected to inhuman ordeal in Ghaghari Tola Sahgora
village, under Babhani police station, in Myorpur block of Sonebhadra district.
After the demise of a boy in the village, she was not only attacked with sharp
weapons but also paraded naked in public on July 17, 2010. "I was not a
dayan, then why was I paraded naked?" she questioned. Her husband Jodhilal
said he had to mortgage his land for his wife's treatment.
It is impossible
for Jagesari Devi (32), a tribal woman of Sonebhadra district, to forget the
fateful day when she became a victim of witch hunting and her tongue was
chopped off. She was branded a 'dayan' (witch) by a local 'ojha' (sorcerer).
Though her wounds have healed, the scars remain forever. The unforgettable
nightmare has rendered the Holi festival colourless for her.
"Am
I really a dayan," wonders Jagesari, and following this inhuman act of
others, today she can neither speak properly nor can eat or drink with ease.[x]
4.Rape: A crime against dignity of women
PVCHR notes with concern
that the entire public debate arising out of the recent Delhi gang rape[xi]
incident has centered round the issues of “enacting a strong law” and
“prescribing harsher sentence”. It has failed to recognize more basic issues as
follows–
•
The enormous social
obstacles due to caste based feudal and patriarchal system encountered in registering
complaints, in the conduct of thorough investigation, in the protection of
witnesses, in fast and efficacious prosecution and in unbiased adjudication –
in other words, the issues of implementation of the law, and the functioning of
the police and judicial machinery – which necessarily precede sentence in
absence of police reform and judicial reform.
•
The debate has also largely
failed to take into account the deeply patriarchal character of our social
institutions with caste biases, and law enforcement machinery which render
women in general and dalit, Tribal and Minority women in particulars vulnerable
to violence in the family, in the larger community, in their work places and
public places.
In particular, in this
representation, PVCHR would like to focus on the even more serious situation
that arises when patriarchal attitudes are reinforced by caste, communal and
class inequalities or perpetrated by the state, that is, when sexual violence
is inflicted as a part of an assault by a dominant community as in a caste
attack or communal riot; or when sexual violence is inflicted on women in
custody in a police lock-up or jail or state institution; and when sexual
violence is perpetrated by the police, security forces or army. In this
regard we have the following suggestions[xii]:-
A.
In regard to Sexual Violence by Police and Security
Forces
Defining custodial violence: Any incident of
sexual assault by police/ security forces or SPOs accompanying them,
irrespective of where it occurs, should be treated as custodial violence since
the perpetrators exercise power and control over the people of that area owing
to their position of authority. Such sexual assault should be considered to be
a case of aggravated assault.
Security of women detainees: The lack, especially in remote/ small
police stations, of women constables (in whose presence women under-trials and
prisoners are more likely to be safe), is a serious issue. If there is no woman
constable on duty, that particular police station must not be allowed to detain
women. Women constables must be present throughout any interrogation of women
detainees. Arbitrary or proxy arrests and illegal detention of women and
children during search operations in conflict areas, which render women
extremely vulnerable, have to stop.
Rule of law: There must be strict adherence to the
procedures and safeguards for protecting women in custody and women should be
produced before the court at the earliest opportunity, even before the
mandatory 24 hours, to be able to disclose original violations as well as
further ill-treatment (if any) while in custody of police or jail authorities.
Their families also must be intimated within this time period of their
whereabouts.
Judicial recognition: The judiciary must take suo moto cognizance
of any irregularity in the arresting procedure and delays in presenting the
accused before the magistrate. Any non-compliance of the D.K. Basu guidelines
and other provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code should attract strict
action and accountability from the Court. Once the woman has been presented
before the magistrate, it is the responsibility of the judiciary, to ensure
that her dignity and safety is ensured and her complaints of violations of her
rights addressed. If any violation of the rights of a woman takes place in
police or judicial custody, the judiciary should take the strictest action
against the perpetrators in a time bound manner, and she must immediately be
given the option of being transferred to custody outside the state.
Investigation and registration in cases
of custodial or state violence: It cannot be expected that an aggrieved
person/family who has been violated by personnel of the police station of
her/their area, will go back to report the violation to that very same police
station. She should have the option of registering cases in another district or
state, and the case must be investigated by an authority not involving local
police if they are the perpetrators. Special guidelines must be evolved for
such cases along the lines of the NHRC guidelines for encounter killings.
Vulnerability in conflict situations: There must be a quick and effective response
from the district and state administration when a woman shows the courage to
make a complaint of sexual violence. Instead, the rape survivor, her family and
other witnesses are only further terrorised by the people in authority. The
administration should take suo moto cognisance of such complaints, whether they
come directly, through the media or any other source. Third-party complaints of
custodial sexual violence should also be allowed to initiate the process of
safeguarding the survivor behind bars from further assault in custody.
All
state-supported private militias and vigilante groups, such as Salwa Judum and
others in the conflict areas of Central India, Manipur and Kashmir must be
disbanded. Action must be taken against the members of these groups accused of
sexual violence and other human rights violations as it would apply to the
police and security forces, i.e., treating their cases as aggravated sexual
assault.
Registering cases: The FIR of all victims should be registered,
even where the perpetrators are from the Central Armed Police Forces or the
Army, and refuge must not be taken under impunity provided under unjust laws
such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. In particular if a Superintendent
of Police receives a complaint that a particular police station has refused to
register an FIR, he must be made personally liable to get the FIR registered
immediately and to conduct an enquiry against his erring subordinate, with
legally enforceable consequences for not doing so within 48 hours of being
informed.
Criminal prosecution: Sexual assault
by the Central Armed Police Forces or the Army must be brought under criminal
law. In cases of sexual offences, the law should clearly state that the Army
has no jurisdiction to prosecute the accused member of the armed forces. The
accused must be handed over and all investigation must be done by the police
strictly in accordance with the law, and supervised by a senior police officer.
The requirement of sanction for prosecution under Sec. 197 of the Criminal
Procedure Code should be done away with in cases of custodial sexual violence
and other human rights violations.
Facilitating investigation: Immediate arrest of the accused and suspension
of all accused from their posts, once the FIR is registered orsuo moto
cognizance of the crime is taken, is essential. The accused should not be
allowed to exercise any authority in the area where the complaint of sexual
violence is made, till the final determination of the complaint.
Command responsibility: In cases of sexual assault committed by State
personnel, the authorities higher up in the hierarchy (SP and the Collector or
any other senior officer in the chain of command of the Central Armed Police
Forces) should be held criminally liable for crimes committed by those under
their command or within their control. Ignorance or lack of information about
sexual violence committed in his/her jurisdiction cannot be an excuse for
inaction.
Sentencing: The sentences
for custodial rape and sexual assault must be enhanced compared to the
sentences for civilian rape and sexual assault, to act as a deterrent for
security officers misusing the power they have derived from being officers of
the state.
Speedy investigation: The
responsibility of a proper investigation falls on the investigating agency. Any
delay, shoddiness, partisanship and inefficiency in collection of evidence, and
lack or delay in medical examination etc should be seen as a criminal offence
and negligence of duty, and the concerned officers or personnel should be
penalised for negligence or dereliction of duty and/or charged with complicity
in the crime.
Protection of victims and witnesses: Protection of victims and witnesses has to be
ensured, from the pre-trial to post-conviction stages, in accordance with the
recent jurisprudential developments, the Law Commission’s 198th Report of
August 2006, and decisions of the Supreme Court.
Liability and damages: It is the government’s responsibility and duty
to protect the rights of women, the responsibility grows manifold when the
woman is in the custody of the State. Considering the gravity of the crime, the
rape survivor has a right to reparation. While financial compensation cannot
erase the pain and suffering caused, it is the duty of the State to pay
exemplary damages without any bureaucratic delays.
Reparative Justice: The State must be obliged by law to make
provisions for free and high quality medical treatment, psychological care,
shelter and livelihood in order to overcome possible destitution and social
ostracism. This should be done through effective implementation and budgetary
support of existing legal provisions and schemes for compensation/
rehabilitation for sexual assault. Such compensation should not be linked to
the criminal trial and prosecution. Schemes include, but are not limited to,
the Victims Compensation Scheme (brought about through a 2008 amendment to
section 357A of the Cr PC) as well as the National Commission for Women’s
scheme for assistance and support services to victims of rape.
B.
In regard to
sexual violence against marginalized groups or by dominant groups.
1.
While
dealing with the violence against women belonging to marginalised groups like
Dalits, Adivasis, denotified groups, religious and other Minorities, the
dominant position of the perpetrators must be kept in mind and such cases should
be probed under the specific laws applicable to these atrocities. Sexual
assault in situations of conflict based on community, ethnicity, caste,
religion and language, ought to be treated as specific circumstances of
aggravated sexual assault.
2.
Khap
Panchayats, casteist-communal organizations and other kinds of vigilante groups
are responsible for spreading and normalizing misogyny. The perpetrators of
honour killings, honour-related crimes and other moral policing, including
those who abet this brutal crime, must be promptly prosecuted and awarded
severest punishment.
3.
Refusal
to file an FIR based on caste, class, gender identity, profession, of the
survivor must be legally punishable through reporting to superior police
officers or officers at other police stations. Once such a complaint is made,
the officer who hears it must be legally liable to file an FIR immediately and
conduct an enquiry against the police officers who refused to file the
FIR.
C.
In regard to the definition of sexual assault.
Expansion
of definition of sexual assault: The expansion of the definition of penetrative
sexual assault under Sec. 375 IPC, beyond peno-vaginal penetration (rape) as
proposed in the Criminal Law Amendment Act is a step in the right direction. It is imperative that the definition of
sexual assault is broad enough to include anal, oral rape, digital rape, rape
with objects etc. and also includes sexual assault against transgender people.
Gap in law of sexual offences: However, there
continue to be serious gaps in the codification of crimes of non-penetrative
sexual assault. The gap between ‘outrage of modesty’ (S. 354 IPC) and
‘penetrative sexual assault’ remains large. We believe that sexual crimes form
a continuum, and that the graded nature of sexual assault should be recognized,
based on concepts of harm, injury, humiliation and degradation, and by using
the well-established categories of sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault,
and sexual offences.
‘Outraging
modesty of a woman’ to be replaced with ‘violation of bodily integrity: S.354 and S. 509 IPC, which contain archaic
notions of ‘outrage of modesty’, ought to be repealed, and a clear gradation of
offences and punishment as mentioned above should be inserted. We believe that
‘sexual assault’ should rest firmly on the concept of violation of bodily
integrity and dignity.
New sexual offences to be defined: New crimes need
to be formulated to punish acts of stripping, parading naked, groping,
tonsuring of hair and mutilation which are intended to sexually assault,
degrade or humiliate women who are so targeted. Further stalking, flashing,
gesturing, blackmailing as well as sexual harassment must be codified as crimes
under the rubric of sexual offences. These should include any electronic and
other forms which promote rape as a game, promote electronic stalking or forced
viewing of pornography, etc. We welcome the introduction of a specific offence
for acid attack.
Gender neutral sexual assault: The formulation
of the crime of sexual assault as gender neutral in all circumstances, as
proposed in the Criminal Law Amendment Act, makes the perpetrator/ accused also
gender neutral, i.e a woman or man can be accused of sexual assault. We believe
that the perpetrator has to remain gender-specific and limited to men as
perpetrators, as there is no empirical evidence to support a finding to the
contrary. Across the country women and transgender people are facing severe
sexual violence and we strongly oppose the gender-neutrality clause in relation
to perpetrators under Sec. 375 IPC. Gender neutrality of the victim: The
survivor of sexual assault should be treated as gender neutral with respect to
the law, even if the perpetrator is still defined as male. With respect to all
forms of violence, the victims/survivors should not be described just as women,
but as women and transgender people. In
some cases of state and custodial violence the victims can also include men.
Marital Rape: Rape within
marriage should be recognized and should be strictly penalized. The punishment for rape should be the same
irrespective of whether the perpetrator is married to the victim or not.
Consent: Consent must be clearly defined as verbal
agreement which can be withdrawn at any point during sexual activity.
Initiation of sexual activity or sex work is not an invitation to rape or
sexual assault and battery. The lack of marks on the body cannot be used as
evidence of consent (as in the Suryanelli case) because sedation, rape based on
threats of retaliatory violence, and rape where the perpetrator holds economic,
caste, communal, custodial or state power over the survivor can all be
perpetrated without leaving signs of force.
Age
of consent: The age of consent should be lowered to 16 years of age.
Consent during sex work: Rape during sex
work must be recognized explicitly as a sexual offence. Sex work should be legalized and regulated so
that what takes place without consent can be clearly distinguished from the
specific acts the sex worker is paid for and has consented to.
Inclusion of women in drafting process: Local women’s'
groups in India, including those of adivasi, dalit, religious minority women,
transgender women, self help groups and
woman panchayat representatives must be consulted in drafting laws upholding
women's rights at home and in public.
C.
In regard to
pre-trial, trial and evidence procedures.
•
SOPs
like those of Delhi police should be reviewed to ensure that they reflect a
gender sensitive and meticulous approach to investigation and officially
adopted by all police departments in states and UTs, and should be made
publicly accessible.
•
The
two finger test which is widely used during medical examination of the rape
victims to determine whether they are ‘habituated to sexual intercourse’ or
not, must be explicitly barred. Testing should be done by women doctors, and
forensic tests must include DNA tests for which laboratories and a DNA database
must be set up. Victims should not be subjected to lie detection tests as is
done in some parts of the country, and they should be able to be accompanied by
a counselor or chosen family member at all times.
•
Police
personnel and all state officers who deal cases of sexual assault must undergo
compulsory sensitization about handling these cases, so that they do not
traumatize the survivor of assault with irrelevant and traumatic questions or
statements of judgement or dismissal. Each complaint of sexual harassment and
molestation must be taken seriously and failure to file an FIR must be
punishable by law.
•
Women
police officers should be available and visible at a women’s help desk in every
police precinct to take such statements and should be used instead of male
officers for each step of processing a sexual assault or harassment complaint.
The number of women at all levels of the police force must increase to 50% and
for their retention, proper housing, women’s toilet, and training facilities as
well as a cell to address sexual harassment complaints within the police force
must be made available.A minority of policewomen deployed to ensure safety for
women prisoners are not able to be effective if they are pressured by a male
majority in their workplaces.
•
Trials
in rape cases should be concluded within a 90 day period, and all pending cases
of rape (all India-100,000, Delhi 1000) should be dealt with by specially
constituted courts with both rural and urban accessibility within 90 days. Concomitantly
with this demand, bail should be cancelled for new and all the on going cases
of sexual assault in court, so that the accused cannot continue to assault
others while the case is pending. Speedy resolution of cases should ensure that
justice for innocently accused is not delayed.
•
Trials
pertaining to sexual offences should be conducted as far as possible by women
judges, and in cases of SC/ST or communal violence, by women members of the
minority community. The number of judges, especially women judges, must also be
increased in lower level courts and vacancies in these courts must be filled
up.
•
There
should be specific provisions for recording the testimony of disabled victims
or witnesses. Cases involving sexual assault against disabled women often end
in acquittal as their testimony is either not recorded at all, or is recorded
without the help of independent interpreters.
•
Guidelines
for victim and witness protection should be available for victims of violation
of bodily integrity (outraging the modesty in the current law) as well as all
forms of sexual assault, and bail should be cancelled for cases where
intimidation can be shown.
•
In
trials of sexual offences, the complainant/ victim, her family members or members
of women’s organizations representing the complainant should ordinarily be
permitted to engage a counsel of her choice to assist the prosecution. In
addition free legal, medical, psychological and rehabilitative services should
be made available to enable working class women to pursue legal justice.
•
Even
in an in-camera trial, on the request of the complainant/ victim, her
representatives should be permitted to remain present.
•
Guidelines
must be laid down for the cross examination of a victim of sexual violence,
particularly highlighting the changes in the CrPC sections which now do not
allow character assassination or looking at past history of the victim.
•
There should be a strict code of conduct and
binding jail-time punishment for officials holding public office, including
ministers etc while commenting on cases pertaining to sexual assault or rape.
Judges who deal with sexual assault/ rape cases should be sensitized and held
accountable with legally enforceable punishments for dismissing rape cases
based on violating the constitutional right of every person to a fair hearing -
by disbelieving the rape of a dalit woman as in the Bhanwari Devi case, or for
suggesting extra-legal remedies or marriage to the accused instead of strictly
pursuing legal justice for the crime.
•
The
pending cases against security forces, police and wardens of Nari Niketans and
other protective homes for girls and women must be dealt with on a priority
basis so that instead of inflicting further violence these institutions play
their role of providing thorough investigation and appropriate support.
•
A
date base of cases of sexual assault be maintained online and be publicly
accessible, to track the implementation and performance of the law in each
registered case, to help identify weak links. The name of the survivor must not
be mentioned, but that of the accused and the neighbourhood where the assault
took place, and the progress on the case must be made publicly known on the
internet and local information especially on habitual sex offenders must be
available at each local police station.
•
Any
media establishment that publishes the name or contact information of a
survivor of rape should be routinely punished. There should be publicly
available letter boxes and an online site where such reports can be directly
sent.
E.
In regard to punishment for rape.
In
cases of aggravated sexual assault, punishment should be for life imprisonment
with no remission or parole. Sentences should run consecutively instead of
concurrently in sexual crimes. PVCHR does not support death penalty or chemical
castration as a punishment for rape. We need to evolve punishments that act as
true deterrents to the very large number of men who commit these crimes. Cases
of rape have a conviction rate of as low as 26% showing that perpetrators of
sexual violence enjoy a high degree of impunity, including being freed of
charges. Our vision of justice does not
include death penalty, which is neither a deterrent nor an effective or ethical
response to acts of sexual violence. We are opposed to it for the following
reasons:
1.
We
recognise that every human being has a right to life. We refuse to deem
‘legitimate’ any act of violence that would give the State the right to take
life in our names. Justice meted by the State cannot bypass complex
socio-political questions of violence against women by punishing rapists by
death. Death penalty is often used to distract attention away from the real
issue – it changes nothing but becomes a tool in the hands of the State to
further exert its power over its citizens. A huge set of changes are required
in the system to end the widespread and daily culture of rape.
2.
There
is no evidence to suggest that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to rape.
Available data shows that there is a low rate of conviction in rape cases and
there is a strong possibility that the death penalty would lower this
conviction rate even further as it is awarded only under the ‘rarest of rare’
circumstances. The most important factor that can act as a deterrent is the
certainty of punishment, rather than the severity of its form.
3.
As
seen in countries like the US, men from minority communities and economically
weaker sections make up a disproportionate number of death row inmates. In the
context of India, a review of crimes that warrant capital punishment reveals
the discriminatory way in which such laws are selectively and arbitrarily
applied to disadvantaged communities, religious and ethnic minorities. This is
a real and major concern, as the possibility of differential consequences for
the same crime is injustice in itself.
4.
The
logic of awarding death penalty to rapists is based on the belief that rape is
a fate worse than death. Patriarchal notions of ‘honour’ lead us to believe
that rape is the worst thing that can happen to a woman. There is a need to
strongly challenge this stereotype of the ‘destroyed’ woman who loses her
honour and who has no place in society after she’s been sexually assaulted. We
believe that rape is a tool of patriarchy, an act of violence, and has nothing
to do with morality, character or behaviour.
5.
We
also believe the law should punish rape with murder more strongly than rape
without murder, so that the law does not provide an incentive for the
perpetrator to kill the survivor of rape.
6.
An
overwhelming number of women are sexually assaulted by people known to them,
and often include near or distant family, friends, husbands, workplace
superiors and partners. With death penalty at stake, the ‘guardians of the law’
and the perpetrators will make sure that no complaints against them get
registered and they will go to any length to make sure that justice does not
see the light of day. Who will be able to face the psychological and social
consequences of having reported against their own relatives when the penalty is
death?
7.
In
cases of sexual assault where the perpetrator is in a position of power (such
as in cases of custodial rape or marital rape or caste and religion violence),
conviction is notoriously difficult. The death, penalty, for reasons that have
already been mentioned, would make conviction next to impossible.
F. In regard to the urgent need for
making workplaces and homes of women safer.
1.
The
Committees against Sexual Harassment which are to be constituted in various
state and private establishments as per the Vishakha judgment, should be
constituted with priority and urgency and renewal of workplace licences to
employ workers should be made contingent on this. The said Committees should
function independently and effectively, and create an atmosphere of no
tolerance to sexual harassment. Section 16 of the proposed amendment to the
sexual harassment bill which punishes a woman for a so-called false complaint
must be scrapped. This would go a long way in ensuring dignity and empowering
women at their workplace.
2.
It
is a common observation that the Domestic Violence Act is poorly implemented in
most States with government servants being given additional charge of
Protection Officer, lack of proper Shelter Homes for women victims of domestic
violence, abuse within those shelter homes and on the streets for those
rendered homeless by domestic violence, and poor understanding of judicial
officers of the powers of civil injunctions and specific reliefs available to
them
3.
Women
employees working in night and early morning shifts should be provided safe
public transport facilities by the employer, and both public and private forms
of transport must be effectively regulated and monitored for safety by the
government. The routes from public transport sites to housing areas must be
well-lit and tinted window vehicles should be strictly monitored.
4.
There
should be an expansion of the public transport system and the government should
bring a public-transport-for-women-on-demand facility for any neighbourhood
with a number of working women coping without public transport, including
dispersed adivasi settlements and urban slums, functioning in the same manner
of response to demand as anganwadi-on-demand. Strict implementation of women’s
general compartment in all trains and women’s seats in all inter-city buses is
necessary.
5.
The
number of affordable working-women’s hostels to ensure safe accommodation for
single working women must be increased. All out-station girl students studying
in colleges must be provided cheap and safe accommodation by their respective
institutions.
6.
Due
to its impact on physical and mental health and a high degree of mortality,
rape is also a public health issue. The public health workforce (ASHA and ANM
workers) need to be trained in sensitizing at the family and community level in
destigmatizing rape-survivors, enabling them to file FIRs and access legal
provisions, providing medical care and counseling, and encouraging women to
speak out and seek justice. All public hospitals must be equipped to
immediately file an FIR and conduct a preliminary medical exam on behalf of
patients who have survived rape for this the budget allocation of the
government to the women and child, health and public transport departments must
be accordingly increased by the next Budget.
7.
Effective
women helpline and other emergency services should be provided around the clock
and should be well advertised by video and audio messages in rural and urban
areas. Emergency telephones to this helpline must also be available at all bus
and train stations. Calls should be addressed by specially trained staff and
automatically recorded for later review, and the staff should be able to
dispatch immediate vehicles to assist women facing an emergency. Disciplinary
action must be taken against staff for inappropriate or inadequate responses.
8.
The
state should take over agencies which provide women domestic workers, the
conditions of service of domestic workers must be laid down and effectively
implemented, and complaints of sexual violence made by them promptly redressed.
9.
Institutions
such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for
Schedule Castes (NCSC), National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST),
National Commission for Minorities (NCM), National Commission for Women (NCW)
and the corresponding State Commissions, created for safeguarding
constitutional provisions and protection of vulnerable groups must be more
proactive. They should be made to respond to all complaints lodged with them in
a time-bound manner. There should be systematic and regular review processes by
independent bodies involving women’s groups, put into place to audit the work
of these institutions
10.
The
system of shelters for women should be greatly expanded, and every state-based
shelter home for women, nari niketans, remand homes, juvenile delinquent homes,
shelters for disabled children, orphanages, as well as schools, prisons and
areas under army patrolling or combing operations should have a schedule of
inspections to probe for ongoing sexual harassment or assault by committees
whose members are independent of the government. The people confined within
should have the right to insist on 1 person whom they trust outside jail to
accompany the team when it does these surprise checks
11.
The
current policy of clearing the streets of vendors, closing shops by a specific
hour of night and chasing away other people who occupy public space at night
makes the street more unsafe for women. This policy should be stopped as a
greater presence of people and well-lit public areas at night are essential in
reducing the danger to women traveling to and from work as well as homeless
women. Women should be given priority in
being given vendor licenses and employment in public transport.
12.
Women
should not be forced to comply with gender specific dress codes and women
employees should be able to able to chose their dress code. .
G.
In regard to Discouraging Patriarchal Culture.
1.
All
those persons against whom charge sheets have been filed for rape cases must be
tried and either cleared of those charges, or sentenced and barred from
contesting elections for public bodies by the Election Commission.
2.
Advertisements,
movies and public materials that condone, trivialize or misrepresent violence
against women and sexual harassment should be banned.
3.
Women
have been carrying out powerful movements against liquor which is found to be
connected to increase in domestic violence and incidents of sexual assault. The
demands made by women in their local areas must be responded to by local
authorities, rather than being suppressed by the liquor mafia.
4.
The
sale of acid, guns and other dangerous substances used to intimidate women must
be strictly regulated.
5.
Restrictions
on movements and intimidation of women’s groups and democratic rights groups,
while conducting fact-findings of incidents of sexual and other forms violence
in conflict areas, have to stop. Repression, labelling and intimidation of
women activists and human rights defenders must end.
6.
Mass
visible and audio messages on what constitutes sexual offenses and what are the
remedies and punishment for the same, should be displayed in all public
vehicles and public places such as markets, bus stands, train stations, etc.
These areas should be accessible by people with disabilities to reduce their vulnerability
due to being confined at homes or shelters.
7.
School
curricula should include basic information on how stalking, harassment, and
touching another person without consent constitute unacceptable and illegal
behavior, and the government should set up a training module for at least 2
staff members from each school to help children to report cases of domestic
sexual assault. Caste, communal, gender identity and disability based
discrimination against dalit, adivasi, religious minorities, gender and sexuality
minorities, people with disabilities, homeless and working class people, etc.
should be clearly and unequivocally taught to be unacceptable. This will
greatly decrease their vulnerability to sexual assault.
8.
All
departments that deal with disability pension administration should have a
clearly marked desk where people can go to report sexual harassment and
assault. They as well as police stations should carry information for
complaints procedure and all awareness material in accessible formats to cater to
people with disabilities (Braille,
audio, audio-video with same language sub-titling, large print, easy to read
and pictorial guidance and availability of sign language interpreters). The
inaccessibility of police stations and their present lack of capacity to
interpret complaints from women with disabilities must be addressed in the long
run.
H.
In regard to sexual assault of transgender persons
1.
The
chosen gender of a transgender or intersex person should be respected during
trial. Transgender people are often
punitively raped for crossing the boundaries of assigned gender and the rape
trauma is compounded by their bodies and minds being handled in ways to remind
them of their assigned gender. The trial should not further increase that
aspect of the trauma.
2.
Acts
like the Karnataka Police Act and the Hyderabad Eunuch Act that place the
entire transgender community under suspicion and demand their routine reporting
to the police act as a vehicle for police harassment and sexual violence
against transgender women. These should be immediately repealed.
3.
Transgender
people must be handled by women police officers and not male police officers.
The rules about arresting and detaining women at night should strictly apply to
transgender people and sex workers.
Case of Krishna:
cry of a child suffered with sexual abuse
Krishna (Name
change) says she was raped in June 2012, when she was 12 years old. She said
her attacker was a young man from a neighbouring village in eastern Uttar
Pradesh, who was from a politically influential family. When she went to report
the case to police, she said they detained her for 12 days to get her to
retract her complaint. She told Human Rights Watch:
When I got to
the police station I was interrogated by the station chief. When I told him
what had happened he said I must have agreed to go with him [her attacker]. The
policeman then abused me and called me a “motherfucker” and other rude words.
They refused to accept my side of the story. I was kept in the police station
and was locked up. The woman officer-incharge insisted that I sleep in her bed.
I had to sleep at her feet. They kept insisting that I change my statement
otherwise they threatened that something would happen to me. My parents kept
trying to see me but they did not allow them to talk to me because they thought
my parents would tell me to speak the truth…. They kept me in jail for 12 days.
They didn't let me meet my parents. When I think of that time I'm afraid.
This
intimidation did not work however, and when Krishna was taken to see a
magistrate, she told him exactly what had happened to her. “I knew I had to
tell the truth,” she said.
She was released and an NGO is currently
helping the family pursue the case.
Health care
providers play a crucial dual role in the response to sexual violence. They
provide therapeutic care after an assault and yet they also assist in any
criminal investigation. On the one hand, they must provide medical treatment
for any injuries suffered by the survivor, address any adverse psychological,
sexual, and reproductive health consequences of the assault,17 and can also
provide referrals to legal and social welfare services. On the other hand,
doctors conduct forensic examinations of survivors seeking evidence of a crime,
and may later interpret this evidence as witnesses in court.
The World Health
Organization (WHO) recommends that health care and forensic services be
provided at the same time, and by the same person, to reduce the potential for
duplicating questions and retraumatizing the survivor of assault. The WHO
guidelines state that the health and welfare of a survivor of sexual violence
is “the overriding priority” and that the provision of forensic services cannot
take precedence over health needs.
Many of our rape
survivors have told us how police and doctors treat them. The experience by and
large is humiliating for all victims. It adds to their overall trauma after
rape. Some of them just become numb. Others find the whole process entirely
dehumanizing. The insensitive manner and distrust with which they are treated
negates their very being.
Women report
specific difficulties with the ways they are treated during the process of
forensic evidence collection. Police officers and doctors often send survivors
from one hospital to another to take various tests, and often make them wait
for hours, subject them to multiple uncomfortable examinations, and sometimes
publicly identify them as “rape cases” in hospital corridors[xiii].
5.KHAP PANCHAYAT:
anti-women traditional institution:
Khap
is a cluster of villages united by caste and geography. It was started in the
14th century by upper caste to consolidate their power and position. The main
rule is that all boys and girls within a Khap are considered siblings.
KhapPanchayat governs the Khap formed by same gotra (clan) families from
several neighbouring villages. KhapPanchayats are prevalent in Haryana, western
Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. Love marriages are considered taboo in
areas governed by Khap Panchayat. Those living in a Khap are not allowed to
marry within the same gotra or even in any gotra from the same village. Many
young couples have been killed in the past for defying Khap rules. KhapPanchayat
imposes its writ through social boycotts and fines and in most cases end up
either killing or forcing the victims to commit suicide. All this is done in
the name of honour and brotherhood. It is due to the inherent weakness of
democratically elected Panchayati Raj institutions, that the KhapPanchayats
have been powerful. The government has not been able to do much to control
their power. The 10-15 men who constitute a Khap settle disputes and control
the lives of young people. Many villagers defend these caste-Panchayatsas they
deliver a verdict in one sitting whereas court cases drag on for years.
According
to them, in many cases innocent people get harassed in the court and by police.
Here as everyone is known so they cross check everything to ensure neutrality.
In some Haryana villages, young girls are routinely threatened, abused and
killed all under Khap verdicts. The onus of maintaining siblinghood rests on
the girl. She is the keeper of village honour. Sometimes rules are bent for the
boys but never in the case of a girl. In keeping with the Khap rules, older
villagers try to keep the young people apart. Some schools are also forced to
have separate timings for boys and girls. Fearing their daughters would go
astray, many parents marry them off at an early age. People have unquestionable
faith in the justice meted out by the Khap Panchayats
6. HONOR
KILLINGS: an instrument of patriarchy and mind of caste in communal
understanding against freedom
To
be young and in love has proved fatal for many young girls and boys in parts of
north India as an intolerant and bigoted society refuses to accept any
violation of its rigid code of decorum,
especially when it comes to women. Many such killings, which go by the name
honour killings, happen with regularity in Punjab, Haryana Status of Women in
India: Problems and concerns. The usual remedy to such murders is the
suggestion that society must be prevailed upon to be more gender-sensitive and
shed prejudices of caste and class. Efforts should be made to sensitize people
on the need to do away with social biases. So far, there is no specific law to
deal with honour killings.
Attempt to honour killing case of Mahjbin Medha Nagar:
The Hon'b High
Court allowed her to go and live at a place and person of her own choice but
she was forcibly taken by her father Abhay Ram Nagar from the Court. When Faij
ur Rehman and Mehjabeen resisted and advocate Manoj Mishra intervened the cops
then said they would release her from the Nari Niketan. Cops then took Mehjabeen to Varanasi in the
car provided by Abhay Ram Nagar in which Abhay Ram Nagar and his associates
were also sitting.
Full details of
case:
7.Trafficking:
Women are
trafficked for bonded labour, sex slavery and forced prostitution. But not a
single woman from upper caste is trafficked in India.
Radha(name
change), 15, says that an improperly conducted medical examination in Varanasi
after she was repeatedly raped in February and March 2012 is impeding her legal
case.95
Radha told Human
Rights Watch that her abuser was the owner of a brick kiln factory in Uttar
Pradesh, where she was forced to work as his maid for two months. Radha, who is
originally from a tribal community in Jharkhand state, is among India's vast
population of trafficked children, who are especially vulnerable to sexual
abuse.She told Human Rights Watch:
I was with my family when a woman called Shanti
visited us and told me to come with her. She was from the same village so I trusted
her. She said she was going to take me to a fair. But this woman had tricked me
and forced me to go to the brick kiln factory. There I had to work for the
owner, doing his cooking and cleaning, and also massage him. Two days after I
arrived he forced himself on me. He used to give me a tablet, and then he would
force himself on me. My room was next to where the owner worked and every time
he wanted me, he would come to my room. He would come two or three times a day.
I told that woman Shanti that I didn't like it, and she said that “If you tell
anyone, the owner will kill you.” One day I opposed it, and the owner beat me
up brutally. I was so scared. The brick kiln owner was in his sixties, had no
teeth, used to drink a lot, and force me to drink alcohol as well. When I
refused, he used to hit me. I'm still in pain from the rapes. After two months
there, in March 2012, Radha was able to escape and eventually make it to
Varanasi where she was assisted by the People's Vigilance Committee for Human
Rights (PVCHR). They took her to the police and to a hospital, where a doctor
carried out a medico-legal “two-finger test.
On the basis of
this degrading and unscientific test, the doctor stated that Radha had not been
raped. As a result, the police have refused to listen to her complaint and
investigate the man she said had raped her repeatedly.
Radha, with the
support of PVCHR, is challenging the doctor's findings. In September 2012 the
police in her home district in Jharkhand agreed that Radha’s testimony could
form the basis of a charge against her alleged assailant.
The United
Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and
Abuse of Power and Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to A Remedy and
Reparation for Victims of Violations of International Human Rights and
Humanitarian Law specify that both state and non-state actors should treat
victims “with compassion and respect for their dignity and human rights” and
“measures should be taken to ensure their safety and privacy.” The state has a
special obligation to ensure that “its domestic laws, as much as possible,
provide that a victim who has suffered violence or trauma should benefit from special
consideration and care to avoid his or her retraumatization in the course of
legal and administrative procedures designed to provide justice and
reparation.”
8.Health of
women:
India is failing
to protect its women and children and is crawling towards the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG), which targets to cut child death rates by two-thirds
and maternal mortality by three-quarters between years 1990-2015.
According to a
report that tracks the progress made by 68 priority countries, which account
for 97 per cent of maternal and child deaths worldwide, only 16 (24 per cent)
were on track to meet the MDG compared to 7 of 60 (12 per cent) in 2005. India,
however, is not one of them. While India’s target under the MDG for mortality
of children under the age of five is 38 per 1,000 live births,51 the number of
children who die before their fifth birthday stands at 76 at present.
Infant mortality
rate in India stands at 57 per 1,000 live births while neonatal mortality rate
– deaths in the first month of life – stands at 43 per 1,000 live births. Early
initiation of breastfeeding benefits both mother and newborns. Yet, only 46 per
cent infants under six months are being exclusively breastfed.
Also, only 41
per cent births have been registered. Malnutrition is direct cause of Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) and the health of mothers is directly related to a child’s
health and without due attention to the causes behind high maternal mortality
ratios, an important determinant of the health of our nation is being ignored.
India, along with Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia, contribute over 50 per
cent of all maternal and child deaths globally. What is worse, India is not
making sufficient progress. India’s population is massive and even if the ratio
of maternal and child mortality may not be high, the numbers are staggering.
According to the
report brought out by the International Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and
Child Health (MNCH), an umbrella organisation comprising nearly 240 members
such as UNICEF, WHO and Save the Children, India’s average annual rate of
reduction of child deaths between 1990 and 2006 has been just 2.6 per cent. The
report also identifies a series of missed opportunities. It says only one-third
of the women in 68 priority countries are using a modern contraceptive method –
a proven means of boosting maternal and infant survival.
Only 50 per cent
women and newborns benefit from a skilled birth attendant at the time of birth
globally. Only about onethird of children with pneumonia, the biggest single
killer of children, get treatment while under-nutrition has been the underlying
cause of 3.5 million child deaths annually, and as many as 20 per cent of
maternal deaths. Unsafe abortions result in the death of the mother as well,
and skilled birth attendants are lacking in villages (there is a high rate of
abortions until a woman conceives a male baby).
One in 48 women
in India is at the risk of dying during childbirth. The Maternal Mortality
Ratio (MMR) in India is a high 407 per 100,000 live births and other sources
put the MMR at a higher 540.53 Reducing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) by
three-quarters by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for all countries
including India. Achieving this means reducing the MMR to 100 by 2015. Part of
the problem is this measurement – MMR data is just not there and if it is, it
varies widely depending on what method was used to get it.
Studies show MMR
among Scheduled Tribes (652) and Scheduled Castes (584) is higher than in women
of other castes (516, according to one study). It is higher among illiterate
women (574) than those having completed middle school (484). The key
determinant seems to be access to healthcare and land as well as other means of
source for livelihood. Less-developed villages had a significantly higher MMR
(646) than moderately or well developed ones (501 and 488 deaths,
respectively).
The main reasons
for maternal deaths related to pregnancy are anaemia, post-partum bleeding and
septic abortions with anaemia being the most rampant. There is a total neglect
of a mother’s health in India. The situation is disgusting because a big chunk
of all this is preventable. The real problem is food. It is all about food, the
cost of food and the nutrition content therein.
These pregnant
women have to fetch the water, make fuel, and look after the buffaloes, all on
the measly amount of food they can afford. It becomes a negative calorie
balance. Nutrition for pregnant mothers is very important and the ICDS Anganwadi
Scheme has clearly not achieved the expected results.
While antenatal
care is of paramount importance in the prevention of pregnancy-related deaths,
septic abortions are more insidious. What is worse, the latter tends to go
unreported due to the nature and circumstances surrounding it. In many rural
areas, couples do not use any spacing methods and women conceive within 7
months of having given birth.
The abortion
rate in these areas is high. With it comes hidden mortality from septic
abortion deaths. Since the PHCs (Primary Health Centres) do not have MTP
(Medical Termination of Pregnancy) facility, the abortions are performed by
quacks. And even if the PHCs or district hospitals have MTP methods, people opt
for local help. “It saves them money. These are very poor people and transport
costs and medical costs can be saved by walking to a local resource.” As a
result, there are a high number of abortion-related deaths which do not get
reported under maternal mortality.
Mahmood
ul-Hasan, a resident of Bhatti, Lohta, Kashi Vidhyapeeth block of Varanasi
district, took his wife for delivery to the primary health centre in Kashi
Vidyapeeth. He was asked to pay bribes to the staff. He was asked to pay Rs 20
for application to get maternity benefit through the Auxiliary Nursing Mother
(ANM). Asha Gupta is the ANM for the village.
At the centre,
Afsana was given one injection, and no one took care of her for the rest of the
day. The injection given was saline drips. No medical staff was available on
duty at night.
Mahmood’s wife
needed constant care as she was expecting her baby. Given these conditions at
the centre, Mahmood did not have any other option but to leave the primary
health centre with his wife on the following day.
When Mahmood was
about to leave the primary health centre with his wife, he was again asked to
pay bribes to the staff at the health centre and to the pharmacist, Krishna
Ram, for the injection. Since he did not have money to pay any more, the
pharmacist did not register Afsana’s case at the centre and failed to give them
a receipt which is necessary to apply for the maternity benefit scheme. Afsana
had to return home without proper medical care. Afsana gave birth to a baby
girl, but the baby died six hours later.
Abortion (MTP)
being legal in India, no one is turned away. Second trimester abortion is a big
reason for rising MMRs. “People come late for the abortions and complications
arise. And apparently these are not only driven by spacing problems.”
Contraceptives
are used only by women and failure of these is common. Of course, abortion of
female foetuses is routine and it goes on until the woman conceives a male child.
The whole scenario makes one shudder. Falciparum malaria leads to
abortion and stillbirths and can severely compound anaemia. Orissa has one of
the highest rates of MMR in India at 738. Another key reason for deaths during
pregnancy is post-partum bleeding or haemorrhage. The need for blood in such
cases is imperative and access is less than ideal.
Early diagnosis
of high-risk pregnancies and complications and quick referrals are of paramount
importance. The so-called Primary Health Care units are so dirty that infection
will probably increase because of them. Corruption is not a new problem. Poor
people end up spending huge amounts due to over-prescription of medicines that
should be made free to them. This is the real problem and no amount of infrastructure
improvement will bring down MMR if governance is not improved. Now, if there
were a skilled birth attendant (SBA) at the time of each delivery or for
antenatal check-ups for each pregnancy, he or she can recognise a high-risk
pregnancy or a potential complication and refer the mother to a district
hospital or closest emergency care unit. The incidence of death from
complications would be reduced.
In Uttar
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Assam and Orissa, where the MMRs are
well above the national average, it will require serious political will and
accountability to change the status quo. Verticals tend to be donor driven and
are cost intensive. MMR is not a disease unto itself. Clearly, high MMR is a
symptom of a larger and wider problem in healthcare, namely the overall health
of the woman, and should be treated as such and across verticals.
In today’s
society, child marriages, one of the main causes of MMR, are still very high in
percentage mostly in rural, poor, less educated girls and those from central or
eastern regions of the country. The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2006, makes
child marriage voidable for the woman who was a child at the time of marriage.
However, many laws are unable to control child marriage in India and social awareness
and shared responsibility from all sections of society are necessary. Concern
of violation of human rights: both woman’s rights and children’s rights,
defined as marriage before the age of 18.
The caste-based
and patriarchal feudal society of India played a great role in creating this
practice: balance of power between the various kingdoms and fiefdoms. By
marrying off children at a very young age where there is no question of them
having any sense of choice about their life partner, it is easy for the parents
to create matrimonial alliances among families. Caste also had a role to play
in perpetuating this system: Marriages between members of different castes were
not allowed so to preserve itself, the caste system could have helped in
creating the practice of child-marriage.
In poorer
economic environments, marriage expenses are kept to a minimum, so a
child-marriage not as grand an affair as adult marriages. Impoverished families
often use early marriage to get rid of the financial burden of a daughter and
the laws can be slow to react. Sometimes, many parents do not want a girl baby
and seek to get over with the responsibilities of their daughters by getting
them married off as minors. Women who were married as children more likely to
have had three or more childbirths, a repeat childbirth in less than 24 months,
multiple unwanted pregnancies, pregnancy termination, and sterilisation. Other
health problems include sterilisation in young women due to them having their
desired number of children at an earlier age, inadequate fertility control
(high numbers of unwanted pregnancies), risk of HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections.
Janani Suraksha
Yojana: Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is perhaps the largest conditional cash
transfer program in the world which was launched by the MOH&FW, Government
of India in 2005 with the goal to reduce maternal and infant mortality through
accelerating institutional delivery and other continuum of services at
government health services, particularly among the poor and marginalized
groups. Since the introduction of the JSY program, a major increase has been
taken place in institutional deliveries
It is a 100
percent centrally sponsored scheme and links cash assistance with delivery and
post-delivery care. In availing institutional delivery services, the client
would need to be escorted to an institution, would need transport to reach the
institution and in case of complications, referral services are required. The
scheme has considered all these elements and has made provision for transport
including referral and escort (by ASHAs) and at the same time invested in
improving public health institutions and services through the Reproductive and
Child Health (RCH) Programme
interventions. Moreover, the states have flexibility to evolve public private
partnership (PPP) mechanism and accredit private health institutions for
providing institutional delivery services.
Among SCs, STs,
and OBCs the percentage of women who had at least one ANC visit or three or
more ANC visits was below the national average. The OBC women, however, were
relatively better placed than SC and ST women. The ST women suffer the most on
this account and this can partly be attributed to the fact that they are
concentrated in rural areas
9.Female
Foeticide:
Female foeticide
is an extreme manifestation of violence against women. Female foetuses are
selectively aborted after prenatal sex determination, thus avoiding the birth
of girls. As a result of sex-selective abortion, between 35 and 40 million
girls and women are missing from the Indian population. In some parts of the
country, the sex ratio of girls to boys has dropped to less than 800:1,000.
The sex ratio
has altered consistently in favour of boys since the beginning of the 20th
century and the effect has been most pronounced in the states of Punjab,
Haryana and Delhi. It was in these states that private foetal sex determination
clinics were first established and the practice of selective abortion became
popular from the late 1970s. Alarmingly, the trend is far stronger in urban
rather than rural areas, and among literate rather than illiterate women,
exploding the myth that growing affluence and spread of basic education alone
will result in the erosion of gender bias.
The adverse sex
ratio has been linked to the low status of women in Indian communities in all
religions. The status of women in a society can be determined by their
education, health, and economic role, presence in the professions and
management, and decision-making power within the family.
Religion
operates alongside other cultural and economic factors in lowering the status
of women. The practice of dowry has spread nationwide, to communities and
castes in which it had never been the custom, fuelled by consumerism and
emulation of upper caste practices. In the majority of cases, the legal system
has no impact on the practice of dowry. It is estimated that a dowry death
occurs in India every 93 minutes. The need for a dowry for girl children, and
the ability to demand a dowry for boys, exerts considerable economic pressure
on families to use any means to avoid having girls, who are seen as a
liability. “Freedom for Rs 200!”(£2.85) exclaim the large painted doors of
Mukti Clinic in Varanasi. Ostensibly a maternal health centre, it is only one
of the several prenatal gender determination clinics that have sprung up all
over the state.
Heavily
protected by local mafia, clinics such as these offer parents the option of
aborting female foetuses right up to the fifth month of pregnancy and could be
one of the biggest factors in the state’s abysmal sex ratio. A large body of
academic and statistical work has illustrated that economic prosperity is
actually one of the largest contributing factors towards worsening sex ratios.
Prosperity gives
parents access to ultrasound machines that allow for gender determination and
surgical procedures to eliminate female foeticide. However, as Mukti Clinic
illustrates, a complete package of gender determination and subsequent abortion
can cost as little as Rs 200 in the first month and Rs 950 in the fifth month –
a period when abortions are rarely performed. A district wise examination of
per capita income in the state only substantiates this prosperity-sex ratio
thesis.
Reena is married
to Jitendra Vishwakarma of Tendui village, under Jansa police station of
Varanasi. She alleged that her husband, who is a compounder (medical assistant)
by profession, took her to an ultrasound centre when she was pregnant. After
learning that she was bearing a girl child in her womb, he gave her injections
and medicines which led to miscarriage. She also alleged that her in-laws were
torturing her for dowry since the beginning of her marital life.55 Taking
serious note, the District Magistrate, A K Upadhyaya, instructed the police to
lodge an
FIR against the
accused and take necessary action. The Savitri Bai Phule Women Forum, an
organisation of rural women working for the cause of women’s rights, has
demanded the immediate arrest of the accused on charges of female foeticide and
action against the ultrasound centre for sex determination under PNDT
(Pre-natal Diagnostic Test) Act.
Interestingly,
though the FIR was lodged against Jitendra on 16 June 2010, the police are yet
to arrest him. According to the station officer of Jansa police station,
Jitendra was absconding.
On the other
hand, the health department is investigating the matter of sex determination.
The instant wedding phenomenon in the eastern districts of Uttar Pradesh
highlights the disturbing fact of the state’s very low sex ratio. The chatpat
shaadis (instant marriages) can be seen as the point of intersection of two
separate and disturbing aspects: the pull factor that makes men from western UP
search for brides in the eastern districts and the push factor that makes the
women accept these men.
While a ratio of
950 females per 1,000 males is considered normal in India, most countries tend
to have more women than men. The national average in India, as per Census 2001,
is 933. A state-wise break-up of the data ranks UP, with a sex ratio of 898
below in the rankings, only slightly better than Punjab, Haryana and Sikkim.
The sex ratio of the population in the western districts of the state is below
900, while it is above 1,000 in some of the eastern districts.
“There are no
women in western Uttar Pradesh,” said Motilal Rajbhar. Gita, Motilal’s
daughter, is one of the most recent brides to have married a boy from
Moradabad, a district in western UP with a sex ratio of 885. “So any boy from
Moradabad who does not belong to the upper caste, who does not have a steady
job, who is above 25 years of age, or who is looking to get married for a
second time, cannot hope to find a local girl willing to marry him,” says
Motilal.
Gunja, a
16-year-old from Sarai Mohana in Varanasi, and her parents took all possible
precautions before marrying her off to a young man from Nandapur village in
Agra district. Her parents met the groom’s parents, and even visited their
house in Agra. However, it was only after she was married and went to live with
her husband that the nightmare began. She spent the next six months practically
captive in a one-room mud hut before her parents arrived and rescued her. She
now lives with her parents and refuses to return to her matrimonial home.
Uttar Pradesh’s chatpat
weddings are the latest addition to the larger national marriage market
that functions along a complex and intricate network of brides, grooms and
agents. States like Punjab and Haryana have taken to sourcing brides from
states as far away as West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Tripura, apart from
neighbouring Himachal Pradesh. Chatpat weddings are usually arranged
with the help of a local facilitator or dalal. The dalal, who is
often a woman, is usually one who is either from Varanasi and has married
someone from western UP or viceversa,
and so has family in the villages of both the bride and the groom. Channoo
Rajbhar is the dalal in Sarai Mohana and has got 30 young women from his
village married off to young men from Moradabad over the past three years.
The dalal has
to verify the antecedents of both sides and arrange the modalities and
logistics for the wedding. “Since the weddings are usually conducted within
days of the couple meeting, a lot of planning is required,” explains Rajbhar.
“Pandits have to be arranged, a village feast has to organised, gifts have to
arranged.” However, the ultimate responsibility rests with the parents. “We
usually arrange a meeting of the parents; after that we are no longer
accountable,” confirms Channoo.
The biggest draw
of a chatpat wedding is the limited economic burden placed on the
parents and no right of choice to girls under patriarchal hegemony. While each
case is different, dowry is very rarely taken in such alliances. In fact, the
financial insecurity of the marginalised community implies that the groom’s
side often pays the lion’s share of the wedding expenses.
The dalal extracts
a percentage of the costs as commission and these are entirely borne by the
groom’s family.
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