Crime, Vulnerability and Compassion

“Whether at home, on the streets or during the war, violence against women and girls is a human rights violation of pandemic proportions that takes place in public and private spaces.”

Gender equality and women's rights are relevant to a successful nation’s growth. Securing these will secure the future of the country too. India is a country with a very low gender equality rating where a woman is murdered only because of her gender. Violence against women is a profound injustice prevailed enourmously in indian society. It is one of main hurdles to the fulfillment of women’s rights and to the achievement of the sustained development goals.

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India has a high tolerance for crimes against women. Rape and dowry deaths are normalized. It is seen as a part of life for women, especially for those women from socially and economically destitute populations where levels of education and development are low. Crime against women has become a stain in the progressive efforts of India. The day by day increase of these crimes has increased to a disturbing level.

Different forms of violence that majorly prevailed all around the world are intimate partner violence, sexual violence, human trafficking, female genital mutilation and and child marriage. Intimate partner violence is the violence caused to the victim from her spouse, boyfriend or former partner. The se violence can be physical, mental or psychological. It is recognized that majority of violence that occurs towards women are intimate partner violence.

Majority of women experienc sexual violence at some point of their life all around the world. In under developed countries or developing countries their number is more when compared to developed countries. But most of the time they go unreported. These violence mostly occur from their partners or other relatives. This is just an assumption, the original rates are even higher due to the unreported crimes. Majority of the women murdered in India are killed by their close relatives or husband. they mainly happen in india as dowry death, honor killings, female infanticide and sex-selective abortion. Domestic violence is also a serious issue that causes many deaths every year.

Sexual violence is attempting a sexual act without the consent of other person. In cases when the other person cannot give consent like when the person is a child or unconscious, sexual violence may occur. A sexual violent act can take place in any situation and settings. Sexual harassment also includes non-contact forms, like commenting about a person’s body part, making sexually disturbing noises, asking for sexual favours, staring, exposing sexual organs etc. It also includes physical contact forms, like grabbing, pinching, slapping, or touching the other person in a sexual way.

Rape is having intercourse without the consent of other person or when the other person is unable to give consent if a child or unconscious person is victimised. This can be by persons known or unknown to the survivor, husband or boyfriend or other relatives, or during a conflict. India is considered as the most dangerous country in the world for rape. Rape is a very underrated and common crime in India. Also, marital rape is not considered a crime in India. India is one of many countries that does not recognize marital rape as a crime.

Human trafficking is the exploitation of people as a property rather than a living being. This may be by means of fraud, force or deception. In most of the cases they are women, girls or children. Millions of women and girls are exploited due to this crime worldwide. many of these women and girls are sexually exploited or forced into slavery. These women are mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation. They are used for forced prostitution. In India, forced prostitution is a serious issue that should be given special attention. Lakhs of women disappear from different parts of india every year. In some other cases they are brought in as workers or manipulated as brides but ultimately they end up as sexual tools or in brothels.

Female Genital Mutilation is intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for unethical reasons. These occur either part of punishment, or hatred. This crime creates extreme physical and mental pain to the victim. Beyond that, this practice also carries many health risks, including death. Child marriage is marrying off a girl way before she attains marital age suggested by the government. It puts an end to girl’s education and her right to make life choices. Child marriage is dangerous because girls who marry in childhood are at greater risk for intimate partner violence than girls of the same age who marry later. Acid throwing is an emerging crime prevailing amid youngsters. Often the victims will be due to rejecting love proposals.

violence against women occur throughout her lifespan from pre-birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and even in her old age. These violence occurs in different settings such as at home, workplace, hospitals, public places, and in the community. It occurs in all socioeconomic and cultural groups. One of the major concern is the increasing cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment at workplace, dowry-related violence, honor killings, acid attacks, and gang rapes.

The reason behind all of this is the many traditional patriarchal outlooks of Indian society. Gender-based inequality can be seen in all aspects of Indian society. Boys have more access to education whereas girls are only given basic education. In some cases that also is not acceptable. These inequalities start from home itself. Girls are given less food than boys. Less nutritious foods that their diet doesn’t include milk, butter, meat etc.

Violence against women in India is actually more present than it may appear at first glance, as many expressions of violence are not considered crimes, or may otherwise go unreported or undocumented. There are many facts to point out the reasons for this, such as: lower levels of education which perpetrate sexual violence or project the experience of sexual violence as a fault of the victim, a history of exposure to child maltreatment and witnessing family violence that causes execution of sexual violence as relief, antisocial personality disorder causes perpetration of sexual violence, harmful use of alcohol causes perpetration and experience of sexual violence, having multiple partners oradultry, arrogance of people that overlook violence, community norms that supports higher status to men and lower status to women and, low levels of women’s access to education and paid employment , marital discord and dissatisfaction, difficulties in communicating between partners, male controlling behaviors of patriarchal society towards their partners, beliefs in family honor and sexual purity, weak legal sanctions for sexual violence. Of all the above mentioned reasons, gender inequality and the acceptability of violence against women are the root cause of violence against women.

The novel Witness the night by kishwar Desai talks about the terrible situation of women in Indian households especially in Punjab. The novel tells the story of Durga a fourteen-year-old girl who was found tied in one hand raped was found surrounded by the corpses of her own family in a partially burned house. The novel won 2010 Costa First Novel Award. The novel explores the dark reality of female infanticide in India. It talks about how women are exploited in the names of culture, honour and status oin their own household.