“When a woman has no answer, the sea is empty of water”, thus goes a German adage. Indeed, it is difficult to gauge the sorrows, sufferings , afflictions and agonies of women, especially when they are subjected to untold miseries and traumatic situations pushed by delinquent males, nay by brutes. Being a woman, she has a knack of studying her problems and is successful in eliciting information by getting necessary timely legal advice. She is committed to the empowerment of women and for upholding her Constitutional rights.
Namrata Chadha, a noted social activist, was a Member of the State Commission for Women for two terms. Currently, she is working on women empowerment in both the organised and unorganised sectors. She is set on a lofty goal for welfare of working women in unorganised sectors on a pan-India basis making them aware and educating them on their rights and ensuing legal support for them. She is also active as a catalytic agent in transforming women officials in elite circles including corporate houses by her discourses on empowerment of women by interpreting and elucidating various legal provisions. She conducts camp courts, awareness trainings, live interactions with authorities like police, women’s commission, helpline contacts, etc. Besides, she is associated with various Government organisations including the WCD Department. She is also a judicial member of the juvenile court and spends her leisure hours by contributing to various local newspapers. She is also widely known for her Hindi commentaries through national television during the Car Festival at Puri. In an interview to The Pioneer, Chadha spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on a wide range of issues relating to women and also opined on the LGBT issue in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent judgement.
What’s your response to the apex court’s judgement on LGBT and decriminalisation of Section 377 of IPC?
We judge people as criminals for the acts they have committed and scale them on the basis of punishments defined in the IPC for those acts. We live in a democratic country and our Constitution gives us the assurance that every citizen has the right to follow their religion/ cultural principles and thought processes. I wholeheartedly welcome the Supreme Court’s judgement decriminalising provisions of Section 377. I believe this change should have been made a long time ago since these provisions dated back to the colonial era and were made during a time when the intention for inclusion of such provisions was directly linked to a certain section of the society only and did not represent India as a whole. I believe that it would have been better if these changes were brought in by our elected representatives and parliamentarians on their own and not by a public petition to the court. We elected them to govern the country and make laws for the wellbeing of citizens. It is unfortunate that these issues were ignored by the Government.
Will the judgement shake up the moral and social fabric of Indian society?
Primarily, it is important to know that all judgements affect our lives. Like the major judgment of “Vishakha and Others Vs. State of Rajasthan” made a huge impact on the day-to-day lives of working women, similarly this judgement on Section 377 would impact the lives of a large number of people, both directly and indirectly. As far as the moral and social fibre of the society in concerned, it is made of a vast number of cultures, customs, morals, practices entwined with one another to form the Indian culture; and we should take pride in its diversity. But we should not forget that change is the law of nature; and with time the change is essential. If we study the socio-cultural anthropology, we would know how the world has changed with time. With time the moral and social fabric too modifies, rather evolves to be more acceptable for the present time. I am very much hopeful that this judgement won’t affect the present social and moral fabric of our society. In fact, we would see a paradigm change in the nature and judgment of people towards the ones affected. A more acceptable and progressive approach is what we expect to see from the society which would further strengthen the social and moral fabric.
What would be your response to the section of people who oppose it?
We should get it into our minds that we live in a democratic country which is not ruled by any particular section of the people based on caste, colour, creed, religion, etc. We expect a unanimous thought process or response to something impossible. I have my respect towards the people who are opposing this judgement. They have their right to do that. The ones who are opposing with justifications are very much aligned with their culture and beliefs. I believe we should always be open to discussions and have opinions on such issues, which is a sign of a healthy democracy. It depends on how we perceive a thing. Whether our judgements are confined to a particular thought process or we are looking at the multiple thought processes depends on person to person. This discussion should go on as it may lead to further improvements in the system.
Would you elaborate your plans regarding emancipation of woman in unorganised sector?
A working woman’s life has multiple aspects which are required to be balanced by the woman herself. Such aspects are family, work and personal wellbeing. On a daily basis, the balance needs to be maintained amongst the three to lead a smooth life. Maintaining this balance often is not possible and leads to taking a toll on the woman herself. Women working in the organised sector are aware of the laws as well as the working of the society due to the exposure and awareness. With the implementation of strict laws and guidelines for SHAW (Sexual Harassment at Workplace), these women have a sense of safety and security. The main area of concern is the women working in the unorganised sector such a daily wage labours, farming sector, mining, etc. Documentation and legal implications can be easily overlooked. Lack of awareness and right education, support with regards to safety and redressal is negligible. These women are prone to exploitations, sexual and mental, on a daily basis. My goal is to target these working women on a pan-India basis and provide them with awareness and educate them on their rights and legal support. I believe education is power, but the success of it depends on how well we apply this knowledge in their real life. Along with providing them with the requisite knowledge on how to take legal support, I also prepare them mentally to fight for themselves with hands-on experience of using their legal rights with the authorities through conduct of camp courts, awareness trainings, live interactions with the authorities like police, women’s commission, special support cells, help groups, helpline contacts.
What’s your suggestion to check the violence on women being made viral on the social media?
Social media has become an essential part of our life. One of the major consequences of this is the exploitation of women. The contents of women are misused by people who get sadistic pleasure by demeaning them. These things are not done by aliens rather, the people of our society who include everyone one of us. Whenever we receive any viral content, be it violence on women, we instantly view it and circulate it to others without knowing its consequences and impact on the victim. To curb such menace, we do have cyber and IT laws; and police are now very active on taking action against any such complaints. I believe the controls are still not enough to curb this situation. Just catching someone and prosecuting won’t suffice. We need to have awareness and develop a self-regulatory code that any such incident should not be entertained and circulated further and should be reported to the authorities immediately. Unless we start doing this ourselves, we won’t be able to stop it from being viral. Further, we also need to gender-sensitise our children, friends, family, colleagues and whoever we deal with on a daily basis.