To raise awareness and trigger action to end violence against women, the United Nations observes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. The theme for this year is ‘Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls’.
One of the major challenges to prevent and end violence against women and girls worldwide is a huge funding shortfall. As a result, resources for initiatives to prevent and end violence against women and girls are severely lacking. Despite the international community’s visible interest and political will to address the global pandemic of violence against women and girls, there is still a lack of adequate and sustained resources to translate the national efforts into effective programmes and practices that make positive changes in the lives of women and girls. The gap between binding commitments, laws and policies in place and the lived experiences of women and girls who should benefit from them is still far too wide. This is why the UN Secretary- General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign invites Governments, UN agencies, civil society organisations and individuals from all countries of the world to mark the days between November 25 and December 10 (the 16 days of activism) by coming together to raise resources for local and national initiatives that work to prevent and end violence against women and girls. The “Orange the World” action presents an opportunity to build new and strengthen existing partnerships with the corporate sector. Corporate employees can support the campaign via monetary donations or by organising “orange events” in their business premises.
In India, crimes against women have more than doubled over the past ten years, according to latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). As many as 2.24 million crimes against women were reported over the past decade: 26 crimes against women are reported every hour, or one complaint every two minutes, reveals an IndiaSpend analysis based on the last decade’s data.
In 2014, 14,606 cases of crimes against women were registered in Odisha. In 2013, the crime against women, including rape, kidnapping, eve teasing, molestation etc, was put at 320 in Twin City of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack. However, in 2014, the number of such cases went up to 440, a sharp jump of 36.36 per cent. Number of rape cases in 2013 was at 81. But, it went up to 138 in 2014. 72 rape cases were reported in Bhubaneswar, while Cuttack recorded 66 rape cases in 2014.
The city is important for both working and nonworking women. So, development of new policies and revisions of the policymaking process are crucial to meet women’s needs and ensure their full participation in the process of development as a complete citizen. Planners and architects have developed design guidelines and rules to build women-friendly communities. Communities can take up responsibilities and play a role in improving the situation of women by designing safe public spaces for women. Besides, the participation of women in the planning process is crucial and empowered woman can change a lot in the society.
Violence against women is one of the most widespread violations of human rights. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 provides protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles. Articles 16, 39, 42 and 51 favours gender mainstreaming. There are also several sections of the Indian Penal Code that deal with sexual harassment.
Despite legal measures, violence against women is not yet eliminated. Indian Women and Child Welfare Trust is working at the grassroots level to empower women to attain economic participation in order to overcome poverty and inequality. The Women and Child Development Department was created as a separate department during 1994-95. Since then the department has been working for the overall development of children and women through a host of specially designed schemes and programmes. Besides, it also focuses on economic empowerment of women and persons with disabilities.
In the approach document of the Smart Cities Mission by the Government of India, it is clearly laid down that one of the key objectives is to promote cities that provide smart solutions for safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly. It can be addressed through implementation of proper legal measures and change in attitude.
Violence against women has received unprecedented focus in governance and politics in the aftermath of Nirbhaya incident. Along with comprehensive reform of the Criminal law Act in 2013, enhanced governance became a priority to urgently tackle widespread violence against women.
Hence, in the budget of 2013, the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram had announced ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ for empowerment, safety and security of women and girl children. Set up with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore, it received an additional grant of Rs 1,000 crore each in 2014 and 2015. The fund would finance several schemes for making public spaces safer for women and for rehabilitation of victims of sexual assault and violence.
Allocating adequate resources to prevent and address violence against women is not only a legal obligation and a moral imperative, but a sound investment too for empowerment of women and girls. local funders are generally more open to support grassroots groups, while larger international funders tend to focus on well-established mid-sized or large organisations. Proper implementation of laws with provision of fund can eliminate violence against women. Women need to be made aware of all laws and rights concerning them and they should be financially empowered to claim their rights.
(Dr Praharaj teaches in Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)