It is worthwhile to mention that in spite of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter and the International Covenants and Conventions, it is a disquieting feature that women all over the world have been denied complete justice, social, economic and political. As members of the opposite sex, they have been abused and exploited by the male-dominated society. It is distressing that due to social compulsions, maladjustment and being victim of adverse circumstances, in many cases women are driven to lead life of destitution.
Even though the Indian Constitution and law of the land has given adequate protection and safeguards, the interest and rights of women, due to utter callousness, apathy and indolence of the society, a woman is figured as a weaker sex. Needless to say that it is an artificial creation, not an edict of God. There are serious problems of domestic violence when women are beaten, traumatised, harassed and attacked by their own men. The condition of battered women remains a hidden crime in the society because most of such cases go unreported as they are committed within the precincts of home. Domestic violence also includes torture for dowry, sexual violence and marital rape, etc. It is also in other forms which may range from minor burning to fractures, throwing acid on women and girls, to disfigure them and even kill them out of anger and frustration.
There have been growing incidences of domestic violence by the in-laws and husbands of women. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 has not been able to respond to the crimes committed on women because the punishment is not exemplary so as to create its impact in the society. last year, the brutal gangrape of a paramedical student in a moving bus in Delhi outraged the whole nation. Due to large-scale incidence of molestation and eve-teasing, particularly of working women, students in Delhi in public places, Delhi has been described as “crime capital of India” by MPs across the party lines on the floor of Parliament.
The Supreme Court also has expressed its concern regarding brutal and degrading “eve-teasing” and molestation of women with frequency in crowded places and in public transport. Often, the victim is blamed for the incident and expected to keep it to herself. In many cases, concerned authorities do not assist women in reporting such crimes.
The apex court has tackled women’s molestation at three different levels. The court directed the States and Union Territories to post women police officers in plainclothes across public spaces, from railway stations to shopping malls and set up CCTV cameras in such locations too. Secondly, emphasising communication, the Supreme Court wants special help-lines to be instituted enabling women to report such crimes and, finally, it has broadened the ambit of responsibility from the victim alone demanding that drivers or other employees in public transport help a molested woman report the crime or face their permit being cancelled. All these measures are crucial in underlining the fact that molestation is an extremely serious crime for which there must be no public apathy or tolerance.
Regarding ‘honour killings’, both the girl and boy who are married against the wishes of their parents’ community and cast members are killed brutally and particularly the girls are the greatest casualty by the decision of the Khap Panchayat of the concerned area in States like Rajasthan and Haryana. This persists in spite of the Supreme Court’s anxiety and because police and State agencies fail to take them seriously. It is heartening to note that in Afghanistan, after the Taliban regime came to power in the Nineties, women’s right and gender justice was unheard of, but now slowly the voice for feminism and women’s right is gaining momentum.
In the global context, women empowerment and gender justice and their right to be heard, to participate and their right of development, has been recognised. The female foeticide is another crime. It not only involves the crime of killing a girl child before she is born but also attacks the very dignity of womanhood as woman as a gender is unwelcome on this earth. To deprive them of even being born or killing them in infancy is not only immoral but a sin, a violation of God’s edict or command. laws do exist, but social practices attacking the dignity of women also persist down the ages. The dowry-related crimes, death and suicides reveal the modernised version of attack on women’s dignity when they are tortured physically and emotionally and their basic worth is put at jeopardy.
The judgments of the Supreme Court of India in the field of women empowerment, their definite lawful share in the property of father or husband under the Hindu Succession (Amendment Act), 2005, regarding return of ‘Streedhan’ in the case of divorce and judicial separation under the Hindu Marriage Act and provisions under the Equal Remuneration Act, grant of maintenance award and alimony during pendency of the matrimonial cases in favour of wife for her sustenance and lawful guardianship in favour of wife for financial security of women, all taken together, would go a long way for protection of the legal rights and status of women. The directive of the Supreme Court for compulsory registration of marriages and for rehabilitation of the children of the prostitutes, for protection of their health and their education in the schools, meant for the public at large, are welcome steps to give justice to women.
Significantly, the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Equal Remuneration Act, Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act,1956, Sati Prevention Act and Dowry Prohibition Act,1961, Prohibition of Indecent Representation of Women Act,1986 and the new provisions made in the Indian Penal Code and Evidence Act are wholesome laws to be applied by the law enforcing authorities so that the social empowerment of women would be achieved.
The World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna on July 25, 1993 adopted the Vienna Declaration which is a hallmark in the efforts to gain recognition of women’s human rights in many ways. The declaration recognised human rights of women as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. It pressed for eradication of all forms of discrimination against women, both open and hidden.
Concluding, due to judicial activism reflected in various landmark judgments of the Supreme Court in the last decade, the quality of life and condition of women have been greatly improved. Reservation of seats for women in public employment, gram panchayat institutions, local self bodies and legislatures are being made in view of movement world over to give them equal status with men. Even in politics, police and piloting planes, they have occupied their rightful places.
To safeguard their interest, the National Commission for Women and the State Women Commissions, Mahila Banks, other welfare institutions and Mahila police stations have been established across the country. They have also become equal partners in the labour and workforce of the country. The need of the hour is a determined political will to bring women to the forefront with men in the task of nation building.
(The writer is former Professor of law, lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and former Special Judge CBI, Bhubaneswar)