ATROCITIES AGAINST WOMEN: GLOBAL INITIATIVES AND NATIONAL ENDAVOURS BY - AVIRAL SAINI
ATROCITIES AGAINST WOMEN: GLOBAL
INITIATIVES AND NATIONAL ENDAVOURS
AUTHORED
BY - AVIRAL SAINI
ABSTRACT
The
atrocities against women have been
a global issue, they happen irrespective of age, race, ethnicity, nationality,
financial background and social status etc. The progress of the society depends
upon the position of women, but despite knowing the fact, most of the
socio-political structures along with the economic forces contribute to harbor
the practice of demeaning women various forms like harassing them in physical,
mental and psychological forms. There have been voices raised against injustice
against women all over the globe as a result many treaties, conventions,
declarations and UN resolutions have emerged to address the issues like
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, CEDAW etc. At the national level,
provisions of Indian Constitution, legislations like Domestic Violence Act,
2005; Prevention of Women against Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 and many other
offences have been added in Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.The amendments in
Criminal Law to cope up with dynamic society also ensures that crimes against
women in contemporary era should not go unnoticed and Information Technology
Act, 2000 covers the offences against women which are committed in virtual
world. The judiciary has also played key role in protecting women rights. The article
focuses on atrocities, measures taken to combat them, there implementation,
relation between law and society in matters of women empowerment and the
existing loopholes along with concluding remarks.
Keywords:
Atrocities, women, laws and society
INTRODUCTION
The women have been important factor in existence of
the human race, their rights, status and position in the society has been a
debatable topic from the times immemorial. There have been many codes, statutes
etc. on this concept, the women have been victim of atrocities in various forms
i.e. physical, mental, verbal, emotional or psychological forms. These owe
their origins to societal norms, sex- based stereotypes, misogynistic mindset
and customs. The times have changed but the atrocities still persist, only the
manner in which atrocities are committed has evolved with the passage of the
time. The developed countries along with the developing and underdeveloped
countries are in the same boat regarding atrocities. India has also history of
oppression of women and till the date women continue to face oppression due to
many factors despite having the legal framework for addressing the same. Now
the question arises why this topic acquires important position in contemporary
world which has become the global village and the grey shades of this sensitive
topic.
WOMEN
IN INDIAN SOCIETY
The women have been given important position in the
culture, the religions, their texts and cultural norms affirm this. Gargi and
Maitreyi were prominent scholars of Vedic Age. The verse “Yatra naryastu
pujyante ramante tatra devata, yatraitaastu na pujyante sarvaastatrafalaah
kriyah” mentioned in Manusmriti emphasizes on how the women are respected in
Hindu traditions, the concept of treating women equivalent to Devi is enough to
testify the position of women in Hindu culture. The worship of goddess
Saraswati, goddess Lakshmi and goddess Durga strengthen this belief. The concepts of Sikhism also mention that
women have the same souls as men and thus possess an equal as that of man right
to cultivate their spirituality, Guru Nank Dev Ji was advocate for equality
between men and women. The Sikhism is testimony to versatility of women,
portraying them as equals to men in service, devotion, sacrifice, and bravery. The
Buddhism does not discriminate on the basis of the sex, even Mahatma Buddha who
was the founder of Buddhism allowed women to join the monastic order. According
to Susan Murcott, "The nun's sangha was a radical experiment for its
time."[1] The other
religions in India along with the tribal people’s traditional religions also
emphasize on the empowerment of women in one or another way.
CONSTRACT
BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICAL
The beliefs exist mostly in theory but the practical
aspects of women life are quite different, in reality the women are treated at
sub-humane level in the most of the parts of the India, they are treated as
unpaid employee or slave. There are certain practices in religions which are
discriminatory, the personal laws of the religions have prejudice towards
especially in the matters of inheritance, mantainence etc. It was the 2005
Amendment in Hindu Succession Act, 2005 which abolished discrimination against
women in inheritance by recognizing them as coparcencers in ancestral property,
the Shah Bano case[2] and Daniel
Latifi[3] case
are the landmark judgements which throws light on plight of Muslim women
post-divorce and held that divorced women also have right to maintenance under
Section 125 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which has been included as
Section 144 of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. The customs laws also
discriminate between men and women, the practice of child marriage, ill
treatment of widows, female genital mutilation etc. are some examples of
cruelty against women. These instances show that its irony where goddess Durga
is worshipped for strength, goddess Lakshmi is worshipped for Wealth and
goddess Saraswati for education, the women is denied strength, wealth and
education. The people want mother, sister, aunt and wife but don’t want female
child in family, the hypocrisy of the society is revealed and horizon between
theory and practical is huge in margin.
ATROCITIES OVER
THE WOMEN
The violence against can be classified broadly into
3 forms: domestic violence, mob violence and state violence. Domestic Violence
can be broadly termed as violence committed by near and dear ones in the closed
walls. Mob
Violence refers to the form of violence which are
committed in form of mob like lynching, witch hunting, gangrape etc. State
based violence refers to the violence committed by the agencies of the state
like custodial rape. The violences are committed throughout the stages of the
life, so the classification of atrocities can also be done on the basis of the
stages of life in following manner:
I.
Pre-birth: It
includes female foeticide
II.
Infancy: It
includes female infanticide, pedophilic abuse
III.
Girlhood: It
includes trafficking, child marriage, child pornography, genital mutiliation,
neglect and abandonment.
IV.
Adolescence and
adulthood: It includes partner violence,
dowry abuse, marital rape, acid attack due to male chauvinism
V.
Old age: It cover abandonment by family members, forced
suicide or homicide
The atrocities against women are committed in all
classes whether rich or poor, no caste; race or religion remains untouched in
matters of various forms of violence, the offences like rape, sexual
harassment, molestation, domestic violence, cruelty etc. are prevelent in the
contemporary era, some of the offences which are covered in the project as
following:
I Rape:
The rape has been the one of the forms of sexual
violence against women, the rape consists of forceful sexual intercourse or
forceful sexual penetration without the consent of a woman. According to Meriam
Webster dictionary, rape is unlawful sexual activity and u sexual intercourse which
is carried out with the help of force or under threat of injury against the
will of the person or against a person who is beneath a certain age or
incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication,
unconsciousness, or deception. It was defined in Section 375 of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 and in Section 63 of the Bhartiya
Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. There are many causes of rape like lust, revenge,
showing dominance over women and to target opposition community in case of the
conflict or war, like in 1984 anti-Sikh riots Sikh women were raped, 1990
exodus of Kashmiri Pandits the women belonging to Kashmiri Pandit community
were raped by the militants, in Gujarat Riots of 2002, Muslim women were
targeted by the communal mob. The Nirbhaya Rape case of 2012, the Hyderabad
rape case of 2019 and recent incident of R.G. Kar hospital and rape of girl
belonging to Scheduled Caste in Muzaffarpur highlights the brutality while
committing rape and how humanity crisis are prevelant. Though there is
provision for death penalty for rape with girl below 12 years post 2018
amendment in Criminal Law and even BNS, 2023 but the incidents are still happening
on regular basis which shows that problem is in society’s mindset which blames
women for incident and such people are not socially ostracized like that is
done in case of love marriage, the choices of women are neglected on the aspect
how their want to live their life
II Sexual
Harassment:
The sexual harassment has been the highly prevailing
violence against women. According to National Crime Records Bureau Report,
2022; there has been reporting of more than 400 sexual- harassment at workplace
cases every year from 2018 to 2022 on consistent basis. The Himachal Pradesh
witnessed highest reporting of the cases as 97 cases were reported in this
matter, the other states which witnessed high reporting were Kerala,
Maharashtra and Karnataka respectively. The Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), 2013 has been enacted to ensure
prevention of sexual harassment at workplace, formations of complaints
committee for the purpose. The Section 354-A in Indian Penal Code, 1860 was
added by virtue of 2013 Criminal Law Amendment, the offences under clause (i), (ii),
(iii) of the Section were punishable for up to 3 years rigorous imprisonment
along with fine and for offence under clause (iv), the punishment up to 1 year
along with fine. The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita also kept this provision in the act
by virtue of Section 75 of the Act.
III Domestic
Violence
The Domestic Violence has is one of the prevalent
offense being committed against the women, it is the irony that violence
committed inside four walls of the house is not a offence in eyes of the
society, even women also refer it as trifles. The violence can be physical,
mental, verbal, psychological, or economical. The
Domestic Violence Act, 2006 is legislation which provides for remedy
against domestic violence. Section 3 of the Act defines what actually the
violence is, the Act was wider scope than Section 498-A of Indian Penal Code,
1860 which has been covered under Section 85 and 86 of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita,
2023. It covers even live-in relations and blood relations also. According to World
Health Organization report, around more than 25 % of women ranging of age-group
from 15–49 years who have been in a relationship have been victim of physical,
sexual violence by their partner at least once in their lifespan. The estimates
indicate that violence range from 20% in the Western Pacific, while it is
around 22% in high-income countries and Europe and 25% in the WHO Regions of
the Americas to 33% in the WHO African region, whereas it is approximately 31%
in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and 33% in the WHO South-East Asia
region.[5]
IV Eve-Teasing
In India, the term is used for public sexual
harassment / sexual assault of women. The Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), 2013 covers this, there are
provisions of Section 292 and 294 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 which are numbered
as Section 294 and 296 in Bharitya Nyaya Sanhita,2023 respectively. The
Bollywood films are blamed for promoting eve-teasing like they tend to
encourage stalking under the garb of the love, no of girl is also yes. There
have been many public initiatives for combatting eve-teasing like in Mumbai,
"Ladies Special" train compartments have been introduced to allow
women to travel without the fear of being sexually harassed; starting in 2017,
the Drukpa nuns of Amitabha, known as the "Kung Fu Nuns", started teaching
women's self-defense for the Ladakh/Himalayan towns, the first class was held at
Hemis Monastery.
V Atrocities in
Cyber World
The technology seems to be double-edged sword for
the entire mankind as on one hand it acts as boon whereas on another hand it
acts as bane. The offences which are mentioned in the POCSO Act, 2012; Bhartiya
Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), 2013 are also committed with the help
of modern gadgets. The stalking of women, send her lewd messages and post
offensive content against women has become a common norm these days, such
offences have become a tool of blackmailing the women and means of extortion.
The Section 66-E of Information Technology Act, 2000 mentions about the
provision of law that anyone who intentionally or knowingly captures,
publishes, or transmits an image of private part of person without their
consent can be sentenced up to 3 years imprisonment along with fine up to two
lakh rupees or both. The methods to tackle atrocities over cyberspace is need
of an hour as with changing scenario, the modus operandi of criminals also
evolve.
INTERNATIONAL
MEASURES FOR TACKLING ATROCITIES
The atrocities against the women are global
phenomena, the 20th and 21st century has witnessed wide range of reforms all
around the globe. The new concepts emerged in the discipline of human rights,
feminism, anti-racism etc. The observing of International Women’s Day on 8
March every year to highlight certain issues gender equality, reproductive
rights, and violence and abuse against women so that they can live life of a
dignified human. Many conventions and declarations at international level to
protect women from atrocities which are as follows:
I Universal Declaration
of Human Rights
The following are the main provisions of Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
·
Article 2 of the Declaration mentions that it is equally applicable on
men and women.
·
Article 7 of the Declaration mentions that everyone is equal before the
law and are entitled to equal protection
of the law without any discrimination. It also mentions that people are
entitled to equal protection against any discrimination that violates the principles
of declaration.
·
Article 16 mentions that all people of full age have the right to marry
and form a family, without any bar on the basis of the race, nationality, or
religion.
·
Article 26 mentions everyone has right to education without any
discrimination
II Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women
The
Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) is an international treaty adopted in 1979 by the United Nations
General Assembly. Described as an international bill of rights for women, it
was instituted on 3 September 1981 and has been ratified by 189 states,
following are the main provisions of the Convention
Part
I (Articles 1–6) emphasizes on non-discrimination, sex stereotypes, and sex
trafficking.
Part
II (Articles 7–9) covers women's rights in the public sphere with an emphasis
on political life, representation, and rights to nationality.
Part
III (Articles 10–14) describes the economic and social rights of women,
particularly focusing on education, employment, and health. It also includes
special protections for rural women and their problems
Part
IV (Article 15 and 16) outlines women's right to equality in marriage and
family life.
Part
V (Articles 17–22) establishes the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women as well as the states parties' reporting
procedure.
Part
VI (Articles 23–30) describes the effects of the convention on other treaties,
the commitment of the state parties and the administration of the convention.
PROVISIONS OF THE
INDIAN LAW FOR PREVENTION OF ATROCITIES
I.
Constitution’s Provisions: Article 14, 15, 16, 21 as a Fundamental Rights;
Article 39(d) and Article 42 as Directive Principle
of State Policy and in Article 51-A (e) as a Fundamental Duty of every citizen
II.
Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: Chapter V (Section 63 to 99) covers
punishments for sexual offences against women
V.
Section 66-E of Information Technology Act, 2000
VI.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012
VII.
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956
VIII.
Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986.
ROLE OF INDIAN
JUDICIARY IN COMBATTING ATROCITIES
The
judiciary has played key role in combatting atrocities against the women, it
has given time to time progressive judgements which act as torchbearers for
legislators to frame laws for ensuring women safety and acted as agents of
social transformations, some of the judgements are as follows:
I Mohammad Ahmad Khan v. Shah Bano
It
was upheld in this claim that Muslim women is entitled for maintenance post
Idat period which has been undergone post -divorce under Section 125 of
Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and Section 125 is applicable to all the
religions.
II Vishakha and Ors. v. State of Rajasthan
The
court held that the International Conventions and norms are vital for the
purpose of interpretation for ensuring gender equality, right to work with
human dignity in Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the
safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein. It led to formation of Vishaka
Guidelines. The judgment was given by a bench of J. S. Verma (then C.J.I).,
Sujata Manohar and B. N. Kirpal, provided the basic definitions of sexual
harassment at the workplace and provided guidelines to deal with it. It is seen
as a significant legal victory for women's groups in India. It become the basis
of formation of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal), 2013
It
was held by the Apex Court that “If a complaint is made by a woman alleging
offence under the DV Act, 2005, committed by any member of a family, matter is
to be looked upon seriously. The police cannot submit a report that no case is
made out without proper verification and investigation.”
IV Swornalata Dash v. State of Odisha and ors.
The Odisha
High Court on 26 July, 2023 upheld that maternity leave is basic human right
and its denial is assault on dignity of women.
ECONOMIC STATUS AND
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
The
women across all the classes have been vulnerable to exploitation, it is only
the means of exploitation which varies from various strata of society but the
concept of class conflict still exists in the empowerment of the women as the
women who sound financial condition tend to become victim of atrocities less
than the women having poor financial condition. The self-reliance emancipates
women from shackles of the repressive norms up to the large extent. Like in
history of Booker Prize, white women have dominated rather than black women due
to better socio-economic condition of the white people. The shortlisting of Chinua
Achebe’s work for Booker Prize after 18 years of the inception of the Booker
Prize in 1987 is glaring example of how class conflict occurs in women
empowerment at the global level. The wordings of the chairperson of 2024 jury Mr.
Edmund de Waal which mentioned that the books which have been shortlisted
explores the “fault lines of our times…conflicts of identity, race and
sexuality.” These quotes expose the difference between women belonging to the
different section of society. Even in India, the women who use English as
medium of the communication are better represented in writing and publishing.
There have been many incidents where outrage has been there by society when the
victim has been from the elite section of society like in Nirbhaya incident,
R.G. Kar incident etc. where victim belonged to educated class of the society,
the wide spread protests happen in the support of the victim and still the
protest is being done for justice in R.G. Kar incident till date but the
silence on incidents of Muzaffarpur incident where a girl belonging to
Scheduled Caste was brutally raped and killed and lack of concerns over other
incidents exposed double standards of the society. The Muzaffarpur incident was
sidelined as girl was weaker socio- economic section of the society. These
incidents how economic status play key role in ensuring justice though the
victims are women and the public is also standing for educated women rather
than poor women.
Even
the United Nations also emphasize over the women empowerment at the global
level in the following key points:
I.
Women’s economic Upliftment is vital to achieve women’s rights and gender
equality.
II.
The promotion of women’s economic justice and rights in the economy and
closing gender gaps in the world of work are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
III.
The economic empowerment of women increases diversity of economy and
income equality for shared prosperity. It is estimated that closing the gender
gap could give the global economy a USD 7 trillion boost.
The
main barrier in achieving gender equality in terms of economy is digital divide
among male and female. According to the statistics, 37 per cent of women
globally not using the internet, meaning 259 million fewer women have access to
the internet than men. The other challenges which exist in ensuring economic
power can by analyzed via report of the Sustainable Development Goals Report
2023 are like around 2.4 billion women of working age are not afforded equal
economic opportunity. Nearly 2.4 billion women globally don’t have same economic
rights as men and in 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent women’s
full economic participation. The report has to be deeply analyzed by the Indian
government so that the adequate measures can be taken to ensure economic
upliftment of women can be ensured to prevent atrocities against them.
MISUSE OF EMPOWERING
LAWS
The
women in the Indian have been victim of exploitation in the several ways, many
customs and practices were derogatory towards and their lives have been worse
even then an animal in certain cases. When India become republic on 26 January,
1950 i.e. when Constitution was enforced and the framers ensured that women
don’t face any discrimination in post -independence Indian society as a result
Article 14 and 15 were added in the Constitution which mentioned equality
before law and no discrimination against anyone on the basis of caste, creed,
sex, race and descent. The Article 39(d) and Article 42 of the Constitution are
part of Directive Principles of State Policy which mention about equal pay for
equal work for both men and women and seeks to ensure humane work conditions
and provide for maternity relief respectively. Article 51-A(e) of the
Constitution also mentions the fundamental duty of citizens of India in the
following words to ensure dignity of women in the following words, “to promote
harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India
transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities, to
renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.” The other laws like the
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal), 2013 and the Domestic Violence Act, 2006 ensure that women get
remedy from atrocities but these laws have been now become notorious for being
the prone to misuse. The reasons have been many like seeking revenge, to settle
scores in case of disputes or using such laws as a weapon to secure favorable
negotiation in jobs. The cases of legendary Indian cricketers Mohammad Shami
and Shikhar Dhawan are glaring examples of how such laws are misused.
The
judiciary has expressed its concern over the misuse of the women empowering
laws from time to time. Recently, Bombay High Court in recent judgement
of Dhananjay Mohan Zombade vs Prachi Dhananjay
Zombade expressed its concern over the trend of estranged
wives misusing the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence
Act, 2005 with the intention to harass their husbands and his family members, event distant relatives are not spared. The legislation related to the sexual
harassment at the workplace has also become unpopular due to becoming potent
weapon for harassing the innocent people and in the judgement in Union of
India v. Reema Srinivasan Iyengar, it was held by the Madras High Court
that, “Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013 is intended to have an equal standing for women in the
work place and to have a cordial workplace in which their dignity and self-
respect are protected, it cannot be allowed to be misused by women to harass
someone with an exaggerated or non-existent allegations.” The Section 498-A of
Indian Penal Code, 1860 which has been renumbered as Section 85 and Section 86
of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. It’s the judgement in case of Arnesh Kumar which provided some respite in such cases as
the Apex Court directed all state governments to instruct police not to
automatically arrest individuals after registering a case under Section 498A of
Indian Penal Code, 1860 which has been renumbered as Section 85 and 86 of
Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. These precedents clearly depict that such
legislations literally act as double-edged sword because most of the women
genuinely face such atrocities are unaware of such legislations or those who
are aware but still suffer silently owing to societal pressure on one hand,
whereas a significant number of women uses such laws to traumatize innocent
people on another hand. The innocent people face harassment in one or another
way, their reputation is tarnished; career prospects are ruined or some also
commit suicide like in August 2024, a 19-year-old student died by suicide at
his home in Indore on Tuesday night after a woman teacher filed a rape
complaint against him. The family members said that the female teacher was
threating him continuously that she will implicate him in a rape case. The
police demanded bribe of rupees 300000 lakhs for settling the case and the boy
was released after paying rupees 45000.
CONCLUSION
The women had been the victim of
atrocities from the many centuries and their dignity has been outraged by the
society in one way or another and it has been the prevailing issue all around
the globe. The measures have been taken to curb the menace and India in post-
independence also framed many legislations along with Constitutional provisions
to ensure women are also given equal rights to that of the men but the
implementation has not been up to the mark till date and the benefits have been
reaped by the women who have economic stability and the women from economically
vulnerable strata continue to suffer throughout their lives, leading to the
creation of the division between the women. The misuse of such laws has to be
matter of concern for the policy makers because such practices are violative of
Article 21 of the Constitution and it is only POCSO Act, 2012 and
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal), 2013 which have provision for punishment for malicious and
false complaint, the other legislations also need to add the such provisions so
that misuse of such laws are minimized and the certain legislations like Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal), 2013 and The Protection of Women from Domestic
Violence Act, 2006 etc. have to be made gender neutral so that men who become
victim to such atrocities also have redressal to their grievances and woman
also harasses a woman many a times and women also become victims of misuse of
such legislations. The awareness campaigns regarding the misuse of such laws
and the transparency in government institutions will play key role in nipping
the evil in the bud. The Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for
Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, 1985 has to be taken in consideration while
reforming such laws so that rights of victim and accused can be balanced and
genuine victims are not viewed by the suspicious eyes.
