Victims without respite!

A decade has passed since Nirbhaya's gang rape and murder, a brutal case that shook the nation and called for reforms in the treatment of women. But this is where we stand today — only last week, a minor girl was attacked with 'acid' in Dwarka. In May 2022, a 28-year-old woman was murdered and her body was cut into 35 parts; the incident only came to light in late October. On Republic Day this year, a 20-year-old woman was kidnapped, gang-raped and tortured by 21 accused people including women and minors. A man entered a primary school and sexually assaulted two eight-year students inside the premise in May. These cases are just some examples of a never-ending list of atrocities faced by women in this nation.

Unending afflictions

As per data released by the National Crime Records Bureau in August 2022, a total of 4,28,278 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2021, a stark 15.3 per cent increase from the 3,71,503 cases of crimes against women registered in 2020. The NCRB further reported that a majority of the cases registered under IPC pertained to 'Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives', accounting for a total of 31.8 per cent; 20.8 per cent of the cases were registered under 'Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty'; 17.6 per cent were under 'Kidnapping & Abduction of Women', and 7.4 per cent were under 'Rape'. The national capital Delhi recorded the highest number of rape cases among metropolitan cities, topping the list for the third consecutive year. Approximately, 40 per cent of women are victims of domestic violence and marital rape which is still not considered a crime in India. The National Commission of Women (NCW) received over 26,000 domestic violence complaints from women in 2020-21. Over the last six years, the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) has received over

15 lakh calls on their helpline, reporting distress, violence, sexual assaults, etc.

These numbers only account for the cases that actually reach the ears of the authorities; there are several more that go unreported and without any justice. Not many of the complaints received by the authorities are registered with the police, and even fewer seek any form of justice. Despite the diverse platforms to raise complaints against any crime, women are often hesitant to reach out and speak out against their abuser due to the fear of being shamed and dismissed.

Unabated brutality

Crimes against women are of various natures — ranging from mere stalking to rape, trafficking, dowry extortion, acid attacks, abduction, murder, cybercrime, harassment etc. These crimes are not only injurious and immoral for women but for society as a whole. The high rates of these crimes often dissuade women from participating in society. Women make up over 45 per cent of the population in India. If such a huge chunk of the population does not contribute to society, it will hold society back from any form of growth or development.

Despite the immorality of crimes against women, as a society, we see cases of dowry deaths, rapes, brutal murder etc. in huge numbers. Yet, we fail to take action to protect our women, and often dismiss these crimes. For example, domestic violence is often simply viewed as a 'familial disputes' and not a matter of serious concern; women are often told to brush it off and not make a fuss about the situation. However, according to the NCRB, 1.5 lakh crimes against women have been registered annually, out of which nearly 50,000 are related to domestic violence in their homes.

Cases of Nirbhaya, Bilkis Bano, Shraddha Walker, and Hathras rape are some of the particularly brutal examples of crimes against women in India. They have been a focal point for the media and people. Often, we see outrage and calls for change when these cases are highlighted. The aftermath of Nirbhaya witnessed a particularly strong reaction from every part of the nation. The case, in many ways, shaped the discussion around crimes against women in India. The outrage from across the nation was palpable and more than necessary. But even though the outrage over the case prompted key legal and administrative policy changes, it had very little impact on actual arrests and convictions for rape, molestation and sexual harassment in Delhi. Overall, according to the NCRB, women reported almost 34,000 cases of rape across the country in 2018. Just over 85 per cent of these cases led to charges, and 27 per cent to convictions. In fact, it took the courts over seven years to exact justice to the accused in the Nirbhaya case itself. The Nirbhaya case led to the creation of the 'Nirbhaya Fund', meant to be used to protect women in the nation, but it was recently found that the funds are being misused. The Criminal Amendment Act, 2013, was expanded to include acts of non-penetrative sex. Acts of stalking, acid attack, and voyeurism were also enhanced or added to make the law more stringent. More female police officials were also added to the Delhi police for women to reach out to, if necessary.

Over the years, we have seen several more examples of brutality and gruesome sexual exploitation. Recently, we saw it in the Shraddha Walker case; she was murdered and her body parts were chopped into 35 pieces by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawalla. Walker had complained to the police, her friends and others around her about Poonawalla's abusive behaviour towards her before she was murdered. In a letter written to the Mumbai police in 2020, she had written that "he will kill me", but the complaint was never taken forward. After the discovery of her murder, various social media platforms erupted in rage against Poonawalla. However, there was a

huge section of people who

condemned Shraddha's choice to be in a live-in relationship and even be estranged from her family because of their lack of support in her interfaith relationship. The case saw extreme media coverage which mostly lacked empathy for the victim. There was little dignity in regard to the way Shraddha was spoken about.

Earlier, at the beginning of this year, a particularly horrendous case was brought to light; on January 26, a woman was kidnapped by some men and gang-raped, she was later left on the street with her hair chopped off and her face blackened. All this was done for revenge, as per the Delhi Police, the victim was blamed for a suicide of a relative by the accused. The Delhi Police named 21 accused people in this case. The incident was highlighted on social media, due to which authorities like the DCW took cognisance of the case and initiated immediate action. The victim was surrounded by a crowd of people who were found pelting stones and jeering at her with her face blackened. It took authorities almost an hour to break the crowd and secure the victim.

A patriarchal manifestation

Despite such horrific examples in front of us, several people refuse to acknowledge the ground realities of the plight of women in this country. Often, rapists get away with no punishment; and even when they are punished, it's perfunctory at best. DCW Chairwoman Swati Maliwal, while speaking to the 'Millennium Post', remarked, "The number of cases has increased, the brutality has increased, the impunity with which rapists are operating has increased, in the context of the last 10 years." She further added that "There is a lack of resources in the police, lack of accountability in the forensics and the same goes for the courts, often trials go on and on, which is why it is true that once some men rape a girl, the entire system rapes her afterwards".

The patriarchal society that we see around us is a major player in causing these crimes. Women growing up are often told to adjust to the ways of society despite it being unfair to them, they are taught to stay silent and not bring shame to their families in cases of sexual and domestic abuse, whereas men, on the other hand, are often raised seeing women around being abused and treated unfairly, normalising this behaviour further. The ground-level reality is that

the lack of education on topics such as gender, sexual harassment etc. leads to unbalanced perceptions of the world.

Elusive progress

While legal and administrative changes are highly necessary, it is also extremely important for our society to unlearn patriarchal behaviours; mindsets have to change from the very beginning, from families, schools and any other places of socialisation. NCW Chairwoman Rekha Sharma, during an interview with 'Millennium Post', said that "Change needs to start at home, we talk a lot about gender sensitization and education at schools. But several boys see their mothers being disrespected, their sisters being treated less than them which causes them to learn this behaviour and adapt to it." She added that "We have to empower our girls, we have to economically empower our girls, every girl should earn her own money and have space to have her say in her family and society."

Even though we can acknowledge that things are changing and the discussion is evolving, the change is extremely slow and there is a very strong backlash to these changes. When the courts in India moved to discuss marital rape, several people protested the move by trending the 'marriage strike' movement. When cases of rape, sexual exploitation, and other issues come to light, questions are raised on the character and morals of the victims; people raise issues about their choices of clothing, lifestyle and more. Very often, women who report crimes don't get a proper form of justice as their complaints are dismissed and they are asked to solve the matter on their own or ignore them altogether. Men who have been accused of crimes like rape get away with it, and are sometimes even put on a pedestal by the people. Several of our elected political leaders and other men in power have been accused of inappropriate behaviour but no action is taken by anybody because we neglect the voices of our women. Political parties conveniently brush away any accusations against their leaders because women don't form strong enough vote banks.

We have several redressal methods, laws, and authorities in this country that are working towards ensuring that crimes against women decrease. However, as a society, we have failed our women by continuing to enforce patriarchal norms and values. Therefore, the place we stand today is the same as we did a decade ago when the Nirbhaya case happened.

Views expressed are personal