Introduction
Although the times have changed since ancient time, it is sad to see the current state of crimes committed against women. Not only empowering women is necessary to make the life better, but also a change in mindset is important to bring change for good in society.
Upbringing and Its Impact
Although everyone boasts of our culture and values, crimes against women show the different picture altogether. As we already consider ourselves to be among civilised people, it will be a difficult task to bring a change in mindset. It is necessary to inculcate these values in children since the initial stage of upbringing. This should also be included in the education system. Later, the same should be inculcated in the Human Resource Development in corporate and government employment.
Necessity of Legal Enforcement
Strict law and order must be maintained in order to ensure no individual can commit crime against women. Flexibility in law should exist to choose punishment, which will set examples for others. At present, the judicial system has certain limitations in punishing the minors calling them to be under-aged, in the same way as adults (recollect the December 16th incident, the Nirbhaya case); what if the judicial system was empowered to sentence the offenders with life imprisonment and family planning. Keeping in view the gravity of crime committed, how can a minor walk free in lieu of law?
Amendments Sought at Security Forces Level
As it has become a common practice for police personnel to repeat the crime with complainant, protect the criminals and create a barrier for women to seek justice, there should be a system in place such that these complaints are dealt by female police. It must be mandatory for each police station to have at least one senior female police officer. Alternate channels should be devised to raise complaints, and possibly one complaint should be shared or raised with different authorities (for example, a copy to district magistrate, district collector, home ministry, police commissioner etc.) with the faith that they will act with honesty fearing one or more of the others may not co-operate in hiding the crime.
Society’s Role
As empowerment of women alone is just a part of whole process, it is needed that all individuals should respect others irrespective of gender, caste, colour, etc. As it is not possible for police to assign a protector to every woman, it is also the duty of society and individual to respect and work for betterment of each other. It is the duty of every citizen to raise a voice against any crime as the same can happen to anyone if not resisted at a perfect time.
The Ultimate Power: Self-defence Gone are the days when women were weak and vulnerable to threats and crimes. Society has side lined many taboos against women since the ancient time. Female foeticide during the 1980s was so prevalent that male : female ratio was greatly affected in the country. With a view to eradicate evils against women, our society has come a long way in overcoming the social and moral torturous and superstitious customs and tradition like sati, child marriage, etc. In addition, divorce was introduced in the society to relieve women of her struggling incompatible life.
It is need of the hour for women to understand their strength and raise a voice against any crime. Women’s confidence in society has seen a significant dip with respect to the violence with respect to the sexual assault and rape cases
Introducing the self-defence mechanisms right from the schooling age can be of great help to the girls and women in protecting themselves and others from awaiting danger. It is important to imbibe a culture in society where girls and women are given basic self-defence training to protect and spread the same culture forward.
Empowerment and Reservation
Although reservation is seen as an epitome of empowerment of women, in reality, it categorises women as the weaker section of society. A smart move by politicians, reservation rules are silly strategies to gather their vote bank. Even as women speak out a lot today regarding the equality, but we can rarely hear any voice to remove the rule for reservation. In essence, reservation is again a type of discrimination of gender in the society.
Conclusion
With a view to make this society safe and sound for women, it is time that women understand their positives and negatives to have a confident outlook in the society. It is high time for our women to shed any attempt for backdoor entry for escaping the scenario, to nourish themselves with the good traits and to fight back the evils in the society, instead of being settled with the issues of reservation and empowerment of women.