EDITORIAL ANALYSIS The issue of institutional violence, addressing it
Kartavya Desk Staff
Source: The Hindu
• Prelims: Women reservation, Parliament, Gender equality, Vanangna, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, Mahila Shakti Kendra, Urimai Thogai scheme etc
• Mains GS Paper I & II: Social empowerment, development and management of social sectors/services related to Education and women empowerment etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
• 642 million voters, more than half of whom were female, cast a vote in India’s largest democratic process.
• In India 90 rapes are reported everyday very few among the 2,823 candidates who stood for elections, had women’s safety on their electoral agenda
• very few among the 2,823 candidates who stood for elections, had women’s safety on their electoral agenda
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
Gender Equality:
• It refers to equal rights, and opportunities for everyone, regardless of their gender.
• It is a recognition that every being is equal and deserves equal respect.
• Gender parity is a statistical measure that provides a numerical value of female-to-male or girl-to-boy ratio for indicators such as income or education.
Indications of violence against women:
• Nearly 50% women face domestic violence
• Two out of three Dalit women face sexual violence.
Institutional violence against women:
• Report published by J-PAL(2019)a global policy think tank): showed that 39% of officers in India think that complaints of gender-based violence are usually baseless.
• A decades-long traumatic judicial system and no hope of justice, a vicious cycle of violence is maintained.
• Women only seek justice when their circumstances become unbearable. One in two women facing intimate partner violence
• One in two women facing intimate partner violence
• India has one of the lowest divorce rates in the world at 1%. A report estimated that 77% of women in India remain silent, even to their closest relatives, about the violence they endure.
• A report estimated that 77% of women in India remain silent, even to their closest relatives, about the violence they endure.
Case study(By Samarthya, a Denotified Nomadic Tribal youth and women-led organization):
• A woman once approached with bleeding veins to the organization.
• She was accompanied to the police station to file a complaint, and the cops told the organization to step aside so they could talk to her alone.
• They tried to dissuade her from filing the report and sent us around to different police stations.
• When she still wanted to report, they accused us of coercing her
• Reason by police for not filing report: She comes from the neighboring State of Karnataka, this case is out of their jurisdiction.
#### Problems in rural India
#### ● In rural India, male and upper-caste dominated panchayats add an additional set of barriers for women to seek justice.
#### ○ Divorce is almost never an option
#### ● India has a backlog of 40 million court cases and this particularly impacts survivors of gender-based violence
#### ○ More so survivors from marginalized communities with pre-existing systemic inequities due to their caste, literacy and geography.
#### What steps need to be taken?
#### ● Social impact organizations have been taking up the responsibility to train police and members of the judicial system to adopt a trauma-informed lens.
#### ○ For example, Vanangna, a women-led organization in Bundelkhand trains government officials, including the police and law enforcement, on women-centric and survivor-centric processes.
#### ○ We need to adopt these learnings at a national level
#### ○ We need the wisdom of survivors of violence, especially those from historically marginalized communities, to help us design and validate a just system.
Initiatives to reduce Gender Gap in Social, Economic and Political Life:
● Economic Participation and Health and Survival:
○ Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: It ensures the protection, survival and education of the girl child.
○ Mahila Shakti Kendra: Aims to empower rural women with opportunities for skill development and employment.
○ Mahila Police Volunteers: It envisages engagement of Mahila Police Volunteers in States/UTs who act as a link between police and community and facilitates women in distress.
○ Rashtriya Mahila Kosh: It is an apex microfinance organization that provides micro-credit at concessional terms to poor women for various livelihood and income generating activities.
○ Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna: Under this scheme girls have been economically empowered by opening their bank accounts.
○ Female Entrepreneurship: To promote female entrepreneurship, the Government has initiated Programmes like Stand-Up India and Mahila e-Haat (online marketing platform to support women entrepreneurs/ SHGs/NGOs), Entrepreneurship and Skill Development Programme (ESSDP).
○ Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya: They have been opened in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs).
● Political Reservation: Government has reserved 33% of the seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions for women.
○ Capacity Building of Elected Women Representatives: It is conducted with a view to empowering women to participate effectively in the governance processes.
Way Forward
• India has strong domestic violence laws, yet, implementation has been a colossal failure due to inept officials and archaic processes. We need a national reimagination and improvisation of our justice institutions By leveraging the learnings of organizations such as Vanangna, to make them trauma-informed and focused on healing.
• We need a national reimagination and improvisation of our justice institutions
• By leveraging the learnings of organizations such as Vanangna, to make them trauma-informed and focused on healing.
• There is a need for more data and more stories to be shared publicly. Institutional violence has been amplified by a lack of data. It is impossible to truly understand how often and how many women are being denied access to justice.
• Institutional violence has been amplified by a lack of data.
• It is impossible to truly understand how often and how many women are being denied access to justice.
• The recent updates to criminal law procedures heavily focus on timeliness and ease of access through digital means. This needs to be accompanied by gender-sensitive training and monitoring and evaluation measures to ensure staff have a trauma-informed approach when working with survivors of violence.
• This needs to be accompanied by gender-sensitive training and monitoring and evaluation measures to ensure staff have a trauma-informed approach when working with survivors of violence.
• Voters and politicians have the power to shine a light on the issue and make a massive difference. For example, with the widespread government campaign to promote education of girls, we have seen a massive national shift in enrolment of girls in school.
• For example, with the widespread government campaign to promote education of girls, we have seen a massive national shift in enrolment of girls in school.
• Given India’s abiding commitment to ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – One Earth, One Family, One Future’ and its continued efforts towards Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas, Sabka Vikaas, this Alliance for Global Good – Gender Equity and Equality is poised to be a force to reckon with on all gender-related issues.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
What are the continued challenges for women in India against time and space?(UPSC 2019) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
Discuss the positive and negative effects of globalization on women in India.(UPSC 2015) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)