Breaking the Silence: Empowering Women Victims of Crime in India

India, with its rich cultural heritage and diversity, often finds itself at the crossroads of modernity and tradition. Despite significant advancements in various spheres, the country continues to grapple with a persistent and harrowing issue: crimes against women. From domestic violence to sexual harassment and human trafficking, the spectrum of crimes against women is vast and deeply entrenched in societal norms and attitudes. This article delves into the current state of crimes against women in India, highlights the available support mechanisms, and proposes actionable strategies to empower women victims to seek help.

The Grim Statistics

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data provides a stark picture of the situation. In 2021 alone, India reported over 428,278 cases of crimes against women. These include:

• Domestic Violence: Accounting for a significant portion of crimes, domestic violence remains one of the most under-reported crimes due to societal stigma and fear of retaliation.
• Sexual Harassment and Assault: In 2021, over 31,677 cases of rape were reported, translating to approximately 86 rapes per day. Additionally, incidents of sexual harassment in public spaces and workplaces continue to rise.
• Human Trafficking: India is both a source and destination country for human trafficking, with thousands of women and girls trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation.

Societal and Legal Challenges

Several factors contribute to the prevalence and perpetuation of these crimes, including:

• Patriarchal Mindset: Deep-rooted patriarchal norms often dictate the behavior and roles of women, leading to gender-based discrimination and violence.
• Legal System: While India has enacted several laws to protect women, such as the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (2005) and the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act (2013), the implementation and enforcement of these laws remain inconsistent.
• Economic Dependence: Economic dependence on male family members often prevents women from seeking help or leaving abusive situations.

Empowering Women to Seek Help

To combat these challenges, it is imperative to create an environment where women feel empowered to seek help without fear of stigma or retaliation. Here are several strategies and platforms that can play a crucial role:

1. Education and Awareness:

   • Awareness Campaigns: Launching nationwide awareness campaigns about women's rights and available support services can help in educating the masses.
   • School Curriculums: Integrating gender sensitivity and awareness programs into school curriculums can help in shaping young minds towards a more gender-equal society.

2. Support Services:

   • One-Stop Centers: The government has established One-Stop Centers (OSCs) across the country to provide medical, legal, and psychological support to women victims of violence.
   • Helplines: Helplines like Women’s Helpline (181) and Childline (1098) offer immediate assistance and counseling services.

3. Online Platforms:

   • SheTeams: An initiative by the Hyderabad City Police, SheTeams focus on curbing eve-teasing and harassment in public places through dedicated police teams.
   • National Commission for Women (NCW): A statutory body set up to review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women, recommend remedial legislative measures, facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
   • My Safetipin: A mobile app that provides safety scores of different areas based on factors like lighting, public transport, and police presence, helping women make informed decisions about their safety.
   • SheThePeople: A women’s channel inspired by real stories where women connect, learn, share and grow. We are the go to safe space for conversations, and connections for women. We cover stories across India and the world on women who are living on their own terms.

4. Legal Aid:

   • Free Legal Services: Organizations like the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) provide free legal aid to women in need.
   • NGO Support: Non-governmental organizations like Breakthrough and Jagori offer legal assistance, counseling, and rehabilitation services to women victims.

The Role of Society

Empowering women to seek help is not just the responsibility of the government or law enforcement agencies; it requires a collective effort from society. Families, communities, and individuals must challenge and change the patriarchal attitudes that perpetuate violence against women. By fostering an environment of respect, equality, and support, we can make significant strides towards eradicating crimes against women.

The Path Forward: Your Role in Empowering Women

As we reflect on the current state of crimes against women in India, it is crucial to ask ourselves: What more can we do to support and empower women victims to seek help? How can we, as individuals and as a society, contribute to creating a safer and more equitable environment for all women? Your thoughts and actions can make a difference.

Let's continue the conversation and work towards a future where every woman feels safe, respected, and empowered. Share your ideas and join the movement to combat crimes against women and support victims in seeking the help they need.

If life had a rewind button - Madhurima Niyogi

There were 66 of them, all faces equally lit up with excitement and expectation. They know it’s one of the days when they need to wear their best dresses and give the best performance. All faces smiling with the anticipation of what’s new in store for them. But our eyes were searching for the youngest one we met the last time – SHANKAR. He was the most fragile and vulnerable one, his father killed his mother and fled away. Someone went to call him, and there he came running, barefooted and we were spellbound, he now goes to play school and have grown up quite a bit. He doesn’t seem so vulnerable now, we were happy to see how life has accommodated him or him the life.

Then there was Mahesh, Srikant, Himal, Prashanth , Ravi and many of them who entertained us with songs, dance, rhymes and with all their inquisitiveness. We arranged a sit and draw competition where everyone including few of our group members participated. We were overwhelmed to see the pictures and the colors which flowed on the white papers, it was a riot of colors and a scene to sit and relish. It’s an irony that though each one of them love to play with colors they are bound to live a monochrome life.

As every good things come to an end so also the day has to. We handed them over their requirement which consist of – Dresses and inner wear (as per age specification), school bags, Pressure Cooker, Dosa pan, copies, colors, pencil box set, cake and frooti and few other things of their day to day life.

We left the place with a heavy heart and with the promise to return soon and with the hope that may their life turn as colorful as the pictures they have drawn.

I am well off: Who cares?

While it is not fair to be general, but time and again we are seeing some disturbing trends: human beings are apathetic towards the plight of fellow human beings. I am well off, why should I care? Part of this may be attributed to the lack of trust (somebody had helped someone and in return was cheated) while some other reason may be the increased focus on materialism.

I still remember an incident when I was in Class XII. There was an old man who came to me for selling agarbattis (incense sticks). He had too many mouths to feed and in order to help him I bought quite a lot. I went home, opened the box and to my dismay found only broom sticks. I was angry, upset and started cursing. But my good faith prevailed after sometime and then I just let it go.

This incident created disbelief and I just became apathetic to beggars on road, kids asking for food. Was I too cruel? I do not know but I was devastated. It took a while to get over all this and I started believing that may be the pain was because I was expecting some gratitude. Why? Yes, I am not god but why can’t we do something which makes us feel good and stop it there? Well, I had to wait for another incident to change this belief system.

This was during my B-school days when I had visited an old age home. My heart bled when I heard the plight of these senior citizens. They had given everything for their children and today they were in this state. But they were not upset about it. I guess no love can be greater than the parent’s love for their children.  Yes, they gave their today for their children’s tomorrow but their children were not gracious enough to give them a better quality of life. This regenerated hope in humanity.

We come across individuals who may cheat us. On the contrary there are individuals who will help you in ways you can never dream of. Yes we have earned our status, may be the hard way but does it give us the right to be inhuman. Can we not expend 1 day out of the 365 days for the greater good?  May be we may not gain anything materialistic but yes, believe me; you will get some peace of mind. If you can just shut your expectations and try to make a difference, you actually make a difference in your life.  I am not trying to preach but it is more of an experience. You have to go through it to feel the difference.

At Sporsho, we are committed to this experience! Come, Join Us!!!

                                                                                                                                                ~ Sandeep

Respect Women! - "Charity begins at home" - Amrita Saha

"Woman"-- what is the first picture that comes up in your mind when you hear this word? To me and many like me the first image that comes up is that of my mother. To others it may conjure images of their wives/girlfriends/sisters or some other supporting female figure in their lives. The point is not about the person we remember, the point is about the attributes we associate with her-love, care and unconditional support. The female figure who makes our house home, our survival life and so on.

But in a strange turn of events, it is time and again that we see women being disrespected and harmed and humiliated in our society. That is evident when we see the atrocious statistics of rape which the UN puts at 250,000 cases of male-female rape or attempted rape in 65 countries in spite of the fact that “according to the American Medical Association (1995), sexual violence, and rape in particular, is considered the most under-reported violent crime.” In this regard I would also like to mention one shocking statistic.

India was dubbed as the fourth most dangerous place for women in the world according to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters' Trustlaw Women in 2011. The country was placed after Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan, as cases like female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking are still prevalent.

The first question that comes to my mind when I look at this is “what is wrong with us?” Is it just an aberration that some people turn out to be so cruel or is it something we encounter every day but fail to recognize until it takes gigantic proportions? When a gang of boys whistle at a girl passing-by, we pass it off as teens having harmless fun, but do we look at it from the point of view of the girl? We do not. But when a guy hears of the same event from his sister, he offers to accompany her from that day on. Why these double standards? Why do we fail to see the bigger picture and realize that the woman being whistled at is someone’s sister/daughter too. If we are so concerned about the safety of our near and dear ones, why do we fail to share the same concern about our fellow human beings? She might not belong to your family but she does belong to the same society and however much we choose to ignore it, the society gives you back what you give to it. You give it care and respect and you will get back the same. Ignoring the injustice done to any woman increases the chances that someone in your family will face the same injustice sometimes in future.

Then again there is a saying “Charity begins at home”. If we look at it deeply, how many of us actually take our home-maker mothers seriously? Do we ever think of her as a human who might have her own opinion too or do we just take her for granted at every step? A man when disrespects his wife in front of his son, sows the seeds of disrespect for women in the minds of his son then and there. When the girl in the family is made to give up her studies the boy learns a woman is not worth even her basic right to education. In the same way, as the boy grows up seeing women in his life being disrespected and their rights trampled upon at each and every walk of life, he grows up believing it to be way of life and deep within he learns to do the same. It is again when a father agrees to pay heavy dowry for his daughter, that the son learns that the girl means nothing but trouble and hence comes his eternal loathing for women in general. From the perspective of the boy, a woman means nothing but trouble, adds no value to the family and in fact increases the economic pressure on the family. No wonder such a boy when grows up to be a man and is married becomes someone who supports female foeticide. It is the values inculcated in him unknowingly by his family, that make him averse to a girl child.

So whenever any crime against woman happens, it is a call for all of us to look at ourselves and our families. It is a call for us to look inside and see what we might be doing wrong in our daily lives that breeds such hatred for women. The small word of disrespect that the dad utters towards the mom can teach the son to treat women as objects of humiliation. It is time we give our actions a great deal of thought. It is time we decide whether the girl or the boy should be allowed to continue his/her study based on sheer merit rather than gender.It is time we judge the actions of our kids objectively rather than put it in sketchy perspectives like “let go…he is a guy after all” or “how could she do this..she is a girl”.It is time we do that if not for us,for the future generation to come because bereft of women there will be no future generation at all.

Here is to a happier healthier society and a better tomorrow :)

Happy International Women's Day

Rape : Whose fault is it anyways?

When a girl is raped whose fault is this girl's or the person who has raped her?

About Victims

1. 44% of victims are under age 18 
2. 80% are under age 30 

Sexual Assault Numbers

1. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted 
2. There is an average of 207,754 victims (age 12 or older) of sexual assault each year 

Sexual Assault in Numbers

Reporting to Police

1. 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police 
2. 15 of 16 rapists will never spend a day in jail 

About Rapists

1. Approximately 2/3 of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim 
2. 38% of rapists are a friend or acquaintance 

Who is responsible for this? Why women are this much insecure in this world?

When a girl/woman gets raped she became the black icon for whole world even in her own house.... Parents feel ashamed/scared because of the society,surroundings....... no one willing to marry her.... she is banned from every institution/every kind of activities as she becomes impure soul........ But the guy the responsible one moves on like a free bird.... He never ever feels guilty not by himself or by surroundings..... Why a criminal is free and not punished by surroundings only because he is a guy? Law/police everything is there but tell me how many such incidents come forward and deeply investigated with honest verdict..............................