Assaults on Women

I know someday, someone would come up to me asking about my silence on the ongoing assaults on women in this country, while people are busy sharing jokes and memes mocking women about their lifestyles. Remember we do cross our lines at times and make sexist remarks even though we say that it is just a joke or take a chill pill. Don't. That is only the beginning of the problem. In a nation of 1.3 billion people, we are growing at an exponential rate in numbers and living in a society, where patriarchy is force-fed and so much normalised that some women tend to think that these are the standard norms imposed on to them and must be followed. That's the crab mentality. They are putting one of theirs down just because they couldn't rise. Expecting their daughters to work but can't see their daughter-in-laws set a foot outside home. In other scenarios at homes, curfews are imposed on women, but the male child loiters around.

The women command independent life and respect. It's not subject to the permissions of their families and in-laws. Let them grow. Let them fly. Don't cage them or clip their wings for they don't get second chances that easily that we are given. Charity begins at home, they say. Very well, they say. Hence, gender sensitisation should start at home. The parents should talk to their children about consent and "the talk" after they hit puberty. The whole argument defending "boys are boys" or "men will be men" is a total load of crap because it shifts blame to the victim and in turn, leads to more shaming.

Maybe if the parents start treating their female and male children as equals, the fundamental change in attitude can begin. Schools have an equally vital role to play, and instead of censoring or hushing up the topic of sex education by the time the children reach 10th standard, they should introduce proper sessions for understanding. One thing that we are missing out here is accepting the children as they are. Whether they identify themselves as straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, they deserve equal love and not hate.

Enough said on sensitisation; lastly, we need stricter laws which safeguard the lives of all because the victims lose out on justice when there are loopholes. While this may seem to be my personal opinion, but the rapists should be castrated with acid and hanged or burnt alive to suffer a slow and painful death. They don't deserve any mercy because they violated a woman's body, consent and ruined her bright future that could have been. Equally, there is a need to identify the actual cases from the fake ones because in some cases the "victim" turns out to be the actual "perpetrators" and the real victims endure enough to lead a life full of shame. The bills and laws need to be drafted in a way that the loopholes are minimal with provisions of conviction in case of false charges. These things need to be discussed openly and should not be a topic of debate. The government needs to understand that all lives are important and not one life over the other. The bills are critical for the functioning of the country. I have faith in our judiciary. It is worth remembering that we can have all those tall statues, temples, mosques, churches with taxpayers' money we want. Still, if we can't educate ourselves on how to be human first and do our bit for the betterment of this nation then we should wait for the apocalypse to strike which will wipe out everything that is existing currently so that life begins from scratch, where there is only good and no bad.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. Realshepower is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Realshepower and it does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.