Two days ago, my 19-year-old asked me a very pertinent question — at what age exactly does our society permit a woman to travel and live alone? When I was of her age, I had imagined that true freedom would be possible on getting a job — an access to economic freedom — or getting married. I was miserably wrong. An average Malayali woman’s freedom has nothing to do with age, education, marital status or economic independence. The chains of our society are such that they never rust with time. It is indisputable that, for a woman, Kerala is still a safer place to live in as compared to other states in India. But the rate and nature of the violence against women in the state remind us of some shattering truths. The first, having the highest sex ratio in the country doesn’t guarantee access to public spaces for women. The second is that 100 per cent literacy doesn’t ensure awareness of democratic values or even basic human rights. And the third is that the male population of our society badly needs a lot of emotional empowerment. But, certainly, the condition has improved in the last two decades. As a journalist, I see the Suryanelli sex racket case (in which a ninth standard student was trafficked and sold to 41 perpetrators in 40 days in 1996 ), the PE Usha case (in which an educated and employed woman who complained of sexual harassment while travelling in a bus was maligned by her colleagues), the Nalini Netto case (in which a lady IAS officer complained of sexual harassment from a minister), and, recently, the case in which a Dalit law student in Perumbavoor, Ernakulam district , was brutally murdered in her house in April, as landmark incidents which forced us to openly discuss women’s rights and gender justice. After the entry of 24-hour news channels in general and social media in particular, the society has become more visibly sensitive towards gender issues. Although there is severe bullying of women in the cyber space, social media has provided a platform where we hear voices of men, women and transgenders alike, on issues related to gender and children. The role played by social media, in bringing the case to light, was also commendable. Undoubtedly, the case in Perumbavoor is among the most gruesome murders to have ever happened in the state. It is a case where all three factors — caste, class and gender — confluence. Happening only a fortnight before the Assembly polls, the murder was turned into a political tool too. The 29-year-old, who was living with her mother in a one-room shack on the bank of a canal in Perumbavoor, was murdered in broad daylight. Both she and her mother were victims of caste aggression — from verbal abuse to physical assault, and socio-economic exclusion. After the new government assumed power, a migrant labourer from Assam was arrested by the newly assigned team of investigators. But the case is still unresolved and the motive unclear. In many ways, the case is important as study material for those researching on how the oppressed and the poor are treated by the police and society, even in a model state. The young woman’s death was followed by two more attacks on Dalits — the arrest of two Dalit sisters for the fracas at the party office of the ruling CPM in Kannur, and the horrifying incident of ragging of a Dalit nursing student by senior girls in a nursing college in Kalburgi, Karnataka. In the latter case, the student was reportedly forced by the seniors to drink toilet cleaner “to whiten her black skin”. Her oesophagus is badly damaged and it will be many months before she can eat food normally. It is disturbing that this girl was attacked because of her caste, class and colour. But it is devastating that she was attacked by women themselves, women who have been trained to seek permission for each and every moment of their lives. Isn’t it thought-provoking that the parents of the arrested justify their children and claim that they are innocent ? Isn’t it enraging that our society which denies women and transgender people their basic rights to live, travel, love and be happy ruthlessly justifies or even encourages abuse, insult, murder and rape? So I tell my daughter — never seek permission. And never be apologetic for not seeking permission. Be it a man, woman or transgender, one has to be responsible for one’s life, decisions and actions. When you stand up for your rights, remember that you do not stand up for one woman alone. You stand up for all citizens, even for those yet to be born. The chains of our society do not rust with time. They can only be broken from within, with conscious and consistent effort.
