Another Women’s Day goes by, but the crimes keep growing

This “invisibilising” of gender violence did not mean that those oldfamiliar crimes of yore, disappeared. In fact, they have steadily increasedas the years went by: from 11,5723 in 1996 to 13,1338 in 1998 as the latestNational Crime Records Bureau’s report states. Whether it was kidnapping andabduction, which rose from 14,877 in 1996 to 16381 in 1998, or molestation,which rose from 35,246 to 31,046 in the same period, things have onlydeteriorated.

Of the states, Uttar Pradesh notched the highest number of cases followed byMadhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Delhi, despite accounting for only 1.3 percent of the national population, reported the third highest rate of suchcrimes.

Interestingly, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report,rapes registered a 2 per cent decline in 1998 from the 1997 figure, althoughthe total number of incidents stood at an unconscionably high 15,031. Ofthese, 56 per cent of cases involved women in the age group of 16-30 years,22.8 per cent were in the age group of 10 to 16 years. Children below 10accounted for 4.2 per cent of total rapes committed in 1998. In contrast tothis, sexual harassment in 1998 rose markedly, registering an almost 40.1per cent increase over the previous year. More than half these cases werereported from the states of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.Since these figures were culled from the records of police, they onlyindicate crimes that were reported to the police. Numerous incidents mayremain unreported because of fear, ignorance or plain incapacities. ShardaPrasad, director of the National Crime Records Bureau, points out that oftenwomen, even those living in cities, do not know how to use a phone, leavealone an ability to understand and assert their rights.

According to Prasad, there are three specific situations where women aredistinctly vulnerable: within the home; while in transit; and in theworkplace. “We could put in systems to handle such crime in the workplaceas the recent Supreme Court order of 1997 in the Vishaka versus the State ofRajasthan case attempted to do. It’s more difficult to handle crimeperpetrated while women are in transit, on the streets and in the publictransport systems, but even this problem could be addressed to an extent byeducating the public to intervene. But it is the crime perpetrated withinthe four walls of the home that is extremely difficult to address. This isone area where reporting is minimal and where the woman is often mostexposed to peril,” says Prasad.

The findings of a recent survey covering seven Indian cities that wasconducted by the International Centre for Research on Women only went tounderline this. Some 43.5 per cent of respondents had experienced some formof physical or psychological violence at least once in their lifetimes.These ranged from threats to abandonment.

Urbanisation and modernisation does not necessarily make women’s lives moresecure. Observes Prasad, “The new privileged generation believes that theycan force their way into any situation. They think they can get away withsexual molestation and the fact that they drive fast cars helps in creatingthis illusion.”

What we have here then is an old violence in a new situation. And the oldlaws just don’t help. The Indian Penal Code continues to view women as mereproperty. The law on adultery, for instance, allows only the husband to makea complaint. It is as if his property rights are being violated.

In the Vishaka versus State of Rajasthan case, the Supreme Court observedthat sexual harassment is not just violative of a woman’s right to equality,it is violative of her right to life. This principle needs to be reiteratedin the face of the damning evidence provided by the National Crime RecordsBureau.