Patriarchy and violence against women

The brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, the issue of sexual harassment and gender bias in the Malayalam film industry made public by the release of the Justice Hema Committee report, and the recent incident of the alleged “sexual harassment and molestation” of a woman in police custody in Odisha are some cases in point.

However, it was the heinous nature of violence against the trainee doctor that set off a public outcry and reminded many of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case. But the public outrage over these issues mostly fades into oblivion over time. What remains intact is the gendered mindset of the given society, evident in the recurrence of such incidents of abuse and violence against women.

Therefore, in addition to feeling outrageous over the incidents of gender-based violence against women, it is necessary to address the reasons behind such issues. One such reason is the deep-seated patriarchy, which is red-flagged in a number of analyses of the recent incidents of violence against women.

What is patriarchy

Nivedita Menon, noted feminist scholar, writer, and professor of Political Thought at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in her book Seeing like a Feminist describes patriarchy as “power distributed along gender and age hierarchies, but with adult men trumping older women”.

Along with patriarchy, Menon identifies “patriliny (property and name passing from father to son); and virilocality (wife moving to the husband’s home)” as three interconnected features of Indian families that uphold the hierarchies of gender and age.

V. Geetha, another noted feminist writer and activist, in her book Patriarchy underlines, “Patriarchy rests on defined notions of masculine and feminine, is held in place by sexual and property arrangements that privilege men’s choices, desires and interests over and above those of the women in their lives and is sustained by social relationships and cultural practices…”

Thus, in simple words, patriarchy refers to a social system characterised by a hierarchical structure that prioritises male authority and dominance.

It is evident in the fact that in patriarchal societies, property, resident and descent are traced through the male line, and women are kept subordinated to men.

Such hierarchical relation of dominance and subordination is intrinsically linked to the concept of gender. According to the United Nations, gender refers to “the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men”… These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialisation processes (family, education, workplace, etc.).

For instance, socio-cultural practice of gender-based roles and relations, ideals of masculinity (traits such as strength, control, power, anger, dominance, etc.) and femininity (such as emotional, intuitive, passive, nurturer, caregiver, etc.), and associated imbalance in power relations that keep women subordinated to men are socially constructed and are reproduced via everyday activities of the inhabitants of a patriarchal social system.

Patriarchy in practice

Patriarchy is so ingrained in everyday life that we usually fail to notice how it conditions our behaviours, expectations, and perception of what is ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ in terms of gender relations. 

From unequal household responsibilities to workplace hierarchies to leadership perceptions of men and women, patriarchy is at the helm of it all. Media representation of women’s rights issues and, more specifically, media coverage of violence against women can be seen as a microcosm where patriarchal norms of masculinity and femininity and gender-based power dynamics are enacted.  

For instance, in the case of sexual violence against women (the ones that get coverage and outrage popular conscience), media coverage mostly remains fixated on the abused (age, appearance, unwarranted focus on trivial details, etc.). Such fixation not only deflects attention away from the abuser and associated behavioural problems but also gives a spin to the image of the abused as weak and vulnerable.  

In the aftermath of the gruesome rape and murder at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, a state-run medical college in Assam issued an advisory. The advisory asked female doctors and students among other things to “graciously interact with the public” to avoid the “unnecessary attention of unscrupulous people”, and be “well composed emotionally” while on duty.

The dos and don’ts listed in the advisory for women reiterate the significance of patriarchal ideals of femininity that women are expected to uphold in the public sphere. It suggests a causal relation between women’s ‘ideal behaviour’ in the public sphere and the unwarranted attention of “unscrupulous people”. It also amounts to holding women, at least partly, responsible for the violence and abuse meted out to them in the public sphere.

Such response to the incidents of violence against women is rooted in the patriarchal attitude of ‘victim’-blaming, which plays a critical role in regulating women’s behaviour and denying them their agency to speak out and share their experience of violence.

In fact, scholars like Menon have noted how rape seen as a “crime against the family’s honor” by patriarchal forces is used as a tool to control and domesticate women’s bodies. The Patriarchal ideology of honour establishes an inherent association between the honour of men and family with women’s sexuality.

Selective outrage

In yet another incident of rape in Madhya Pradesh, people did not react when a woman was raped on a busy footpath in Ujjain district. The onlookers rather chose not to intervene and a passerby filmed the rape. What do you think? Why was the popular conscience not disturbed this time?

One of the reasons could be voyeuristic tendencies and objectification of women.

In addition, a number of experts converge on the fact that popular conscience is usually bothered by the magnitude of violence inflicted on a woman.

Between 2012 and 2024, there were enough instances of violence against women; even after the August 9 incident, there were reports of violence and rape, which didn’t outrage many.  

Moreover, scholars have also highlighted the caste and class identities of female survivors of violence as factors contributing to the selective outrage over violence against women, emphasising the importance of intersectionality in understanding these issues. 

That apart, a careful inquiry into the lack of popular response to issues of women’s rights and gender equality would help clear the smokescreen. Underrepresentation of women in politics has been a cause of concern – a mere 13.6 per cent of all MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are women – yet the delay in the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023 was not serious enough to bother many. 

Procedural delay in initiating investigations into reports of sexual violence (there was reported at least a 14-hour delay in the registration of the FIR after the August 9 incident) is yet another matter of grave concern. There are numerous other systemic challenges faced by women, with the ordeal of the woman inside the Odisha police station being yet another example of lawlessness and systemic failure.

Public intervention

In response to the August 9 incident and subsequent public outcry, the West Bengal Assembly passed the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill, 2024, also known as the Anti-Rape Bill, to strengthen current laws on rape and sexual offenses by introducing stricter rules.

Although strict laws are required to curb crimes, their execution on the ground is what matters more. In the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, also known as the Nirbhaya Act, was passed. 

But according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of rape cases spiked in 2013. In 2016, the number of rape cases peaked at nearly 39,000, while in 2022, over 31,000 rape cases were reported, with the NCRB stating that crime against women in India increased by 4 per cent in 2023. 

What do these data say? That passing laws alone is not sufficient to curb violence against women. It underlines the significance of complementing the top-down approach with bottom-up initiatives. Civil society initiatives to sensitise society about the importance of social justice, and equality, and bring behavioural change might help. 

Civil society initiatives, including the ones led by women, to counter harassment and violence against women in the public sphere might be helpful. Such efforts engaging a large section of society are needed to bring behavioural change that will be a setback to the entrenched patriarchal attitude towards women.

The very emergence of the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) – after a leading Malayalam film actress was abducted and sexually assaulted in her car by a group of men in 2017 – is one of the significant examples of such an initiative. Meanwhile, the assertion by the doctors protesting against the August 9 incident that their “fight for justice” would continue, and demands put forth by the WCC provide a glimmer of hope for gender justice in a patriarchal society like ours.

Post Read Question

How and why are incidents of violence against women traced to patriarchy?

How are hierarchical relationships of dominance and subordination linked to the socially constructed concept of gender?

Media coverage of violence against women reflects and reinforces patriarchal norms and gender-based power dynamics. Evaluate.

How can civil society efforts, particularly those led by women, help counter harassment and violence against women?

ashiya.parveen@indianexpress.com

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