After the SC reprimand, will the government now wake up to the problem of easy availability of acid in the market and put curbs on it? Are there any other means to do this? Women's rights crusader Kavita Krishnan shared her perspective on this subject with IBNLive readers.
Q. What are the precautionary measures suggested by your party to bring down the attacks on women? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Acid attacks are a terrible crime, and AIPWA and other women's orgs have for long asked that the retail sale of acid be regulated strictly, so that this deadly weapon which not only kills, but disfigures and maims and inflicts torture, should not be easily available. The other thing is that acid attacks are often preceded by stalking. So the fact that police fail to take stalking seriously, and that in the new law, stalking is bailable in the 'first instance' obstructs the prevention of acid attacks. If the stalker could be apprehended and taken into custody when he threatens violence, perhaps we could prevent him from carrying out his threats.
Q. Most acid attacks occur when a woman spurns a man's overtures usually after a brief friendly relationship. Don't you feel that a girl should be more circumspect in her dealings with men and not give erroneous impressions to would be suitors? Asked by: Dilip
A. Why are you blaming women for violence by men? Why can't we instead tell men to learn to take 'no' for an answer? Many a time, the man isn't even a 'suitor' or a 'spurned lover' but a complete stranger! Even it is a suitor who had been turned down, he should learn to take 'no' and respect women's autonomy.
Q. If you go by the number of reprimands from the Honourable SC to the UPA 2 the one on ban on sale of acid is probably mild. Do you expect any fast reaction from the government to control the sale of acid? Will this create a black market for the commodity? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. If the government doesn't act the Supreme Court hopefully will institute some measures till the government is forced to act. That's what happened with sexual harassment at the workplace.
Q. I think we are going to such ridiculous levels of expecting government to monitor movement of acids. We all know, murderers use razor blades to slit throats, does that mean government starts monitoring movement of blades, every school which has a laboratory has concentrated acids, we don't see acid attacks in schools. Why does this happen in society? We are missing wood for the trees. The government should actually have compulsory psychology classes from class 8th in all schools, they should be taught how to handle failure and rejection, what is infatuation, these are one of the major problems facing the youngsters, and unable to find an answer they are resorting to extremes. Asked by: S ESHWAR
A. Yes of course we need to sensitise men, teach them to learn to respect a woman's NO. But the fact is that acid is different from razor blades. Acid inflicts terrible torture, and is all too easy to use as a weapon: it requires no skill, no powerful thrust, nothing. What, after all, is wrong with regulating its sale?
Q. With all the scams, corruptions, nepotisms and such doings by persons in power hitting headlines how do you expect them to be taking a proactive role in the area of Women rights? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Persons in power aren't taking proactive action to defend women's rights - just like they are not acting against scams etc.
Q. It has been observed that in Tribal societies the decisions on social and family matters are taken by elder women of the family. Has modernisation curtailed rights of woman? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Yes, women do enjoy greater autonomy in societies where private property did not exist. But even in these societies, changes have occurred and patriarchy has made its impact felt with capitalism and imperialism. The problem, however is not 'modernity.' If 'modernity' means the rights of the individual, then modernity is welcome. The thing is that capitalism hasn't just ushered in that kind of modernity, it has come with the drive to exploit women's labour even further and to commercialise and commodify every thing including the bodies of women, children, relationships, etc. We need more healthy, genuine modernity in India - more, not less modernity - but the kind of modernity that does not let caste groups and khap panchayats and parents decide who we'll marry, what we'll wear and so on. Genuine modernity ought to get rid of caste hierarchy. But even in a 'modern' set up, women's oppression will continue till we create a society based not on private property but one that truly promotes the fullest autonomy and development of everyone, minus any exploitation. For me, I believe that calls for a struggle for socialism and eventually a classless society.
Q. Theoretically your point that a man should accept a 'no' from a woman is well taken. But considering the volatility being displayed by some men, is it not desirable that women exercise care men by trying to understand the person fully before plunging into a relationship Asked by: Dilip
A. What makes you think women do not exercise care? The point is that even the most carefully chosen intimate partners get violent for many reasons - and that's why it has been found that a 3rd of murders of women are committed by husbands/boyfriends. Acid attacks are committed most often by complete strangers, or by some guy who has been forcing a relationship on a girl who says NO loud and clear. Instead of respecting her NO he attacks her with acid so that 'if she doesn't belong to me she should not love anyone else'. We need to stop tolerating such a culture of possessive 'love', we need to stop calling stalking 'love'. And that goes for movies as well as politicians like Sharad Yadav.
Q. The male dominated society has been opening up and the equality in gender rights are happening even though there is much more to be done. In such situation why no political parties is giving equal rights to women in there own sphere of activities? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. Political parties of the ruling class actively deny equal rights to women, some women leaders notwithstanding. The reason is that they are committed to sexism, and to pandering to anti-women constituencies. That's why they oppose 33 percent reservation for women, and have failed to pass it for more than a decade. That said, even in more gender-sensitive parties, like the Left, much more needs to be done to increase women cadres, leaders, and ensure gender parity.
Q. The left had ruled for long in west Bengal. Has that brought about better conditions for women there? Asked by: sundar1950in
A. The CPIM ruled in West Bengal. And as a leader of CPI (ML), I can say that I am not very impressed with their track record on gender. They have a bad record of denying rapes, and blaming victims for rape. In 1990 the CPI (M)'s response to the Birati rape case (gang rape of three Bangladeshi refugee women) was shocking. The People's Democracy had then carried a statement by Shyamali Gupta, then General Secretary of the Ganatantrik Mahila Samity. In an article, historian Tanika Sarkar had noted that Shyamali Gupta's statement "seems to echo a popular notion that rape ceases to be so in the case of certain categories of women. What else explains her reference to the moral and social standing of these women - that they resided in 'un-authorised hutments' and that they were engaged in 'foul professions', were 'mistresses' of and had 'honeymoons with' men they were not married to?" (Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 26, No. 5 (Feb. 2, 1991), pp. 215-218) And then we have the rapes at Singur and Nandigram which again the CPIM denied. Regarding Tapasi Malik's rape at Singur, the CPIM's ideologues even wrote articles in prestigious international journals denying the rape, while CPIM leaders like Benoy Konar cast aspersions on the character of Tapasi and her family. Then there's the spate of sexist remarks by CPIM leaders of Bengal and Kerala against women political opponents. There was a question about Shiela Jaya Mamata, which I could not reply so replying here. No, their regimes have been equally anti women because all of them have indulged in sexism and rape culture, blaming women rape victims for rape and doing nothing to protect women's autonomy and rights.
Comments
0 comment