Gender based violence

Rahul Sharma
IN an unprecedented way, the people of India took cudgels against gender based violence and came out of their comfort zones in order to ensure (secure) individual liberty and freedom. Message is succinct; women security and state inaction. It is not the first time that such ruthless violence has happened in the capital but this time the merciless capital has shaken the conscience of the whole nation where at one point of time ‘the place of a women was considered to be an abode of God’. In the words of noble Laureate Amartya Sen such barbaric incidents not only affect the individuality of a female but also affect the ‘agency of women’ i.e such incidents mark a negative impact in the development and up-bringing of women on the whole. In a developing country like India wherein the status of women is already hit by the societal stigmas of domestic violence, child marriage, dowry, child abuse and above all female foeticide, the present ruthless incident of sexual assault on a 23 year old aspiring student on the account of state(police) inaction has paved a road to perdition for common people.
Albeit this time people came out in streets and made protests, candle light marches, human chains to ensure speedy justice for the victim of this heinous crime but more importantly each and every individual, irrespective of his/her age stood against the state to guarantee his/her protection against such gross human right violation. Whenever such incidents occur a sudden uproar erupts demanding that there should be change in the law, law should be made more stringent etc.etc. and most of the times amendments are moved and changes are incorporated in the statutes but one fails to ponder that law in statutory books cannot fulfil the objective where comes the matter of its practical action or implementation. Granting of freedom by codification of fundamental rights does not mean that individual’s safety, liberty and freedom is ensured, there are multiple contributing factors which if show slight slackness in performance may defy the basic concept of freedom. Police is one of the contributing factors that plays a significant role in maintaining the ‘law & order’ and there by ensures individual’s safety, liberty and freedom on behalf of the state. Recently due to the slackness/non performance of state machinery (police) life and liberty of a woman was tarnished in one of the most secured areas in the capital of this country. Such lapses can be viewed in the following way; Firstly, on that unfortunate night a private charted bus having license to ferry only school children was moving on roads un-noticed by the police machinery, it was never halted in transit. Secondly, that particular bus was with tinted glass windows and curtains despite there being a strict prohibition of the same. Thirdly, there were no barricades on the road and the vehicle carrying six perpetrators of the ruthless crime was moving uninterruptedly adding indelible scars in the body and soul of the victim. It is also reported that merely minutes before the incident one person was looted by the same persons in the same vehicle and police did not even pay any heed to register the complaint. Indian police that is carrying the hierarchy of colonial era cannot be only blamed as it is already a victim of political interference and rampant corruption. That is the reason a common man prefers to bear the pangs of injustice rather than to seek redressal from the collapsed system. More importantly, since 1971, about six commissions have been set up for police reforms including the latest Soli Sorabjee Committee which is also known as Police Act Drafting Committee (PADC). Purpose of PADC was to make Indian Police more society centric and to ensure that ‘police forces at all levels, and even more so at the grassroots, change from a feudal force to a democratic service’. But legal acumen of jurists who made such recommendations turned futile before political will and in the name of implementation and in the name of police reforms state reciprocated through water cannons and tear gas.
Seriousness of the political class towards the gender based issues can also be judged by the way our elective representatives work. Two major bills that are related to the safety of women are still pending in the parliament; One is The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 that seeks to amend The Indian Penal Code,1860, The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and The Indian Evidence Act, 1872, inter alia, so as to substitute sections 375, 376, 376A and 376B by replacing the existing sections375, 376, 376A, 376B, 376C and 376D of the Indian Penal Code, and replacing the word ‘rape’ wherever it occurs by the words ‘sexual assault’, to make the offence of sexual assault gender neutral and also widening the scope of the offence of sexual assault; to make acid attacks a specific offence etc. and the other bill , The Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Work Place Bill, 2010 that is made keeping in view Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women which has been ratified by Government of India in 1993 and the recommendations of Supreme Court of India in 1997 in the case of Vishaka & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan & Ors, though passed by Loksabha in September 2012 is still pending. The Bill proposes to enact comprehensive legislation to provide for safe, secure and enabling environment to every woman under employment (excluding domestic worker), free from all forms of sexual harassment and lays down a redressal mechanism, thereby fixing the responsibility of employer to form an ‘Internal Complaints Committee’.
In a democracy like India where the reported crimes (as mostly go unreported) against women during the year 2011 have increased by 7.1% over the year 2010 and by 23.4% over the year 2007(as per National Crime Records Bureau), the snail pace working by our elective representatives due to incessant adjournments and their partisan objectives cast serious doubts on State approach over gender sensitive issues. Clement Atlee once quoted ‘Democracy means Government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking’. In India promptness in action from representatives of the people is required so that people can repose their faith in democratic system and can feel individual freedom, liberty and above all gender safety & equality a practical reality.
Apathy is that most of the Indian Political class knows only ‘how to rule the people’ and does not even have an iota of understanding of ‘how to serve the people’. In such a scenario the words like individual’s ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ rest-in-peace in the holy book of our revered constitution. Alas! Once again one more girl student closed her eye to give vision to our political class on gender centric issues.
(The author is a practicing advocate in supreme court)

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