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Norey Anne Arenas

Leah Kaminski
Writing 39C
May 31, 2014
Womens Venture for Breakthrough
When a 23-year-old woman became the victim of a fatal gang rape on December
16, 2012, in India, the nation was shaken and has since been actively reminded of the
frequent violence that occurs against women (Bagchi). The acknowledgement of the
mistreatment and disrespect towards women of India by men has been increasing,
especially with the great numbers that have been reported regarding such abuse. Even in
the past, the numbers regarding mistreatment against women has been large, and has only
been increasing throughout the years. Since the year 1952 through 2011, the crime rate of
rape rose 873% in India and was the fastest crime that increased compared to other
crimes (Bagchi). Women in India have consistently been treated badly by the men in
various and horrendous ways; one of which can be considered the most prevalent sex
trafficking. According to some sex trafficking victims in Mumbai, India, approximately
half of the victims reported that their vulnerability to trafficking was due to familial
disruption as well as physical or sexual violence between the families. 15 percent of the
perpetrators were their husbands and 27.8 percent were other family members; 13.6
percent of the married victims were also victimized by their own spouses (Silverman).
Through these numbers, it is clear that the majority of the perpetrators are men; the lack
of respect that these men have towards women only intensify the crime rates and the
numbers of violence against women.
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Men have actually not always mistreated Indian women; in fact, some of them
were given the status of goddess and were worshipped. This was the case in the ancient
times, when Aryans were the main inhabitant of India the women of ancient times held
great power, even compared to the men. They actually had a say in every aspect that
related to their lives and were not confined to domestic work. Inequality eventually
developed, though, with the Vedic era; these women were stripped of their basic rights
and freedom that they once had. There was a similar predicament to the women in the
medieval era as the status of women declined; the foreign conquerors such as Muslims
that they frequently confronted would invade their country and brought along their own
culture. The treatment of women as property of men was practiced by these foreign
conquerors and ultimately carried on to the minds of the Indian people (Tewari). Rituals
such as the Sati and Jauhar was introduced, where the women would commit suicide or
sacrifice themselves whenever their husbands were going to face death. Child marriage
also was introduced as the female children were seen as animals and were not allowed
simple rights, such as gaining an education. These new and evil practices were produced
as women were cumulatively devalued and stripped of their status. Since then, men have
been raised to respect higher authorities such as elders and worship goddesses, but not to
females they encounter in real life (Bagchi). This leniency that they are raised with may
remain, and this gives them the belief that they could do anything they wish that will
please them, even if it requires violence or force.
With such great numbers of crime rates reported against women starting from the
beginning, its questionable as to why it has been increasing rather than decreasing as
time progressed. There have been some various attempts to seek restore and decrease the
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numbers of violent crime rates by the Indian government; the Indian Penal Code, created
in 1860, lists some cases and punishments that a persecutor is liable to be charged for
some of which that can help protect women and seek justice from some instances of
violence such as crimes and offences pertaining to
the human body or culpable homicides from men
(Indian Penal Code). The majority of the violent
crimes practiced against women were not included
in this document such as offenses that relate to
trafficking, thus many women were still liable to
mistreatment and abuse. Indias legislation did not
recognize many of the various crimes that are
committed against women; antiquated Indian
laws only currently acknowledge three crimes
against women: rape, using force to outrage her
modesty, and making rude sounds or gestures aimed at insulting the modesty of any
woman (Baker). The little and ineffective actions taken by the Indian government
called for some type of drastic reform, especially considering the crime rates that are
continuously high numbers.
In 1986, the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act was
amended and changed to the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act. This act only discusses
trafficking in relation to prostitution and not in relation to other purposes of trafficking
such as domestic work, child labour, organ harvesting (Child Line India). This
attempt to prevent trafficking amongst India does not even recognize trafficking as a
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specific or separate crime; rather, it is addressed as a prostitution-related activity. Thus, it
is hardly an anti-trafficking law, since it does not even truly define trafficking as it really
is. As a prevention act, it is questionable whether or not it accurately adopts a preventive
approach to trafficking; the act focuses more on criminalization and punishment instead
of preventive measures to warn about the dangers of prostitution and trafficking.
Although the government did intend to try and prevent or at least decrease rates of
trafficking, the poor legislative treatment of violence against women is more apparent
through the deficiencies of this act.
With these various deficiencies with the legislative actions taken by the
government for crimes, it is expected that the government take measures and address
these. This was eventually done only when a horrid incident occurred and troubled the
nation. After a gang rape in India occurred and stirred up great controversy, the United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women [urged] that
political will must translate into concrete action and stronger implementation of already
existing laws and regulations (Stenhammer). The suggestion of amendments to the
Indian Penal Code was brought up by Indias government because of this as well as
public protests. A new law was then created by Indias Parliament in response and
provides for the death penalty for repeat offenders or for rape attacks that lead to the
victims death as well as [making] it a crime for police officers to refuse to open
cases when they receive complaints of sexual attacks (Gates). This new reform also
targeted trafficking, for part of the amendment includes [criminalizing] anyone who
recruits, transports, harbors, transfers, or receives a person using certain means for
purposes of exploitation (Kotiswaran). Unlike the previous section that barely covers the
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definition of trafficking, the new definition is much more specific and criminalizes
perpetrators who practice such exploitation. These new sexual assault laws sound very
hopeful, but there are actually many who have criticized the new legislation. A special
three-member committee known as the J.S. Verma Committee recommended changed to
the legislation, yet the new measures failed to include some of them, especially of the
issues regarding marital rape and sexual assaults committed by parliamentarians (Khalsa
& Khambatta). Nonetheless, the new reforms of sexual assault laws are an improvement
for the country as long as they are being implemented, but these do not address the root
cause and thus is unable to make a revision in the cultural ideas of India.
As a poor, developing country, the efforts that Indias government has been
making is a good start, though the impact would not be as successful as they intended.
These laws are only methods of combating violence and punishing perpetrators that have
already committed the crime; they do not address the root cause of the violence and
trafficking, which revolves around the cultural ideas of India. Although it may prevent
some criminals from performing large-scale crimes, it does not do so for forms of abuse
that can be easily hidden from the public eye. It is possible that some men may even find
it exciting to be able to go against the law without getting caught; the feeling of possibly
being able to do so might only increase the will for the crimes to continue. It is difficult
for laws, such as ones aforementioned, to be implemented especially if the offenders are
able to conceal their forms of abuse and crime. Men will merely continue to act in their
usual violent ways against women as long as they dont believe that what they commit is
truly a crime. A simple reform in legislation will not be capable of creating a huge impact
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on the crime rates against women, especially since its a crucial problem that
unsurprisingly occurs frequently.
Legislation is undoubtedly an important aspect when it comes to regulating and
enforcing certain rules, but it is unable to be effectively preventive as some classify it to
be because it does not address the cultural issues. Lakshmi Chaudhry, a senior editor of
Indias first web-only news site, blames [the] ugly and entirely abnormal state of affairs
as the most visible symptom of a society without the rule of law when referring to how
Indias culture finds sexual harassment so routine yet rape as crime, though it is quite
irresponsible to blame cultural issues on the absence of laws (Chaudhry). Laws certainly
can act to implement punishments and discourage some criminals from committing
certain crimes, and this can be found helpful in decreasing crime rates of a country.
Cultural ideas and methods arent derived from legislation, though; there is only a small
correlation between the two, thus it is difficult to mold and reform such traditional ideas
by laws. Most of these acts of legislation would not have a significant effect on the
committed crimes like the legislative actions aforementioned, there is hardly a
difference and the intent of the actions is not usually met. A large-scale problem such as
violence against women will not be solved solely on legislative methods; the solution
would involve deeper and more socially involved methods that would develop cultural
ideas to more acceptable concepts.
The perception of women should be changed rather than being seen as property
or someone of the lowest status, they should be recognized and treated with respect.
Doing so is difficult, as this would require having to refine the understanding of the
whole society regarding something that has been socially acceptable for countless years.
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A nationwide campaign may be able to impact most of the countrys society, especially if
its family and community leaders would guide it. The parents of families as well as
teachers and mentors may be crucial in guiding and educating society against any forms
of violence towards women. According to the systemic social change and legal reform
advocate Mihira Sood, [we] must educate people, starting at the school level, about
respect for women, for personal spaces and for the rule of law as well as reflect on how
each of us contribute to the objectification of women, from the popular culture we
consume to the way we bring up our children (Bureau). Legislation can only do so
much to prevent or decrease criminal activity in the country, but [we] cannot legislate
good behavior, as the saying goes, we have to build its DNA in schools, in homes, in
public spaces, in our media that must begin by refusing, unlearning and denying this
entitlement and the violence it takes to live it as the only way to be men (Bureau).
Fortunately, there is an organization that comes to mind regarding this complex solution
that focuses on the root problem.
The Equal Community Foundation is not necessarily a large-scale organization,
however it provides a great starting
example for similar measures that
larger organizations or communities
can take. This foundation, founded in 2009 by William Muir, is a non-profit organization
maintained by a team with diverse sets of skills based in Pune, India, that focuses on the
culture and society of India: to ensure that every man in India has the opportunity to
study and practice gender equitable behavior to end violence and discrimination against
women. They plan to do this through inspiring and informing a new generation of
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social programming that raises men to end violence and discrimination against women
by developing behavior change programs that empower men, researching and
reporting on the approach in India, and developing a popular movement supporting the
approach. Its supporters and members believe that an approach to support women
directly does not tackle discrimination at its root and is alone not delivering the
anticipated or required results in reducing inequality and violence (Equal Community
Foundation). Therefore, rather than addressing this problem through this typical kind of
approach, they instead engage men as part of the solution, even though they might not all
be part of the problem. The mission and measures of this organization directly
coordinates with the exact issues that were aforementioned through shifting the societal
and cultural ideals traditionally set in India.
By reaching these various goals, there will surely be a change in how men
perceive women since this program focuses on the problem and is able to prevent the root
cause that accumulates to the horrid violence that occurs against women. Having the
mindset that all men need to be a part of the solution allows for the most opportunity
of help and support to be available the class and social standing is not of importance in
this case, but, rather, it calls for all to be active and supportive (Equal Community
Foundation). Through the various behavior change programs that are being designed and
implemented by this foundation, they are able to make an impact in the small and low-
income communities that are currently being targeted. The main program that focuses on
this is known as Action For Equality and has its own model that allows the students to
study and debate the value of women and manages the mens behaviors by role models
that respect (Equal Community Foundation). According to UnLtd India, an incubator for
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social entrepreneurs in India, there have already been approximately 1600 men enrolled
in the Action For Equality program with 660 men graduated from 20 communities across
Pune due to this
program. 61% of
women who live
with graduates of
Action for
equality report a
reduction in violence or discrimination (UnLtd India). The Equal Community Foundation
also has a Research and Development Program that seeks to highlight [the] best
practice in India and priority strategies for achieving scale for the approach of working
with men (Equal Community Foundation). Doing this will allow for the organization to
be more effective and efficient with its mission since it will be help them learn more
impactful solutions. The certain measures they are taking as well as the programs they are
implementing will surely achieve great success, especially with its progress that has
already been increasing.
If this program expands and is noticed by a sufficient amount of people, the
awareness will allow for it to continue and grow whilst also influencing culture in the
country. This will create a domino effect where men will begin to reduce their own
violent and discriminating behavior, advocate an end to end violence and take personal
and collective action to empower women in their lives and communities (Equal
Community Foundation). As long as the men in the smaller communities promote this
kind of campaign, there will eventually be a great impact even in the large communities.
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Many would doubt that the expansion and popularity might not grow very well, but there
are other similar projects that have started quite small and was able to grow well known
nationwide. An organization known as BELL that is an acronym for Building Educated
Leaders for Life was incorporated in 1992 by a group of students at Harvard Law
School began their program to transform the academic achievements, self-confidence,
and life trajectories of children living in under-resourced, urban communities with only
20 students. Since then, they have grown and have increased their number of students up
to 12,000 children annually (BELL). With similar aspects between the ECF and BELL, it
is not unreasonable to have faith that the growth in BELL may possibly be similar to the
growth of the ECF. The large progress that the Equal Community Foundation has already
achieved in a short number of years can also be a foreshadowing of how much greater
their success can be after a longer time period.
The organization also plans to scale across the country through partnerships that
could help their networking; without these supporters, it would not be able to achieve
success in their work (Equal Community Foundation). The support allows this smaller
organization to develop and grow in awareness, and since they do have a moderate
amount of supporters and partnerships, the ECF will be able to grow more efficiently.
The Womens Worldwide Web, a crowd funding platform that mobilizes vital support for
organizations regarding girls and womens human rights, promotes awareness for the
ECF through one of their articles and states that it is a well-grounded strategy for
promoting sustainable behavioral change among local young men (Womens Worldwide
Web). The Equal Community Foundation was also awarded a $7500 grant by the Hyatt
Regency Pune in order to further its efforts to reach its mission objectives (ECF India).
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The described support through these organizations is only a few of many who were able
to help the organization in some way. The total amount of help of all the supporters and
partners may result in an even larger scale of success.
In order to address such a grand-scale problem regarding gender-based violence
occurring against women in India, there needs to be a solution that combats the root cause
of the situation. In this case, the cultural and social aspects of India must be reformed,
particularly in the area of the nurture of young men and this can be done through a
nationwide campaign. The Equal Community Foundation addresses the exact root cause
by focusing in re-teaching the men of India the true, significant value of women. This is a
substantial progression for women to finally be able to break through their unfortunate
mistreatment against them in this case, though, rather than supporting women directly,
the focus is finally addressing the root cause: the attitudes and behaviors of men.


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