When a Knock at the Door is Not Enough

More for your information/read and heed

WWW.opinionasia.org
Violence against women in India
Neeta Lal | 16 Apr 2007

For a country on a dizzying upward economic growth trajectory, India's treatment of its women is abysmal. Dowry deaths, rapes, molestations and a swathe of other crimes against women are commonplace even amongst the socio-economic elite. But what lends this scenario a surreal twist are the shocking findings of the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS), a pan-India survey conducted by 18 research organisations (including the International Institute for Population Sciences), according to which a whopping 37.2 per cent of married Indian women regularly experience spousal violence.

The latest NFHS, the third in a series since 1992, reports that gender discrimination is rampant in Indian society with boys having better access to education, food and other amenities and girls comparatively being given short shrift. The NFHS database -- conducted on a representative sample of households throughout India --- is designed to strengthen India's demographic and health policies and provide national-level information about infant/child mortality, maternal/child health and the quality of health and family planning services.

The health survey -- which contains disquieting revelations about the iniquitous status of Indian women – also highlights that India trails in a number of health and development indices, with growth benefits not percolating down to the fairer sex even in urban areas. In fact, women's "empowerment" still remains a chimera, with only half of Indian women -- 61.4% urban and 48.5% rural – participating in household decisions.

The survey, for instance, found Bihar (population: about 82 million, literacy rate: 47 per cent, the lowest amongst all Indian states) to be the most retrogressive address for its women, with a whopping 59 per cent of its women facing regular (and often extreme) matrimonial abuse. Intriguingly, 63 per cent of these cases were reported from urban, well-to-do families rather than backward rural ones. Madhya Pradesh --with an abuse rate of 45.8 per cent and Rajasthan and Manipur with 46.3 per cent and 43.9 per cent respectively – came in a notch below Bihar. The survey also reveals that uneducated women were far more likely to have experienced spousal violence than their educated counterparts.

Interestingly, the worst affected women in the survey are in the age band of between 20 to 40 years, though in some cases even those above 50 report regular spousal battery. Shockingly, though the figure of 37 per cent spousal violence is itself high, experts reiterate that the numbers are underreported and could be higher still, somewhere in the realm of 65 per cent.

The sobering findings lends itself to the question -- why does the land of the Mahatma, that has traditionally viewed "stree" (women) as the embodiment of "shakti" (power) -- ill-treat them thus? Perhaps the answer is embedded deep in the national mindset. Indian women, especially the rural folk, have deep-rooted fears about losing their economic support and shelter if they rebel against a violent spouse. There is also a lurking fear of ostracism which makes them put up with abuse as their "destiny". Interestingly, urban women – educated and economically independent – too, suffer spousal violence though in their case, it usually in the interest of progeny that they stay married. By extension, in the predominantly patriarchal Indian society, the stigma of divorce is still a large cross to bear for battered women, as are the responsibilities of single motherhood.

Also, a strong "martyr" image association – and the pathos generated by the suffering underdog – prevent battered Indian women from fleeing abusive situations. The consequences are damning as nearly 74.8 per cent of abused women, report surveys, are propelled towards committing suicide. But even if they are not driven to such extremity, it spousal violence can negatively impact a woman's mental and physical health, triggering off a slew of psychosomatic disorders.

Unfortunately in India, more national economic prosperity has led to a corresponding upward spiral of crimes against women. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports that from an average of 125 women who faced domestic violence everyday in India in 2000, the number has ratcheted up to 160 in 2005. Also, more than 19 Indian women are killed for dowry everyday, 50 are raped and 480 subjected to molestation and abduction. The Bureau stated that 45 per cent of Indian women are slapped, kicked or beaten by their spouses with India also having the highest rate of violence against women during their pregnancies – nearly 50 per cent women were kicked while expecting babies with nearly 74.8 per cent attempting to commit suicide.

In a recent study of 3,000 women aged 18-50 years conducted by a pan-India NGO - Sangath - in nine villages in Goa, a popular tourist destination in western India, 14.5 per cent women complained of having an abnormal vaginal discharge due to verbal, physical and sexual violence and psychosocial distress. Depression and anxiety were common complaints amongst these women. Women who complained of vaginal discharge also reported that due to stress, they had meager interest in their daily lives.

According to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report, one in six women around the world suffer from domestic violence. Based on a survey of 24,000 women from rural and urban areas in 10 countries, the report noted that female victims of domestic assault were twice as likely to suffer poor health than other women. This kind of abuse was also responsible for the spread of HIV amongst women, as abused women were not in a position to demand safe sex.

A 2005 WHO publication 'Addressing Violence Against Women and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals' defines violence against women along four identifiable acts. These are physical violence (slapping, pushing, choking, burning, threatening with a weapon); sexual violence (forced sex or degrading sexual acts); emotional violence and finally, intimate-partner violence (specifically, domestic violence). The last, says the study, is the most common and universal form of violence experienced by women.

The WHO recommends that prevention of violence should be integrated into health care programs. Indeed there is an urgent need for reproductive health programs to acknowledge the role of gender-based violence and psychosocial distress in addressing the reproductive health needs of women. But health professionals themselves need training to detect victims of such violence and extend psychological counseling to them. This would certainly be a good start as grassroots activists and healthcare volunteers - who work closely with India's victims of spousal violence and hospital personnel handling their cases - report that hospital staff, including doctors, often do not perceive domestic violence as a "health issue" but rather as a "private family matter". Hence, scarcely, if at all, are they willing to go beyond their formulaic role of providing medicine to physically battered women.

However, in a belated but welcome move, the Indian Parliament has, for the first time ever, passed the path-breaking - Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act this year. The Act defines "domestic violence" as all forms of abuse -- physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic. Physical violence is defined as "beating, pushing, shoving and inflicting pain" while sexual violence covers a slew of offences such as "forced sex, forced exposure to pornographic material or any sexual act with minors".

The Act also seeks to offer women victims civil remedies hitherto unavailable to them. Until recently, Indian women could only seek recourse in Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to file a complaint against an abusive spouse (which did not give the woman the right, for instance, to stay on in her matrimonial home or to demand maintenance from the abusive partner), the new law now provides her with a civil panacea. The Act also lays down stringent rules to prosecute men who harass/beat/insult their spouses. Partner abuse can now land a man in jail for one year or a fine up to Rs.20,000 (about US$470) or both.

But while the Act, a landmark legislation no doubt, augurs well for human rights, there is skepticism that it may offer little succor to the rural poor (70 per cent of India's populace) who do not place much trust in such laws in any case. In fact, to many illiterate Indian women, "human rights" legislations challenge the well-entrenched notions of individual and community identity. Another fear is that the Act – despite the current ballyhoo swirling around it – may well remain a paper tiger as India has the most abysmal rate of conviction in spite of possessing the world's most exhaustive and complex set of laws. Small wonder, since its passage in January, only one conviction has taken place under the Domestic Violence Act.

So where really does the solution lie to the malaise of spousal violence lie? In quick punitive action against the barbaric male who batters his wife/partner? In enlightening women victims to not suffer in silence and speak up against their injustice? Or with the police/courts who ought to catalyse the delivery of justice? Indeed, the solution is multi-dimensional. In the meantime, the Domestic Violence Act definitely kindles hope by bringing this important issue from the periphery of people's consciousness to the center of national development discourse.
Neeta Lal is an Indian columnist whose pieces appear in 21 national and international publications that include The India Today Group, The Times of India and The Indian Express.

=================================================================



The prevalence of domestic violence, sexual violence and trafficking for sex Violence against women takes many forms.
Domestic violence (physical, sexual, physiological), rape and sexual abuse are worldwide phenomena. Other forms of VAW,
such as sex trafficking and harmful traditional practices, may be specific to particular geographic areas (Watts & Zimmerman 2001).
Women all over the world experience physical violence from intimate partners. For example, 16% of Cambodian women (Nelson
and Zimmerman, 1996) are physically abused by their spouse. In an UK study (Mooney 1993), 30% of women were physically assaulted by partner or ex partner. In West Bank and Gaza Strip (Haj-Yahia 1998), 48% of currently partnered women experienced assault by an intimate partner in past 12 months.
Although limited, the existing evidence indicates that many women are forced or coerced to have sex. Young girls and women are the most vulnerable. Increasing evidence is available of the extent to which girls’ first sex is unwanted or forced. In New Zealand, a study (Dickson et al 1998) on 548 women aged 20-22, found 25% of those who had first intercourse before the age 13, reported it was forced.
In Canada (Randall & Haskell 1995), 17.8% of women reported sexual abuse (rape or attempted rape) before the age of 16.
A study in India reports 26% of 133 postgraduate students were sexually abused by the age 12.
In Kingston, Jamaica (Walker et al 1994), 13% of 452 schools girls aged 13-14 reported attempted rape, and an additional 4% reported completed rape.
Although prevalence data on forced prostitution and trafficking for sex are scarce, it appears to be a growing problem.Women and children are trafficked within, and between countries, particularly in Asia and increasingly
in Eastern and Central Europe and North America are large importers, e. g., an estimated 500 000 persons were trafficked into Europe in

Presenter: Dr C.Watts,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK,
Based on: Violence against women: its importance for HIV/AIDS
C. García-Moreno, and C. Watts 2000, AIDS , 14(suppl. 3): S253-S265


nothing justifies violence and battery of another human be it a man or woman or even a minor, nothing justifies violence anywhere in the world while nothing justifies use of such statistics in the international political arena if one is sincere to abolish violation of basic human rights of everyone regardless of their nationality, faith, gender or any other aspect, while having gone through this forum it exemplifies the methods used by some commentators in abusing others while this itself batters the primary purpose of this thread in as much as I understand it

Just in case you may not be aware following is a glimpse of statistics of female related Battery and Assault in USA and others you may look up to (as of 2003) while it has consistently progressed not curbed:
Violence against Women Statistics
Rape
• Each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partner related
physical assaults and rapes. (CDC Intimate Partner Violence Fact Sheet, 2006)
• Nearly 20% of women in New Hampshire say they have been raped.
(NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, University of New Hampshire,
and state authorities, 2007)
• In the U.S. Central Command region, which includes Iraq and Afghanistan,
the number of U.S. servicewomen's reported sexual assaults rose
from 24 in 2002 and 94 in 2003 to 123 in 2004. In the U.S. military overall,
the number of assaults reported by U.S. servicewomen in 2004 increased to
1,275—25% higher than 2003's total, and 41% more than in 2002. (reported
in the Washington Post, May 7, 2005)
• In a survey of women in Seattle's Puget Sound area, 11% said they had
been raped by their partners. (Group Health Center for Health Studies,
Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and the University of Washington.
Reported in Seattle Times, May 16, 2006)
• One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or
completed rape, and 10% of sexual assault victims are men. (2004 National
Crime Victimization Survey)
• Approximately 1.5 million women and 834,700 men are raped and/or
physically assaulted by an intimate partner each year. (CDC “Preventing
Violence Against Women Program Activities Guide”)
• Nearly two-thirds of women who reported being raped, physically
assaulted, or stalked since age 18 were victimized by a current or former
husband, cohabiting partner, boyfriend, or date. (CDC “Preventing
Violence Against Women Program Activities Guide”)
• More than half of all rapes of females occur before age 18, and of
these, 22% occur before age 12. (CDC “Preventing Violence Against Women
Program Activities Guide”)
• According to a report in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 28% of
female U.S. veterans reported sexual assault during their careers, with
consistent rates found across eras (Women's eNews, 3/30/03).
Battery/Abuse
• More than 50% of women in New Hampshire state they have
experienced abuse. (NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence,
University of New Hampshire, and state authorities, 2007)
• The Attorney General of Iowa has noted an increase to 20 murders from
domestic abuse in 2006, up from 15 in 2005 (KWWL Iowa, April 2007).
• Nearly half of the women surveyed in the Puget Sound area of Seattle
reported that they had been physically, sexually or psychologically abused by
their partners at some point in their adult lives. Thirty percent said they
had been hit. (Group Health Center for Health Studies, Harborview Injury
Prevention and Research Center and the University of Washington. Reported in
Seattle Times, May 16, 2006)
• Nearly three in four family violence victims are female – 73%. (U.S.
Bureau of Justice, June 2005)
• An estimated 5.3 million intimate partner violence (IPV)
victimizations occur among U.S. women ages 18 and older each year,
resulting in nearly 2.0 million injuries, more than 550,000 of which
require medical attention. (“Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in
the United States,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003)
• IPV victims lose a total of nearly 8.0 million days of paid work—the
equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs—and nearly 5.6 million days of
household productivity as a result of the violence. (“Costs of Intimate Partner
Violence Against Women in the United States,” Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2003)
• The costs of intimate partner rape, physical assault, and stalking
exceed $5.8 billion each year, nearly $4.1 billion of which is for direct
medical and mental health care services. (“Costs of Intimate Partner Violence
Against Women in the United States,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
2003)
• The total costs of IPV include nearly $0.9 billion in lost productivity
from paid work and household chores for victims of nonfatal IPV and $0.9
billion in lifetime earnings lost by victims of IPV homicide. (“Costs of
Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the United States,” Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2003)
• In Texas, more than 185,000 incidents of domestic violence occurred
during 2003. (Texas governor's office)
• Family violence accounted for 11 to 33% of all violent crime from
1998 to 2002, depending on whether the source was victimization surveys or
police data (U.S. Bureau of Justice).
• Family violence remains under-reported. About two in five incidents were
not reported to police from 1998 to 2002. (U.S. Bureau of Justice)
• Non-fatal intimate partner victimization for females was about four
victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 and older in 2004, down
from about 10 in 1993. Overall, only 21% of female victims and 10% of
male victims contacted an outside agency for assistance. (Bureau of Justice
Statistics)
• Studies in the U.S., Israel, Canada, Australia, and South Africa found that
40-70% of female murder victims were killed by husbands or
boyfriends. (World Health Organization)

Re: # 70
I notice izuber saying quite clearly in his post as following:

This does not justify violence anywhere but read:
http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/domviolence.htm

I think izuber makes it quite clear here that the rate of violence by those who claim to rigorously scrutinize the records and statistics of other countries and declares them hostile and more to benefit by this virtue are not as clean themselves which includes more than USA itself in addition to other EU countries while the record of women burning in India is overwhelmingly high.
Those who sit in glass castles should be careful about throwing stones at others.
On the other hand you appear to call him a goat head while you seem to be suffering from a denial syndrome.

maulana urstruly...

here's another chart

http://www.moe.gov.pk/Enrolment%20by%20Stage,%20Gender%20and%20Location %202005-06T5.pdf

Take at the look at the enrollment numbers at the primary,middle and high school levels. They are disproportionately tilted in favor of males. Then the women catch up.

what that means isn't that your women are doing better...it means that your male students suck..they're dropping out in very high numbers...

#93 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 5:56:51 pm

Umm...no..it only proves that muslim women, when given an opportunity, prefer to get their souls sucked out of their bodies by participating in the workforce at a higher number than back in their home countries...

so maybe some paki woman living in the west can tell us why they're such suckers for punishment...do paki women living in the west enjoy the soul sucking that comes from participating in the workforce..

Re: # 81

"...A country where according to their own statistics of FBI a woman is raped every 20 seconds, I think they should better put their own house in order first than point fingers at others... "

The same can and should be said for us.

#91 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 5:52:12 pm

here's what you said..


the number of women in higher education is 75% vs. 25% men in Pakistan alone.


Table 9: Number of Students Produced by Level of Degree during 2001-04.

Male:61799
Female: 56257

Are you numerically challenged? Does that looks like a 75%-25% split?

Lets take bachelor degrees

Male: 40350
Female:41714

Does that look like a 75%-25% split to you?


but I'd like to rub it in your face anyway


yeah pal..way to go..you really won that one..

p.s. I'm not even going to comment on the ridiculously low number of grads overall...

Re: # 87

this goes against your origina;l thesis, now doesn't it?

http://www.hec.gov.pk/QualityAssurance/statistics/Student%20Output.htm

Re: # 86

so today you are an atheist? ok, so I will scratch off hindu and then catholic as claimed in past, from my little black book.

Anyway these are the statistics of higher education in pakistan, male vs. female - not that a hindi religious nut like yourself hasn't checked it already, but I'd like to rub it in your face anyway:

http://www.hec.gov.pk/QualityAssurance/statistics/Student%20Output.ht m

{"I read somewhere that the most scary thing about helping is being involved. I would like to think that I worked against my fear and got involved. The probability that a woman’s life is in danger are very high, and my simple knock on the door is not enough. One needs to break these walls and protect these brave women to be truly empowered by being mobile, and by gaining some mutually assured destruction for peace in the household."}

Aisha,
You have written a wonderfully bold and suspense-filled article about a tired old ridiculous and cowardly act that seems to be a residue of mankind's not so primate past.

I certainly hope that the brutal event did not end with your benign intervention in this man's pursuit of power. I hope you told this man about his diminishing manhood and I hope that you turned him over to the authorities, or at least shamed him in the eyes of all of his neighbors.

Re: # 60

Hurricane sahib,

[Re:Kulharee, pakistan3,
izuber has said nothing offensive. You may think Islam is the root of all troubles, I think otherwise. It is a beautiful religion and I am hapy and proud to be a muslim.]

Hurricane sahib, where did I say anything against Islam? I am a practicing and passionate Muslim and resent being regarded otherwise.

I was talking in the context of some, taking it upon themselves to "evaluate" the Pakistani situation, social or otherwise, and dictate what Pakistan should or shouldn't look like when they chose not to live here themselves. As if we are part of some "experiment" for them.

By the same token, if where they live is SO bad and un Islamic, they are more than welcome to return to their motherland.

We can all share its fortunes and misfortunes, eat "aadhi roti" but with pride and make it work. No one should just assume the right to tel us what we should do when they don't actually live here!

Surely that is not a difficult point to understand?

I have to get going.

Allah nigehbaan

bj people respond to the context they see. Once someone has made it clear to me what they actually believe i believe them. I dont look at their past posts to find evidence of conspiracies or continue in my preconcieved biases.

You should try having an open mind one of these days, i swear it wont kill you. You think lynching someone is more important than having them confess to the truth, thats your outlook not mine. His strong last statement is the one that counts ab us ka peecha chor do.

I am perpectually going to be a criminal in your estimation no matter what i say and for what its worth let me tell you your praise is not what im out to get. Thanks for understanding.

#72 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 1:50:18 pm

A follow up...If participating in the workforce is such a soul sucking experience, why do muslim women living in the free west have a higher workforce participation number than the women living in the land of the free?

#72 Posted by Urstruly on May 11, 2008 1:50:18 pm


the number of women in higher education is 75% vs. 25% men in Pakistan alone. This bursts your myth right there.


Setting aside the fact that the numbers you quote are straight from the famous paki thinktank PIROMPA - The Pulled It Right Outta My Paki Ass institute - would a comparison of percentages only be valid if the overall number was high enough?




As far as workforce participation is concerned one must ask at what cost. The woman in west has to abandon family, relationships and home to build a career.


yeah..let's not give the bitch a choice to participate in the workforce...she'll just open her mouth and drive everyone nuts anyway...


In America only now a woman is running for presidents' post and her being a woman is number one issue.


I believe the number one issue is the women in question being a female of the canine species with no ethics or morals whatsoever...but then you must be reading some other number...PIROMPA number perhaps?


I do not expect much from you since you are a hindu, who have no moral or societal code


That would be atheist with no moral or societal or ethical code..

look pal...as appealing as the thought of a beltway free of soccer moms sounds, you don't have a leg to stand on...

p.s. do pakis not grasp the concept of the internet and how easily fake numbers can be debunked?

Re: # 84

Khaalajaan, I wonder why your [Thanks for clarifying.] in #84 reminds me of the part [I said, oh, and walked away.] from the piece.

The bottomline is the mullah will do his hee and haw, and his song/dance routine and the women will get beaten up and the rest of the "women" will go along with it as long as they satisfy themselves with the pretense of making a protest and perhaps even thank him while he keeps poisoning the minds of men and women and ...

And nothing will get done.

Nothing EVER gets done!

The "izzatdaar" position of the Islamic women that miaN truly so eloquently describes will stay unchallenged, perhaps forever.

Aisee izzat se to maut bhali!

Like the Big B sang - Arrey lalloo, ye jeena bhi koi jeena hai?!