Gender Equality and Composite National Security

By any yardstick (rape, honor killing, dowry deaths), the status of women in South Asia has a deplorable track-record

March 8 will be celebrated globally as International Women’s Day , as it has been since 1914. The UN has declared ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality’ as the theme this year. Women comprise about half the global demography and alas, they remain the most vulnerable and exploited constituency for as far back as history can recall.

Thus it would be very desirable if the other half – the male spectrum of the gender divide – did step up their effort to ensure gender equality. But the reality is very different and often tragic. The gruesome illustration of this was on display in Rajasthan on Friday last (4 March) when a young woman – Rama Kanwar – was burnt alive in the Pachlasa Chhota village of Dungarpur district by her own family members for marrying a man from a “lower caste.”

It is understood that none of the villagers came to the rescue of the hapless woman even as kerosene was being poured on her by her own brother – and this complicity of the collective is part of the deeper societal problem that women in India have to face.

Gender equality and the status of women varies from region to region and by any yardstick (rape, honor killing, bride-burning, dowry deaths, genital mutilation), South Asia has a deplorable track-record. In the extended region, India and Pakistan fare poorly and in contrast, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, thanks to their respective governments, fare better.

Gender Equality: A Critical Component of Composite National Security

In a normative context, gender equality is a critical component of composite national security and this was recognised as an appropriate metric even in ancient India when the canons of governance were elucidated by Chanakya for the Magadh empire. It was the duty of the ruler to ensure that the most vulnerable of the citizenry – the aged, women and children – enjoyed a sense of unsullied security. Gender equality and the status of women varies from region to region and by any yardstick (rape, honor killing, bride-burning, dowry deaths, genital mutilation), South Asia has a deplorable track-record. In the extended region, India and Pakistan fare poorly and in contrast, both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, thanks to their respective governments, fare better.

As per data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau, in the decade 2005-15, the total number of crimes against women that were reported in India was a staggering 2.24 million.

This translates into 26 crimes against women in India every hour – or roughly one every two minutes. And this is only the visible part of the murky gender violence iceberg – for most crimes against women go unreported – as the larger percentage takes place within the context of family and friends. The annual number of crimes against women is also increasing at about 7 percent – and most professionals (criminologists and women’s groups) aver that not only is the quantum on the rise, but also the quality of violence being meted out is becoming more ruthless and pre-meditated.

No Country for Women

A random scan of the national newspapers across India throws up stomach-churning details, which includes young girls being molested – some as small as four and five years old; date-rapes and gang violence; and in other cases, murderous acid attacks by spurned suitors. The litany is long and bloody.

The annual number of crimes against women is also increasing at about 7 percent – and most professionals (criminologists and women’s groups) aver that not only is the quantum on the rise, but also the quality of violence being meted out is becoming more ruthless and pre-meditated.

A survey of Indian states reveals that the former composite Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal accounted for the highest percentage of crimes against women – and the Chief Ministers of these states must acknowledge and redress this shameful statistic. In the case of Andhra Pradesh, which is now embarking on a new start under the dynamic Chandrababu Naidu – the focus on ‘smart’ cities must shift to ‘equitable and empathetic’ townships where gender equality is the norm and not the exception.

Crimes Against Women on the Rise

Delhi, the national capital, has the ignominy of the December 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case to atone for. Over the last three years, it has not become evident that the city has turned any safer for women. Data released by Delhi Police in late 2015 indicated that over the last year (2014 to 2015), crimes against women went up by 20 percent. The local police registered 7,124 FIR-s of rape in the first eight months of 2015 with just one case solved and the perpetrator convicted.

Consequently, it may be concluded that the overall index for gender equality and the security of women and the girl-child in India is well below the median and merits serious debate – both within the legislature and in civil society. I recall a conversation with the late Justice JS Verma (a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya incident when he bemoaned the institutional complacence that shrouds the myriad crimes committed against women in India – and the lip-service paid to this continuing atrocity.

Dear Parliamentarians, Are You Listening?

It would be highly desirable and appropriate if the current session of parliament could deliberate objectively over the scale of gender inequity that is rampant in India, and how to redress this malignancy. However, this seems unlikely in the current socio-political atmosphere where invalid and needlessly emotive debates are being kept alive over nationalism and the honor of Mother India.

Perhaps ensuring gender equity across the length and breadth of this country, through concerted legislative and executive action would be the more appropriate salutation to Mother India.