VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN... “I cannot believe that yet again I see comments which criticize women when there is a discussion about domestic violence or violence against women in India. This shameless attitude has to be repaired before we can proceed to help women who get physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by husbands or in-laws. The general attitude in most homes where abuse takes place is... that a wife should “behave like a woman” in order to fit in the new in-law’s family. What does this mean? It simply means that she has to be submissive because that is what is expected of her. That is her role. If she questions authority, she is told that “she has forgotten her heritage” which, in other words, means she has forgotten to be obedient, relinquishing the brainwashing mode that generations of women have been facing. If all else fails, the abusive men and their families raise the ‘culture’ card. Culture? Which culture endorses degrading women and treating them monstrously? Do we really need to cling to a culture that has no regard for humanity? Stop blaming culture for abusive attitude. Culture has nothing to do with this despicable outlook. Society has to take the blame for nurturing this imbalance between men and women. Society still believes that marriage is a woman’s salvation, and several take advantage of this belief. The most recent exchange of conversation blatantly revealed this message: “Girls don’t dress properly, and this is the reason for the rise in rape incidents.” This excuse is beyond my comprehension. If a girl wears a skirt or jeans, she automatically becomes a target? And she is a ‘proper’ girl if she sticks to her traditional attire; saree? Where is the rationale in this argument? Does it even make sense? If a man decides to rape a woman based on the dress she is wearing, something is seriously wrong with his mindset, not to mention his sanity. When will we take the first step to teach the young men to respect women, to be considerate of their feelings, to value their opinions, and to treat them as equals? Most women today have the opportunities to educate themselves and work for a living, thus contributing to the financial welfare of their families. The in-laws happily take the money these hardworking women bring home, besides utilizing the dowry they brought at the time of the wedding, but these young women are treated so poorly (some of them killed) because they are ‘women’ and they don’t deserve a kind treatment. Women who are abused are dehumanized. I believe this is the fundamental reason for the atrocious and shameful attitude in this society. We should feel a strong sense of shame for allowing women to be treated this way. There is no excuse for violence against women. NO EXCUSE!! --Annu Subramanian--
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 16:38:08 +0000
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