We should educate our daughters!
Crimes against women is not exclusive to India.
Are all women safe and happy in this male dominated world? Discrimination and crime against women are increasing on a daily basis. As we come across different mediums of communications, different gadgets and social networking sites — the abuse goes on. It has become very easy to capture a woman in an obscene pose without her knowledge and circulate it, either for fun or vengeance. Often these instruments of communication are used against women in a destructive and abnormal manner.
The 2012 horrific incident in New Delhi in which a 23-year-old woman was brutally raped by four men in a running bus that left her to die is one that we will never forget. The heinous act ignited widespread anguish, protest and impassioned pleas for women’s safety across India. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate that after almost three years of this heinous crime, we have still not learnt, still not made any improvement for the safety of women. Where do we stand today? Have we reduced the numbers of crimes against women? The answer is no.
A British film producer was given permission by the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to visit the Tihar Jail in Delhi for her documentary, in which she got to interview Mukesh — one of the four accused in the gang rape. Her documentary titled ‘India’s daughter’ created uproar in India as critics argued that the film denigrates India’s reputation. While that is an undeniable fact, the ongoing protests and objection to air the documentary is not the issue, the issue is why did she select this particular incident for her documentary?
Crimes against women are happening all over the world, and not just in India. With that in mind, why did the British film producer single out the Delhi incident and wanted to give it so much publicity? Why didn’t she base her documentary on an incident in some other country? That is the question that every Indian has in mind.
Our culture and mythology gives so much respect to women, so the fact that some men engage in atrocities on women — be it a husband torturing his wife for dowry, a boss harassing his female assistant in the office — this is not exclusive to India.
— The reader is an Indian office manager based in Abu Dhabi.
